A collection of various experiences of adult tonsillectomy patients on their sixth day of recovery
From thousands of post comments to the forum I have assembled a sampling of various accounts and impressions of tonsillectomy recovery for each day. Below I share comments about tonsillectomy day 6. These comments are taken from tonsillectomy patients who were kind enough to share their experiences to help others as they navigate the bumpy road of tonsillectomy recovery.
Tonsillectomy Day 6 Scabs bleeding! : I can only eat popsicles. That is all.
Tonsillectomy Day 6 : At 5:30am, I started to panic because I coughed a lot and when I spit up some saliva in a tissue (which I have a habit of doing to see if there is any blood); I saw a slight hue of red. RED=BLOOD! So, of course I got nervous. After drinking some water, I tasted some blood but I didn’t see anymore and I was able to swallow with a bit more ease. It wasn’t the full scab that came off, but a piece of the scab on the right side. When I woke up, I drank water and felt a burst of pain in my ear and stinging in my throat for a couple minutes. When I brushed my teeth this morning, there was a little more blood when I spit into the sink, so I’m assuming I lost a little more of the scab. I’ve been sucking on ice chips the past few days and it really feels nice on my throat. I ate applesauce and soup today with a little ease. I’ve notice my ears get worse when I eat. I was craving pizza tonight and it was sitting on the counter (my family had it for dinner), so, I decided to be a champ and try it. I was able to eat all of the toppings off of a slice of pizza minus the spicy pepperoni. Let me tell you, it was a blessing! I tried gargling with cold water and even though I refuse to look at my throat, I can tell that it feel fresher and cleaner. Good news – I was able to swallow the amoxicillin today; it feels awesome because if I had to eat another cup of jell-o and medication, I’d die! Fifth day post-op and I actually stepped foot out of my house today. Since we have a huge snow storm, I had to make sure I was fully covered. Nevertheless, even though I only sat in the car, it felt good – it was progress! I was told that taking a warm shower before bed will help moisten my throat and potentially prevent coughing at night, so I tried it.
Tonsillectomy Day 6 scabs Healing
Tonsillectomy Day 6 : Day 6 and the pain is just about the same as yesterday, but that relentless ache is exhausting. I know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel (and it’s not a train) but when I am tired and weak and freaking out because my Mom went home and my husband decided to sleep in this morning leaving me to take care of my nearly 7 year old son…. Well, I got a little teary.
My husband took a gander at my throat today and declared it “gross, but healing.
Tonsillectomy Day 6 : Day 6 = Ouch
Tonsillectomy Day 6 : day 6 here and I have to say, it definitely has been the hardest two days so far. I am spent and am sick of not eating the way i want to. I have been sticking to cold drinks and liquid meals. Spoke with my PA today and she said to do my best to keep the scabs on for a minimum 10days by drinking tons of liquids. The longer they stay on, the better the new skin underneath will be…so I am doing all I can to keep these puppies attached. I have given up on eating anything warm or slightly solid,I just want this over with!!
Tonsillectomy Day 6 : Yeah, so I slept for about 12 hours. But now I think sleeping that long was the worst idea ever! My hot pot ran out of water and I wasn’t sipping on water for those 12 hours. I just drank a smoothie mix every 4 hours to take my meds. I woke up with about 8/10 pain, tried to get up and passed out in the hallway. Oh Joy! My ears are killing me!
Tonsillectomy Day 6 : Side note, i have lost like 12 lbs. Probably not healthily as all i have consumed it water, gatorade, jello and apple sauce. Those products are not known for their nutritional content. I have made two healthy juice drinks using my juicer, but don’t think that compensates for the lack of nutrients for the last week.
Tonsillectomy Day 6 : The pain is rather terrible today, it was much worse last night.
At about 3am i woke up with pain, it was as if someone was stabbing my throat with a needle or pin
and i woke up this morning with blood in my mouth. Not a lot but it still scared me! I rinsed my mouth with ice water and sucked a piece of ice and it stopped.
Tonsillectomy Day 6 : Day 6- good morning, post op app’t- stints in nose removed, I can BREATHE again 🙂 went shopping at the mall for a few hours after- got home exhausted & later in pain ;(
Tonsillectomy Day 6 : Recovery Day 6 (post-op day 7):
Another day filled with pain. Was able to drink an ensure today but did not eat much. Was able to eat some popsicles. During the evening time had horrible pain shooting from the right side of my throat and it felt like a burning feeling when I would drink anything almost as if I was drinking acid even when I drank water. Had to take a bit more Lortab to curve the pain. Looked at my throat with a flashlight for the first time since the surgery and it looked like a battle zone in there. Lots of white coating all over the tonsil beds and my uvula is still swollen very large and kind of sticking to one of the sides of my throat. Could see the white scabs as well.
Tonsillectomy Day 6 : Day 6: I cried over applesauce and pudding. It hurts to swallow, I can’t yawn and just try to blow your nose without wanting to fall over and die. This pain is ridiculous. I woke up in the middle of the night with a dry throat and more pain than I could imagine so I dragged myself downstairs and forced down some pain meds to help me take the pain.
