Tonsillectomy Forum Archives 2

Melissa D. says:
December 22, 2011 at 11:24 am (Edit)

I had a horrible morning after waking up! Even took some Percocet despite what crazy thoughts/dreams it might give me. I think my scabs might be ready to start coming off since it is Day 9 and the pain has obviously increased. Its just so hard to know cause my throat still looks the same. My family thinks I am a crazy person, they are like “you were doing ok a couple of days ago” ugh…this is driving me insane- getting slightly depressed especially since its the holidays & I can’t be out & about or eat anything good ;( On the positive side I can already tell I breathe from my nose better and for my throat it will be over one day and I got it over with the only time I could be off from work- I work for a school district so the 2weeks off for Winter Break worked out. Well…have a good, pain-free day everyone!
Gwen says:
December 22, 2011 at 8:02 am (Edit)

@Melissa – Glad to see you are improving, even in small steps. They told me at the hospital those black spots were the cautery scabs. It was about day 9 or 10 I started getting the horrible taste, and those started coming off. I still have the white coating at day 21.

Day 21. Still have an annoying cough, and a sore throat when swallowing, and occasionally when not swallowing. Still have white in there, and some crack looking areas in the white. Slowly but surely, I will recover. 🙂
Kersti says:
December 22, 2011 at 5:15 am (Edit)

Hi everyone, I had surgery on the 15th of Dec (so today for me is the one week anniversary! lol)… have had a few spots that tearing the scab and bleeding… so I am currently eating only custard, chocolate flavoured baby food and extremely soft foods that don’t scratch the back of my throat (even though I was told to eat rough foods!). And I have decided that I am not going to talk at all until it is healed. Every time I talk it hurts a lot and I’ve noticed the days that I have been talking it has been bleeding and not healing properly. Really don’t want to go under for it for a third time, but just thought I’d let everyone know how much it has actually healed today because I haven’t talked at all!! Hardly any pain as well. For those of you who hate writing down things to tell people, here is an Android app that I use to communicate with “Type and Speak” and its free 🙂 . It’s silly.. but it has helped me a lot. Hope everyone is going good, but seriously can’t understand how people are eating hard foods.. if I eat soft steamed mash vegetables or icecream my scabs break and they bleed every time :/ maybe mine are just super soft.

Best of luck 🙂 x
Melissa D. says:
December 22, 2011 at 2:59 am (Edit)

I want to thank everyone for their posts they have helped me during my recovery. I am a 27/F had tonsillectomy and sinoplasty on Wed. 12/14. I am at day 8 and my pain has came back. I spent 2 nights in the hospital one was planned and stayed an extra night due to extreme pain & throwing up lots of blood and blood clots. While it was gross and painful, I expected worst. I don’t even remember the first day after surgery was on too much pain meds & passed out! This whole time I have been taking hydrocodone and Percocet alternating. However I am slowly getting off the Percocet-its making me go CRAZY! I have had really horrible dreams on it and even when I’m awake I have some pretty scary thoughts- like evil creatures and slight paranoia! Lmao!

Day 2- bad morning, felt good during the day, night time pain was really bad.
Day 3- painful morning, went home ate chicken noodle soup. My mom decided to let me sleep…big mistake! Woke up in horrible pain, stay on TOP With your PAIN MEDS!
Day 4- woke up in pain, felt better during day- night was painful.
Day 5- horrible morning, good during day.
Day 6- good morning, post op appt- stints in nose removed, I can BREATHE again 🙂 went shopping at the mall for a few hours after- got home exhausted & later in pain ;(
Day 7- worst morning so far! Felt like blades were lodged in my throat! Went out for a few hours but felt like crap! Got home and had a bad evening in pain.
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.

