Tonsillectomy Recovery Day by Day
Day 8
A collection of various experiences of adult tonsillectomy patients on their eighth day of recovery
Check out our new tonsillectomy recovery video- Caution: Not always pretty
Please feel free to add your own experience with tonsillectomy day 8.
-Greg Tooke My short bio
Tonsillectomy Day 8 : Crying. Just… Crying
Tonsillectomy Day 8 : So I woke up this morning with a dry throat. I wasn’t able to sleep more than 30 minutes at a time without coughing. Even while drinking water, my throat has been so dry, it’s like it just isn’t staying moist. I got so fed up, I asked my mom to go buy me a humidifier today. I know I’m a little late, I should have had it from the beginning, but I guess I thought I really didn’t need it. My post-op appointment is in 1 week and I really can’t wait. I definitely have a few questions to ask him! So, I finally got the nerve up to look into my throat, and even though it was a little hard to see, I do see a lot of gray areas. I thought I lost more scabs than I see in my throat, so I was wondering whether or not all of the gray areas are scabs, or if some of it is not scabs. I was told that it is all scabs, so I guess the scabs are going to take longer to fall off than I thought. So, I thought I was doing really well today and then all of a sudden my throat started squeezing really tightly when I swallowed. I slept for about an hour and woke up and it was gone. After talking to my dad who has dealt with panic attacks his whole life, he confirmed that he has had the same thing before and it is in fact mini panic attacks. Great, panic attacks – that’s all I need! I had one in the afternoon and then another one at night. The best way for me to deal with it is to sleep through it.
Tonsillectomy Day 8 : day 8..I thought someone had tried to bite off the back of my tongue and tried to scrape the white spots off with a nail filer…Also my feet were swelling, and I began to have a migraine and vomit, I was afraid i was going to rip my stitches..they had become so big me and my bf had named them “shrek ” feet
Tonsillectomy Day 8 : day 8 today and I felt terrible when I woke up! The pain was like a bruised/burning pain. I also feel like I have hay fever(which I don’t). However it’s now lunchtime and I feel considerably better. It feels like day 7 which I can cope with. Hoping day 10 will be the major turnaround day. I swear this feels like the longest recovery!
Tonsillectomy Day 8 : Day 8. 33 yrs old. Thanks for the info on the swollen tongue and the marks on it from my teeth. That makes total sense!! My throat feels much better, but the difficulty in eating seems to be coming from the underside of my tongue and my jaw. I will continue to take it easy in hopes that everything will continue to heal up. Im down 12 pounds. Its going to be hard not to put all of the weight back on. I’m starving!! lol
Tonsillectomy Day 8 : Days 8 – today – Pain has slowly begun to decrease, however, it’s remained at about a 3/4 for the last two days. However, my body has slowly begun to feel better. I feel like a human again. That’s a refreshing feeling.
Tonsillectomy Day 8 : Days 8-10–able to eat a little bit more everyday, but it was different every day. Pudding and mac & cheese were good one day, bad the next. Chicken noodle soup was also good, couldn’t eat anymore jello 😛 Throat still sore, still doing the Advil/Tylenol rotation. Waiting for scabs to fall off, but throat still all white.
Tonsillectomy Day 8 : Day 8, Ok I am feeling much better. Last night was rough. I had taken my pain meds around 11:30 PM , and around 12:15 my earache was unbearable. I had a problem eating yesterday. I just wanted to eat a Popsicle. I got down on my knees and prayed to God to let the pain go away so i could eat. A few minutes later, the pain in my ears subsided (Thanks God!). I ate 2 Popsicles.
Tonsillectomy Day 8 :Day 8- while I felt really crappy all day long I stayed home all day & rested and this evening I feel just a lil better.
Tonsillectomy Day 8 : Recovery Day 8 (post-op day 9):
Had another relapse of pain today on my right side and into my right ear. At this point I am just so exhausted from lack of sleep and lack of proper food. I had my post-op appointment with my surgeon today. He said i still have a ways to go but it is beginning to heal. He said my tonsils were extremely large and that the tonsil beds (where the tonsils were) that are now left behind are so massive that it will take extra time to heal since there is so much damaged tissue back there from the cauterization. I was able to eat some of a baked potato today with cheese and bacon.
Day 8. Woke this morning feeling almost human! Stopped taking the codeine as i felt it was making me feel sick and disorientated. Just managed with paracetamol today and Diclofenac. Also i have been on Augmentin antibiotics since day 5 as i started with unbearable pain and horrendous putrid taste in mouth. My ENT said i needed to start antibiotics. I finish these tomorrow morning. I had a weird tickle in throat this morning which made me wanted to cough to clear it. It happened twice but then stopped. this afternoon pain bearable but kept feeling scratchy back in throat. Eating best i can and drinking lots. This evening ‘wam’ the pain was back! Felt lower down in my throat and struggled to eat fish pie for tea! Has anyone experienced this? from feeling a lot better to awful again. Do you think the scratchy feelings are scabs coming away? Ive not coughed anything up but feel weird low down in throat. Does the white coating stay there after the scabs have gone? x
Today is definitely a good day. I can feel the scabs coming off, little by little. It’s comparable to a roving lump in my throat sensation that changes depending on what tiny little piece of scab is coming off. Not painful, just uncomfortable and annoying.