Tonsillectomy Day 6 :day 6 of my recovery and in the worst pain ever. I thought I was on the mend, only having pain on the one side but then I started to cough, and it kept me up all of last night and all of that white membrane over the surgery site is starting to come off as well as some of the scabs… is that normal? I am very scared that with my coughing it’s going to cause issues that will result in another surgery.
Day 6 – Adjusted my medicine schedule to better line up with my wife and I’s sleep schedule. I take one dose right before bed last night, so I only have to get up once during the night. It actually worked out perfectly; I dosed, fell asleep, and woke up 10 min before the next dose, then slept 30 mins past the wakeup dose. That was a pleasant surprise. Pain is still very high without meds, I can feel the scabs starting to tear off at the bottom of my throat. Will try to be gentle as I eat today. I’ve lost 12lbs at this point (which isn’t a bad thing as I’m overweight), but keeping my hydration up.
Hi my names Beckie I had my tonsillectomy done on February 26th. My mother is an OR nurse and has been taking care of me. This pain is nothing like ive ever felt in my life. Day 1 wasnt bad as I had 6 mg of morphine iv before i left the recovery room. Days 2-4 were terrible. My throat and uvula were so swollen and distorted ANY attempt to swallow ANY fluids resulted in it coming out of my nose. Im having a terrible time with mucous and post nasal drip. I cant adequately clear my throat therefore the secretions run down my throat make me gag and cough which inevitably makes me throw up. Im TERRIFIED of bleeding. I invested in a cool air mist humidfier which im sure is helpful but also sucks because it loosens secretions and makes me cough. I havent slept for more than 2 hrs at a clip since the night before surgery. Sleeping any longer than that will result in waking up with a severely dry and severely sore throat. The ear pain has started today whcih really stinks. Chewing gum seems to help minimally. Im unable to take the liquid morphine prescribed because of my empty stomach I only throw it back upshortly afterwards.
Hi Beckie! It sounds like we are having a similar experience. I had mine done two days after you on the 28th. I’m curious to find out how the rest of your recovery is doing. I think my biggest problem was my congestion, mucus, and swelling. I cannot eat the things people are describing as normal. I am starting day 6 and I still choke on water and other liquids. Its almost as if i physically cannot swallow, its not the pain stopping me.
FYI not being able to swallow is caued by the swelling in your uvula. The uvula is kind of like a swallowing helper. It guides whatever is in your mouth down your throat, kind of pushes it down. So with it being so swollen its not working properly.. Should get better once that stupid swelling goes down 🙂
First of all: thank you so much for this blog. This gives me the feeling I’m not alone in this.
I’m a 22 year old girl (I feel like a babygirl during this recovery, hence: girl) and had my tonsils out on Feb. 25th, so I’m on day 6 – operation day being day 1 because I was up again at 10.30. I’m a little bit concerned about my recovery process because it’s completely different to what I read here. Day 1 and 2 were absolute bliss, no pain at all and I could talk. Day 3 was getting more painful, let’s say 5/10 but manageable. Day 4-6 were the worst, getting more and more extreme everyday. Last night I woke up every hour in such agony that I switched my icepack every hour and cried myself to sleep. I haven’t had any ear- or headaches so far (really, nothing). I look into my throat daily with a light to check the scabs, and I see that I’ve lost already more than half (even close to 75%!) of the white tissue/scabs/what is it? that was in there before. Most of my throat looks pink now, and I guess that’s what’s hurting me. Now comes a silly and stupid question, but I found no answers yet: the white scabs right after the surgery have to come off, yeah. Are that the ‘scabs’ that everyone is talking about or will there grow new scabs after that white stuff falls off? Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I’m a bit confused because well.. it’s day 6 and I’m almost ‘scab’free. Take care everyone.
Had mine taken out last wednesday the 19th. It is now monday midnight and I have woken up to stabbing pains and some amount of blood. Sucking on an ice cube brings little relief. Scaring me as my tonsil beds are coloured dark red as if it had bled for a while before I woke up which is frightening to think about. Unsure of what to do
Hi Lucy and Jodie, and welcome! A little bleeding is normal. Gargling with cold water can help stop it. There are some cases in which the bleeding becomes profuse and requires medical intervention. Avoid coughing- that’s what I usually read precipitates these episodes in others here on the site. STay calm, even if bleeding would become profuse- like more than a tablespoon or two, and get to an ER.
Bets of luck and wishes for a smooth recovery. Take care
Yes, it would be fairly normal. Don’t try to “help it along.” Just leave it be. Keep drinking cold liquids!
Okay so day six huh ? Your thinking when is this going to end ! I can only take liquid medicine beause the pain from swallowing is just ridiculous . Ive been drinking a lot of Gatorade it has helped through the pain and the only food I have been able to eat were chicken noodle soup , pudding , and SOME applesauce . Who made up the joke about you can get to eat all the ice cream you want ? Well according to my throat no ice cream for me . Boy do I have a list of all the foods I wanna eat ! I have lost about 25 pounds ; EXTREMELY unhealthy !! Ill be glad when its over . Good luck everyone you can only get better !