My tips would be drink plenty of water, no salty foods or soups, MAIN tip would be take your meds on time at all times! Don’t oversleep- you WILL REGRET it!!! Also, ice pack to your face or neck helps with swelling. I have only ate chicken noodle soup, pudding, scrambled egg with cheese, applesauce and peaches. Ice cream and popsicles are too cold for me it hurts, my water also has to be room temperature ;(

What I want to know is generally how long did it take some of you recovering to be able to eat pizza or buffalo wings? I’m craving them so bad-Ugh! Also I have no idea if my scabs fell off or not- how can I tell? The back of my throat just looks white and a lil black which I think are the dissolvable stitches…

Thanks & a speedy recovery to all!!!! 🙂
Jadee says:
December 22, 2011 at 1:25 am (Edit)

@ Leah – I know there is a fear of the pain and the unknown recovery process, but once you get past the tough parts you will never regret your decision. Post op 23 here, and I’m very glad I did it. No tonsils, amen to that, no snoring, sleep better, no tonsil stones, and looking forward to being completely healed. The recovery isn’t the greatest, but it’s not the worse, I personally would prefer this over another knee reconstruction.
@ Tabee – I know the feeling of being stir crazy, I was out and about periodically during my two weeks, after surgery, I went to Panera for some soup, I cleaned the house to occupy my time, and my two youngest kids stayed home with me days 7-12, the following week, I met my wife for lunch everyday and went Christmas shopping. I think it’s really in how you are feeling. I think moving around regularly helped me with my recovery and distracted me from my pain. If I was home, I walked around with ice packs tied to my head with a flour sack towel.
@ Cathy O. – I’ve heard about introducing rough foods right away, and wish I knew that because I would have pushed my body harder, although I was eating small quantities of lasagna, pizza, chicken, etc. relatively quickly.
@ Lex – take care of yourself, at the very least drink a protein shake and some Gatorade to put some electrolytes in your body.

I’m definitely looking forward to this weekend, although I need to watch what I eat to keep my 25lbs. off that I lost during recovery, I’m going to gorge on some wonderful foods during Christmas. For the rest of you in that 5-9 day range get through these days and you will start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Good luck everyone. 33, m, surgery 11/29/11
Miko B says:
December 22, 2011 at 12:33 am (Edit)

Ok, so today was day 6 post op for me. I had my surgery on 12/15. I woke up this morning with a little taste of blood in my mouth, ran to the bathroom and spit, but saw nothing. Then I looked at my right side scab area and noticed about a dime sized clot looking thing with a tiny amount of blood dripping from it. I immediately started doing the I e water and decided not to eat much of anything today and by dinner time you couldn’t even tell it had been there. But now that I’m heading to bed, I’m noticing the taste of blood again and just looked and in the sane spot is a smaller blood spot again. It scares me! I’ve been icing my throat and drinking ice water literally all day long. Is there anything else I should do? The spot now loOks about the size of a pinhead, or a little bit bigger…help please! Is it normal to bleed a little like this when the scabs start thinning?
Lex says:
December 21, 2011 at 11:41 pm (Edit)

Im 20 year old female and had my surgery 2 weeks ago, I had one side recauterized due to bleeding 5 days ago. The side that didn’t neEd to be recauterized has almost no pain now. The other side feels just like the first time I went through day 5. It is so annoying to do this all over again! Today I fainted twice at my house and my doctor recommendsd I go to urgent care center. They found that I was malnourished because my heart was working so hard just for me to stand up. Now I just need to be careful and force myself to eat. I haven’t has an appetite for anything and when I do try it just hurts but now I’m just going to shove it in! I’m leaving town tomorrow for the holidays so I’m hoping there is no more bleeding again!hopefully I’ll be somewhat better for Christmas dinner! All I really want is some chickfila! Good luck to all y’all!
Nick O. says:
December 21, 2011 at 10:51 pm (Edit)

@Leah. No worries. I am 24/m, I had my surgery 12/15(6 days ago) and I’m feeling almost back to normal. I think on day 3 I started eating macaroni and mashed potatoes and then I felt fine so I had some penne pasta with chicken later that day. Today I had 4 slices of pizza, just had to chew thoroughly. Hopefully my scabs fall off tomorrow or the next day. I have had some pain, but the liquid hydrocodone helps significantly as well as drinking plenty of water throughout the day. I constantly have a glass next to me and am drinking out of it all day long. Gatorade too. Snack on pudding and yogurt throughout the day as well as Muscle Milk drinks and other protein shakes. Good Luck, hope you find this helpful!
Tabee says:
December 21, 2011 at 8:49 pm (Edit)

Again, thanks for all the tips everyone!

