Tonsillectomy Recovery Day by Day
Day 7
A collection of various experiences of adult tonsillectomy patients on their seventh day of tonsillectomy healing
I have assembled a sampling of various accounts and impressions of tonsillectomy recovery for each day. Below I share comments about tonsillectomy day 7. 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.
Please feel free to add your own experience with tonsillectomy day 7.
Tonsillectomy Healing Day 7 Recovery : Light? At the end of the tunnel?
- Tonsillectomy Day 7 :Breakdown. Crying, laughing, sucked into YouTube. Is there no end?
- During the night I noticed a weird sensation in my ears. It was a hollow feeling, kind of like I have water in my ears and they tend to pop really severely when I swallow. Other than the ears, the throat isn’t bad. I tried eating blueberry pancakes for breakfast and I was able to get a few pieces down, but then it was uncomfortable, so I stopped. The last thing I want to do is rush myself. I’ve made it this far, I don’t want to do anything that will negatively affect my progress. The swelling is finally gone – I think. My tongue and the scabs used to be white – or so I was told – but now my tongue is like a grayish color. If that is normal, I’m not sure, but I’m not that worried about it. I know I’m still recovering, but I noticed a weird feeling when I was swallowing today. The water just kind of flows down my throat now; before it used to touch my tonsils. I know I don’t have tonsils anymore and that’s why; I’m just curious if it is something I will have to adapt to once I’m fully healed. I guess I’ll have to wait and see. My ear pain is still there but it is definitely not as bad as it was from days 3-5.
- It’s been one full week as of today that I had my tonsils removed. I saw the ENT yesterday and he said I was healing very slowly. The scabs still have not come off and every day seems to hurt more than the previous day. This morning has been almost completely unbearable. I don’t understand how some of you say you eat toast. How do you choke that down? Everything hurts! Warm, cold, it doesn’t matter it feels like swallowing knives.
- Day 7 you did it! I mean I could barely stand due to the pain. Trying to coat my stomach with Ensure that morning so I could take my pain meds was like aggressively shaving my throat with a million shards of glass. And the ears! Not the ears!
- day 7 post-op and am doing amazingly well. I thought I would share my tips to help some of you out! It really is important to drink, drink, drink! Every time I woke up from my sleep I would be in such enormous pain because my throat had dried out. Every time I wake up during the night I take a sip of water which I found has helped. Twice a day I have done a saltwater gargle with a teaspoon of salt in 500ml of water for 30 seconds. This apparently removes the bacteria and the salt is good for healing. The day after my surgery I had a tiny little bit of toast.Are you concerned about pain medicine addiction? Read more…
>> Next – Day 8 >>>
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I thought my recovery was going to be so easy. Day of the operation I was talking and having fun with the family. Day 1 post-op was a breeze. I went shopping with my mother. Day 2 I took it easy, but it was nothing special. Day 3, I ate pizza. Pizza! Day 4 I started classes again at university. Day 5 I had pain worse than ever before, and since then it’s only gotten worse. Day 6 I stopped eating. It felt like a hot wire was in my throat whenever anything solid or semisolid touched. Day 7 is today and I actually had to leave class I was so nauseated. The taste in my throat is so disgusting. The only thing that helps is to eat peppermints. Not to mention the constipation. I’ve only had a single laxative-induced bowel movement since the day before surgery. I decided that the laxatives probably were doing me more harm than good, though, so after that BM I stopped. I want this to end! I am pre-med and I CANNOT miss school.
Day 7 I woke up wasn’t able to eat or drink anything. It hurts so bad! I’m on the same amount of pain pills too and nothing. So I was desperate. I got some cold water and put a lot of salt in it and would take a swig and gargle it for 10 sec and then spit it out. I just kept repeating that and it honestly made it 60 to 70% better!!!!!
Day 7 December 27th:
This started off rather well for me. Having read so many horror stories, I felt I was getting off easy compared to some. Boy was I wrong! My surgery was the 21st. I’m 53.
