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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Hey everyone! First of all, I want to thank all of you for sharing your experiences and thoughts on the topic. Reading through all of the discussion forums on here has made me feel much better and not alone in all of this.
I’m on day 7 after my surgery (last Monday), and the pain is pretty much the same as it was on days 5 & 6, which means a lot of pain, not only in the throat area, but also in my jaw, teeth, ears, and also in my tongue and the roof of my mouth. The pain is very intense in the morning and evenings, and also during the night. Tonight, like every night in the past week, I haven’t gotten much sleep…but tonight was especially bad, because I’m worried that I’m going to start bleeding, so I kept waking up and making sure that I wasn’t. I haven’t eaten much in the past few days, or in the past week, to be honest. This morning, I tried to get down some oatmeal, but after a few bites, I gave up- it was just to painful. Now I tried to eat a sorbet, but that hurt too. So I’m going to focus on the drinking today, and maybe try some soup later.
I’m taking Tylenol (I was told that Ibuprofen is a big no-no due to possible risk of bleeding) and Algifen Neo drops (I currently live in the Czech Republic, and they are used here)…I was not given opiates at any time, so I’m glad I don’t have to deal with possible withdrawal issues. Also, I’m on antibiotics since Friday, because they found a slightly increased level of something in my blood which indicates infection.
In terms of my mental state, I’m doing so-so…I suffer from depression and anxiety (although I’ve been doing really well this past year), and this past week has been a TOUGH ride. There were moments when I was really really down and had to force myself to even try to do things that would help me, such as drink or take my medication. Now, I’m finally at home, after a week at the hospital, and my mom is taking care of me, so I’m in a much better environment. However, the lack of sleep, proper nutrition, and especially the pain are really getting to me. Also, people’s lack of understanding is very tiring, especially comments such as: “How are you? I’m sure you’re fine by now, it was just a minor procedure”, or “You need to man up, it was just tonsil removal”, etc. etc…..
The main thing I’m concerned about is possible bleeding..I’m really worried and cautious, always checking my self and if I’m not spitting out/coughing up blood. I don’t know about the situation in my throat and the scabs, simply because I’m afraid to look.
Sorry for such a long post, I hope you guys don’t mind my rambling 🙂
Also, I forgot to ask: are any of you also severely constipated? If so, what are you doing about it?
Thanks for any comments/replies!
I was prescribed a stool softener with my bevy of meds…Day 7 for me too, had septoplasty done with my tonsillectomy so I’m double recovery here. Having same throat, ear and roof of pain. I managed to go the whole day with only 1 Percocet but will definitely take 1 before bed. Tomorrow I get my tubes removed from my nose hopefully that’ll increase my appetite.
Ouch! Well I hope everything goes well and I wish you the speediest recovery possible!!! Good luck!!!
My throat pain is a little worse than days 4-6. I think that the scabs may be coming off and that is what is causing the pain. Unfortunately, this means back to the soup. I feel nauseous when I think about eating soup because I’ve had so much of it. I also feel like I might get sick each time I take the liquid medication. I hate the taste and now my stomach turns when I even think about having to take it. Thank goodness the end is near!
Ran out of the liquid hydrocodone last night and so now I’m taking Tylenol. I woke up with a soreness in my throat, probably because I slept a solid 6 hours straight without drinking fluids. Now that I’m drinking water again my throat isn’t as sore. I am super tired and just want to sleep though.
BTW, last night I finally got a decent meal in: home made chicken and vegetable soup. However, I probably over-did it because after eating my throat hurt like crazy. I need to take smaller steps on the eating, I think.
Last night I got about 5 hours of sleep, which was really good. Throughout the day, my throat pain has gotten much worse. Probably at 5/10. Swallowing is terrible. Have not eaten anything today. Swallowing even water is making everything burn. Out of prescription pain meds (lortab). Have been taking cvs brand liquid Tylenol and it really helps. Burns much less than the prescription, which I likened to taking a shot of tequila. I have found 2 tbs of the cvs stuff kicks in at about 20 minutes and lasts a good 4 hours. Not going to work tomorrow.
Today I couldn’t really speak Because of the pain in my mouth, ears, jaw, etc. Today has been rough, but I am feeling like things are progressing as they should.
I had been feeling worse the last couple of days. It’s a week since I had the surgery and swallowing was still painful, but now anything and everything I put it my mouth even water felt like battery acid. Everything burn and stung. I hadn’t ate a bit of food in 2 days, not even jello, popsicles and the like. I was in a lot of stomach pain because I was so hungry and was becoming dehydrated. I tried to drink milk, which burnt the least, as much as I could to stay hydrated. I then decided, even though the doctor advised not to because of bleeding risk, to take ADVIL (I had previously been taking tylenol or hydrocodone-acetominophen liquid).
It was a god send. That night I ate pasta salad and cheesecake with very little pain, pain like you have when you wake up with a sore throat that dissipates during the day. I don’t think I have a significant bleeding risk anymore because its been a full week since the surgery and I am a 19 year old that is healthy otherwise. I take 3 advil at a time (a procedure a dr recommended last time I had strep) every 6 hours. I don’t have to take medicine as often, I can resume some normality and I feel a lot better.
If you’re willing to take a small risk, I would start taking ibuprofen a week after your surgery. I think it reduces pain a lot more because it reduces swelling. Either way, try it, it could help get your life back!
Shannon, I took children’s ibuprofen right after I got home from the hospital. I was told I could take it by my doctor and my pre surgery nurse. I think it helped with my recovery so much that I had the easiest recovery one could have after this surgery. I didn’t bleed or have any other problems after my surgery. I know some doctors are against it and thank god mine was not. Good luck in your recovery. Should be easy now.
I totally agree on the Advil….I have been taking 600mg ibuprofen three times a day since day one with percocets every four hours (and antibiotics) and i have felt great. My discharge instructions only said no aspirin. I was at social events for a few hours on day three and four and went to the movies on day five. It’s day seven today and the pain has increased but as long as I stay on top of my meds and drink lots, i’m ok.
Top tips…drink constantly, even just little sips
….stay on top of med times, set an alarm
….eat a little, to avoid stomach upset from meds
…..dehumidifier by bed at night
…..move around and distract yourself
…..salt water rinses and use a tongue scraper(gently)
hi Leah, Whats the status of ur scabs? Have they begun to come off? I had some come off last night and now it is sore to drink cold water. Applesauce is still my friend though. I may try to take some ibuprofen in addition to my percocets also to see what that brings. I want to go out today and not look like i’m in pain.
The left side is looking more pink and feels a bit more raw, the right is still pretty white and covers a large surface area. When that one starts to shed I am anticipating more pain. Lukewarm liquids actually feel pretty soothing at this point. I hope you get to go out, it feels nice to see the real world, just carry water with you and keep sipping and try not to overdo the talking:)
Hi Leah, i think my right side is where the scab came off – i haven’t looked yet. It gives me chills. I was able to get out, my BF took me to get some pasta i’ve been wanting…just plain cheese ravioli w/ butter …it was the best!!! I was exhausted by the time i got home…i think too much talking also… I slept a good while afterward and only took a 800mg ibuprofen. It did the trick for a few hours. Thanks for posting that it sounds like we have the same meds/combo. Are you in the states? I’m in MD.
Alicia,
Glad to hear you got out! The olive garden by any chance? I am in Canada…Ontario. I was offered tylenol3 but I asked if she prescribed Percocet and she was fine with that, I was just paranoid about intense pain following surgery. I was expecting liquid but got pill form. I take it every four hours and the ibuprofen every eight. It will look nasty in your throat but day by day you’ll see small changes and it’s encouraging.