Does anyone have anyone have any tips on how long it is before you feel ready to get up and go out? I go stir crazy just sitting around doing nothing.

Thanks, and good lucky with all your recoveries! 🙂
Leah says:
December 21, 2011 at 8:14 pm (Edit)

I’m 21 and have to get the surgery soon. I’m more worried about the pain and all the creepy stuff that happens post op. Can anyone give me some relief?
Andrea says:
December 21, 2011 at 7:47 pm (Edit)

Hi Jennifer

Glad to hear you’re feeling well!!
I am at the end of day 6. Stopped pain meds on day 2 due to nausea and dizziness. Day 4 and 5 were the worst for me, but I just kept drinking lots of ice water. Today was the best. Besides a sore throat and the intense cravings for real food, it was like any other day.
Hope you heal up quickly to enjoy the holiday!! I am crossing my fingers for Lasagna and wine on Saturday….wishful thinking I know 🙂
Cathy O says:
December 21, 2011 at 7:07 pm (Edit)

49, f, op 30/11/11, queensland, aust.

It’s now 22 days since my op. I have a slight sore throat, mainly from some persistent ulcers on the site, and also when I wake up.

I had none of the scabs others have talked about, just white stuff which diminished with each day. Nothing has fallen off. My doctor had me on rough food from day one. I had to eat chicken nuggets every day and something rough with every meal, eg. toast, corn flakes. He said it was to scour the area and prevent scabs, which can fall off and, he said, “make you bleed like a pig”. It really wasn’t that bad, after the first few mouthfuls, as I found that just drinking water and swallowing was hard. You really do have to learn to swallow again.

I had awful ear pain and my tongue was very sore. I had two inch cuts down each side which took over a week to heal. I still have some pain at the back of my tongue and I think there may be scar tissue back there as it feel the same as having food stuck down my throat, worse after eating.

On day 12, I felt better so I did a little pruning in the garden. Bent over and my right ear blocked up and vertigo set in. I was spinning for two days when my husband found some exercises for it. Helped and I had it on and off for the next 8 days.

All in all, I had nowhere near the dramas that some of you have experienced. Just lots of pain, snoring and misery. Just what I expected really. This site has been wonderful. It’s been great being able to offload to others who understand and also get information. If I experienced something, I would come to the site and most others were experiencing the same. It stops a lot of worry and unnecessary trips to the doctor.

To the newbies, it will get better. To all, take care and look after yourselves.
Tabee says:
December 21, 2011 at 6:54 pm (Edit)

Thanks everyone for the advice!

I’m not entirely sure why I’m going to be there for 24 hours; perhaps it is because I *do* live half an hour away? And the doctor said that it was a somewhat of a high risk operation?

I am going to try my hardest to have someone there, or at least check up on me. I hope mine goes as well as yours seems to be Jennifer! 🙂
Melissa says:
December 21, 2011 at 6:40 pm (Edit)

I’m on day 6 (if you count day of surgery) of my one-sided tonsillectomy and I’m doing okay. The pain is there and radiating to my ear but as long as I keep a steady schedule of drugs, ice + popsicles then I’m able to keep the pain and nausea under control. At this point, it’s totally bearable (here’s hoping it just gets better, not worse!).

I’ve now been able to get down mashed potatoes and some chicken soup which really hurt, but other than that, I’ve been eating popsicles and pudding. I’ve also been drinking water like it’s my job. Someone posted earlier about using a spray bottle to wet their throat after sleeping – I’ve been doing something similar! I have a sport top bottle and as soon as I wake up, I shoot water directly on the area.