I’ll preface this by saying my tonsillectomy was done to help determine the source of Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck with an occult primary. The PET scan showed the tumor on my left lymph node and my right tonsil lit up a little as well. So, it’s tonsils out for a biopsy along with samples of the back of my tongue and naspharynx and a laryngoscopy.
The first three days were quite tolerable. On Christmas Eve I had some severe pain upon awakening and then off and on that day. I awoke Christmas morning in agony! The pain in the ears, jaw and tongue was almost unbearable.
I went to work on Wednesday and stayed about 6 hours. I was feeling pretty run down and tired. I wasn’t in terrible pain but just felt ill. I went to bed early and slept solid for about 6 hours. It was the pain that woke me up at 4am. Blinding.. excruciating! After the pain meds I was able to sleep a couple more hours.
I called the ENT as I was concerned about the level of pain. He said that due to the biopsies (“we took lots of little pieces of you. From your jaw to your sinuses”) , I was experiencing more pain than usual. The wounds were healing and scabbing (thus the razor blades in every part of my mouth, throat and sinuses feeling). He renewed my pain meds and has me taking it every 3-4 hours (good stuff too!). I barely make it to 3.5 hours without extreme pain. I took my last dose at 8:30 and just took another dose after toughing it out for 30 minutes. This is NOT fun!
He said I should start to see some relief in the next 3-4 days. Lord I hope so! On the bright side, the laryngoscopy didn’t show anything unusual. He seems to think it started in my tonsils. I’ll know January 4th when I get all the results. I’m thinking treatment will be a walk in the park compared to this 🙂
Ok… writing while the meds kicked in was a welcome distraction. I’m feeling some relief and I think I’ll be off to bed. I’ll keep you posted…..
Day 7 I woke up wasn’t able to eat or drink anything. It hurts so bad! I’m on the same amount of pain pills too and nothing. So I was desperate. I got some cold water and put a lot of salt in it and would take a swig and gargle it for 10 sec and then spit it out. I just kept repeating that and it honestly made it 60 to 70% better!!!!!
Day 7:
One week! I made it!
Overall, I think my recovery has been a lot nicer to me than a lot of other people’s, so I guess I really can’t complain. I only threw up one night (day 2) and I haven’t had ear pain at all. I’ve also been able to eat relatively solid foods since day four (even though it was probably a bad idea to do so), so I only had to go without eating anything substantial for four days. Yeah, my throat has been full of flames and knives all week, but I think we all knew that was gonna happen. No shocker there.
Today was really boring. Spent all day on the couch reading and watching TV. My throat still hurts, and I can definitely feel some stinging when I swallow or talk, but it’s nothing compared to what it was before. And my voice is coming back! Before it was weird because my thoughts would sound normal in my head, but when I tried to voice them I came out sounding like a third grader. Not so much anymore!
The only thing is that I’m always hungry now. I always want to be munching on something. I think I’m afraid that my throat will somehow digress and I’ll have to go without eating again.
I’m not sure if my scabs have come off or not. Yesterday I could literally feel something move when I swallowed, and I don’t feel that anymore… But the white patches where my tonsils used to be are still visible. Are those the scabs?
Day 7 I woke up wasn’t able to eat or drink anything. It hurts so bad! I’m on the same amount of pain pills too and nothing. So I was desperate. I got some cold water and put a lot of salt in it and would take a swig and gargle it for 10 sec and then spit it out. I just kept repeating that and it honestly made it 60 to 70% better!!!!!
My day 7 has mixed reviews. Woke up at 7 this morning and took my 5 ml of pain meds. Went back to sleep and successfully slept until 1230, my longest sleep so far. However, i woke up with pain 9/10. Once I managed to get my meds and morning smoothie down things improved slightly.
Since I was getting low on meds and have developed a wet chesty but non-productive cough, I had hubby call my dr. He increased my meds to 10 ml every 4 hours( I was on 10 ml every 6). I’m a happy camper about that, but he wants metro be able to cough. I am very hesitant to cough and have been doing everything I can not to!