Ear pain is completely gone (thank god I only suffered that days 4-5 because those two days were EXCRUCIATING). Throat pain is limited to a tiny bit when I swallow, and when I wake up.
I am the unfortunate person who developed oral thrush as a side effect of the antibiotic prophylaxis. Called my surgeon, their office gave me the runaround for half the day before agreeing to send me a prescription for Nystatin swish. I’m a nurse, and have had thrush before, and know that that takes forever to get rid of thrush. The majority of my pain is in my tongue upon waking or drinking anything vaguely acidic (apple juice stung something fierce), so I’m only drinking water.
Wound up also going to Patient First and got a prescription for Diflucan. I’d rather be overly aggressive in treating the thrush, by far. The pill went down surprisingly easy, but I’m still not pushing it with my diet.
The only thing I can really eat as far as solid food is chicken noodle soup. Tried very thin mac and cheese, felt like it was sticking in my throat too much. I’m now wolfing down a can of soup in mere minutes, because I’ve stopped taking prescription painkillers (liquid extra strength Tylenol is all I’m using), and my appetite is back in full force. I can’t ever seem to not be hungry! (I found out today I’ve lost 10 pounds since my surgery, so no wonder.)
I think tomorrow I’m going to try branching out and eating new soups. Still not going to try any real solids until my surgeon clears me. I’m content to be cautious with my diet because it seems taking that route has made my pain considerably less than that of others.
There’s a light at the end of the miserable tonsillectomy tunnel now. It feels nice.
Forgot to mention that I’m still not really sleeping. I can fall asleep in bed, and have since day one, but since discontinuing prescription painkillers have only been able to sleep in very short bursts. For instance, last night I slept from 2am-5am, 6am-8am, and will now be up the rest of the day.
I think my body is revolting against sleep because it knows how painful waking up is. The good news is that I have been falling asleep more quickly (less tossing and turning) and the little bit of sleep I’m getting feels like it does a better job of making me rested.
I’m on the eve of day 8 right now and do not know how much more I can take. Agreed that sleep hurts healing by drying you out. I’m not at all hungry. Forcing myself to eat jello, broth, mac and cheese and soup. Yuck. Drinking plenty of fluids and checking urine color to make sure it is clear. Morphine every 4 hours for pain ( and sooner most of the time). Pain will not stop. Now I have red bumps on my back and chest that itch?
Forgot to mention that I have not pooped in a week (since the morning of the surgery; and that wasn’t complete due to lack of coffee) Im scared that I will blow a blood vessel farting. Hey they said not to strain? Tried some smooth move tea the other night and nothing. Tonight I’ve taken a otc laxative pill. Let’s hope in 6-12 hours my colon will be clean. Hope humor helps other feel better. Now for another night of little sleep;(
Last night I woke up a few times with sharp pain in my throat and in the morning also. Slowly it went away though and I had a small burst of energy and did some tidying! For the first time in over a week I stepped foot out of my house! We went to target. Just walking up to the door took it all out of me. My husband had to support me through the store. Oh and now I understand what people mean that say they sound def when they talk! I totally do! So I talked a little bit. I had oatmeal for breakfast and fish for lunch and yogurt for dinner. I get thes weird feelings in my jaw and throat like muscle cramps or tightning or locking up or something, it’s weird. My mom is coming over tomorrow! I can’t wait. I am just on Tylenol because of the pain and a little bit because I keep getting clammy. I prayed so hard last night and my prayers were answered, today gave me hope. Maybe there is an end in site. On the plus Side, I wore jeans that I haven’t worn since my early 20’s today! They weren’t even tight! 10 pounds down. Don’t lose hope, pray, and get a humidifier!!!
Day 8 of recovery…this still SUCKS!! 🙁 it feels like it really is never going to end. Last night i have a few scabs come off & i thought at least half of my throat would feel better…nope! Couldn’t sleep again last night. I think i’ve gotten a total of 5 hours of sleep since the day before my surgery. I don’t know how some people are just on tylenol or can go almost all day without their pain meds..i have to take mine every 3 & a half to 4 hours at the longest…seems like after 30 minutes i didn’t take anything 🙁 all i want to do is cry but i know that will make me feel worse. The only thing that makes me feel good is taking a hot shower and getting it steamy. I wish i could just sleep in there all night. I took a little nap earlier and when i woke up i felt like i hadn’t drank anything in days…been drinking as much as i can even though it KILLS to swallow anything. Im hoping day 9 or 10 will be the lucky day. I’m still praying & praying. Trying to stay positive but it’s pretty hard to do today. Dreading falling asleep tonight.
I’m feeling EXACTLY the same way.
Well I thought I was on the clear yesterday (day 7) I was wrong by 6:30 last night I was being rushed to the hospital cause of really bad bleeding! It stopped for only 3 hours and by 4 am I was bleeding again. I know being 29 puts me at risks but I couldn’t stop bleeding. I had to go back to the OR so they could burn the spot that was bleeding, I just got released today. So needless to say I’m petrified that it’s gonna happen again!