Day 6 – Adjusted my medicine schedule to better line up with my wife and I’s sleep schedule. I take one dose right before bed last night, so I only have to get up once during the night. It actually worked out perfectly; I dosed, fell asleep, and woke up 10 min before the next dose, then slept 30 mins past the wakeup dose. That was a pleasant surprise. Pain is still very high without meds, I can feel the scabs starting to tear off at the bottom of my throat. Will try to be gentle as I eat today. I’ve lost 12lbs at this point (which isn’t a bad thing as I’m overweight), but keeping my hydration up.
Hi my names Beckie I had my tonsillectomy done on February 26th. My mother is an OR nurse and has been taking care of me. This pain is nothing like ive ever felt in my life. Day 1 wasnt bad as I had 6 mg of morphine iv before i left the recovery room. Days 2-4 were terrible. My throat and uvula were so swollen and distorted ANY attempt to swallow ANY fluids resulted in it coming out of my nose. Im having a terrible time with mucous and post nasal drip. I cant adequately clear my throat therefore the secretions run down my throat make me gag and cough which inevitably makes me throw up. Im TERRIFIED of bleeding. I invested in a cool air mist humidfier which im sure is helpful but also sucks because it loosens secretions and makes me cough. I havent slept for more than 2 hrs at a clip since the night before surgery. Sleeping any longer than that will result in waking up with a severely dry and severely sore throat. The ear pain has started today whcih really stinks. Chewing gum seems to help minimally. Im unable to take the liquid morphine prescribed because of my empty stomach I only throw it back upshortly afterwards.
Hi Beckie! It sounds like we are having a similar experience. I had mine done two days after you on the 28th. I’m curious to find out how the rest of your recovery is doing. I think my biggest problem was my congestion, mucus, and swelling. I cannot eat the things people are describing as normal. I am starting day 6 and I still choke on water and other liquids. Its almost as if i physically cannot swallow, its not the pain stopping me.
FYI not being able to swallow is caued by the swelling in your uvula. The uvula is kind of like a swallowing helper. It guides whatever is in your mouth down your throat, kind of pushes it down. So with it being so swollen its not working properly.. Should get better once that stupid swelling goes down 🙂
First of all: thank you so much for this blog. This gives me the feeling I’m not alone in this.
I’m a 22 year old girl (I feel like a babygirl during this recovery, hence: girl) and had my tonsils out on Feb. 25th, so I’m on day 6 – operation day being day 1 because I was up again at 10.30. I’m a little bit concerned about my recovery process because it’s completely different to what I read here. Day 1 and 2 were absolute bliss, no pain at all and I could talk. Day 3 was getting more painful, let’s say 5/10 but manageable. Day 4-6 were the worst, getting more and more extreme everyday. Last night I woke up every hour in such agony that I switched my icepack every hour and cried myself to sleep. I haven’t had any ear- or headaches so far (really, nothing). I look into my throat daily with a light to check the scabs, and I see that I’ve lost already more than half (even close to 75%!) of the white tissue/scabs/what is it? that was in there before. Most of my throat looks pink now, and I guess that’s what’s hurting me. Now comes a silly and stupid question, but I found no answers yet: the white scabs right after the surgery have to come off, yeah. Are that the ‘scabs’ that everyone is talking about or will there grow new scabs after that white stuff falls off? Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I’m a bit confused because well.. it’s day 6 and I’m almost ‘scab’free. Take care everyone.
I read somewhere that the white stuff is the scabbing. Sorry you are having a rough time. I had ny surgery on February 28th, so I feel ya. 🙁
Had mine taken out last wednesday the 19th. It is now monday midnight and I have woken up to stabbing pains and some amount of blood. Sucking on an ice cube brings little relief. Scaring me as my tonsil beds are coloured dark red as if it had bled for a while before I woke up which is frightening to think about. Unsure of what to do
Lucy! I had mine out on wednesday too! i’ve had no blood but my left tonsil looks like it has blood on it! its weird, im very paraniod about bleeding!
Hi Lucy and Jodie, and welcome! A little bleeding is normal. Gargling with cold water can help stop it. There are some cases in which the bleeding becomes profuse and requires medical intervention. Avoid coughing- that’s what I usually read precipitates these episodes in others here on the site. STay calm, even if bleeding would become profuse- like more than a tablespoon or two, and get to an ER.
Bets of luck and wishes for a smooth recovery. Take care
my scab that looks bloody looks as if its pretty much coming off? is this normal at day 6?
Yes, it would be fairly normal. Don’t try to “help it along.” Just leave it be. Keep drinking cold liquids!
Okay so day six huh ? Your thinking when is this going to end ! I can only take liquid medicine beause the pain from swallowing is just ridiculous . Ive been drinking a lot of Gatorade it has helped through the pain and the only food I have been able to eat were chicken noodle soup , pudding , and SOME applesauce . Who made up the joke about you can get to eat all the ice cream you want ? Well according to my throat no ice cream for me . Boy do I have a list of all the foods I wanna eat ! I have lost about 25 pounds ; EXTREMELY unhealthy !! Ill be glad when its over . Good luck everyone you can only get better !
Hey Deron- Thanks for posting. Hope you’re over the hump and on your way to all that good food!