I have noticed with great effort and pain, I am able to talk quietly for a short time. Im still not eating much more than liquids, hoping the increase in meds helps that!!
Lots of ice cold water, apple juice slushies, cepocal and chloroseptic have been my favorite. Hubby has been nice enough to let me take over the tv, and my dogs are all enjoying the extra cuddle time.
Hoping I feel up to eating soon and the pain gets better in the next few days.
Ending of my day 7 isn’t so hot. I made an attempt at food tonight (only the 2nd time) and although it went down well and felt ok with pain meds, a piece of deviled egg got stuck in my right side. I attempted to lightly rinse with the netti pot packet diluted in water. The egg was still there and beginning to cause pain, so I got a little more aggressive and brought out my squeeze bottle for my sinus rinse. The thought was maybe a gentle spray of water would dislodge this little piece of egg. On my final attempt I got it! The only problem was I also dislodged a large piece of scab from that side, no bleeding happened thankfully. Now there is a large hole in the scab, and that side is extremely sensitive! This hole is big enough one of my evening pills went into it and had no way out. All I could do was keep drinking water. The way I see it, this should make the next few days interesting.
I have also developed a nasty cough. It’s in my chest, which now has a tight feeling when I breathe. It’s non productive, but sounds wet and doesn’t feel to hot on my tender throat.
Here’s to hoping tomorrow is a better day!
Day 7. Merry Christmas. !Still pain, like awful sore throat . Cooked breakfast; eggs, biscuits, grits. Tried eggs and biscuit ; not ready yet. Hurts Save myself for dinner. Had sweet potato casserole, dressing, kale,yeast rolls, mac & cheese, ham very small servings It hurt, but its Christmas Now in pin, sucked on Cepacol sensations hydra, some relief . Great fun with fam.
Day 7, so far days 6-7 have been by far the most painfull. I am able to eat applesauce, cream of wheat, soup, eggs and pancakes with some pain. Anything else is extremely painfull. I have to take 1.5tsp of liquid lortab every 2 hrs. My stomach is getting upset with the meds. Also started getting constant pain under my left jaw, by my lymph node (I think). Days 1-3 were pretty easy compared ti now. I really hope this is the peak of the pain. Another thing is my throat is getting really itchy. Almost like a scab is trying to come off. It kind of makes you feel like gagging. I have to drink iced water and swallow applesauce to keep from chocking. Hang in there everyone…before we know it the worst will be over.
Had tonsillectomy on 12/18/2012.
Day 4 – still painful, tongue swollen & painful, neck pain,hurts to swallow, talk, and still feel like back of tongue has a buildup of something. So continue with meds, tylenol with codeine & antibiotics, and lots of cool water. Can’t wait for tongue to no longer feel swollen &head feeling as though I’ve been hit upside with a sledgehammer .
Day 5 – worse pain, days 1 & 2 not bad. Tried eating. Feels like food is stuck under tongue, which I can’t move. For me, the colder the beverage the more pain. Wake up a couple times during the night, throat on fire!
Day 6 – each day the pain is getting worse. Waiting for the downhill ride. Still can’t eat. Tried boxed mashed potatoes, and pastina & broth. I think it`s still lodged in my throat. Tongue swollen, hurts if I talk too much, and wake up a couple times at night with dry on fire throat. Ice cold not soothing. Lots and lots and lots of cool water
Day 8 – woke up this morning around 3:30, throat extremely dry with excruciating pain. Took some meds and stayed up for awhile trying to moisten throat by drinking water and sucking on Cepacol. I guess I finally dozed off. Slept until 10 am, again waking with a dry throat. The pain is lessening some, but still hurts to swallow. I have peeked at my throat from day #2, still looks the same; no sight of uvula. Back to jello/water diet since the water burns; feels like I have mouth sores. Although yesterday’s dinner, painful going down, was a big change from the norm.