One question – did anyone have a yellow paste applied to their surgical area? If so, how long did it last? I’m at the point where I should be loosing scabs, but I don’t see any scabs, I just see yellow crap. I’m wondering if it’s hindering my healing at this point.

@ Gwen – so happy everything came back benign! I just wanted to send you a virtual hug of excitement.
@ everyone else – just thinking of everyone! I check this website everyday and it’s a source of comfort to know everyone else is suffering (as twisted as that sounds). Hope everyone has smooth sailing and gets better!
Gwen says:
December 21, 2011 at 5:19 pm (Edit)

@Jennifer – Sorry you are entering the bad part and didn’t end up avoiding it. Come here often and cry if you need to. Everyone will understand and send {{{hugs}}}
Jennifer says:
December 21, 2011 at 5:01 pm (Edit)

My previous post…thanks for the support and encouragement however Im beginning to think this IS a honeymoon period. Let face it Jennifer (me), there would not be a web forum for support if this was not a difficult thing to go through, right!? I felt sooo darn good this morning then about 2pm I’ve noticed some increased pain in my throat along with very mild ear pains. Sooo I take back what I said earlier about sailing through this. I think I spoke a little too soon. I keep you all posted. In the mean time let all pray for a peaceful and manageable pain night!
Jennifer
Adam says:
December 21, 2011 at 4:23 pm (Edit)

Hi again everyone. My tonsillectomy was Dec. 8, so I guess I would be at day 14 today. I posted on the 15th, and was discouraged that day. However, I really turned the corner on the 16th (day 9). I really don’t know what is a “normal” recovery, but when I was feeling like it would never end last week, I scoured this forum for some hope, and so I thought I would post my own little “happy” story that might give someone else hope. I am a 29 year old male. In a nut shell, my recovery went like this:

Day 1: (Day of surgery) I actually felt pretty darn good, was able to eat a little, but I wish someone would have told me that I needed to re-learn how to swallow. VERY SMALL sips is the key.

Days 2-3: I would call this a “steady decline”. Pain became worse and I could not eat anything. No popsicles, no ice cream. Finally at the end of day 3 I discovered Jello. Oh thank heaven for Jello, it felt soooo good both on my throat and to actually have something in my stomach.

Days 4-6: Very small, almost imperceptible, improvements each day. I was able to drop my Lortab doses from 15ml down to 10ml and even stop taking it during the days and just took Tylenol. The evenings were rough for me though, and I still needed the Lortab (hydrocodone and acetaminophen). Sleep was intermittant, and required me to get up and re-hydrate and take more Lortab. Food intake during these days was very very little. I did OK with oatmeal and instant pudding, but that’s about it. Make no mistake – these were difficult days.

Day 7-8: I’m not sure what happened here, but I definitely regressed back through all the small progress I made earlier. Back to extreme pain. The pain was different this time, it was sharper and more intense, as opposed to Day 2-6 pain which was constant and dull. Here’s the good part: this was the last of my severe pain, although I didn’t know that at the time. My post-op instructions warned that pain could get more severe during “the final stages of healing”… Boy, did it!

Day 9: The skies opened, and the angels sang! I felt good! (by good, I mean much better than the previous 8 days, but not “back to normal”) I could eat, with some pain, but actually consumed a breakfast, lunch and dinner. I stopped taking Lortab and haven’t been back. This helped get my head cleared up, and also helped with my extended absence from the bathroom, if ya know what I mean 😉 I was able to do some work (from home) and really started to feel like myself again.

Day10-14(present): I went back to work, and I’m doing great. I am not taking any medicine, but I do have to be a little careful with food. Sometimes it causes a little pain. Nothing extreme, but just a little unpleasantness.

I guess I’m just hoping I can give someone else a little hope, especially in those final phases, to keep up the fight and try to stay positive. It does get better. I really appreciate this forum too. Thanks to all posters – you gave me some much-needed support during a very hard time.
Jadee says:
December 21, 2011 at 3:50 pm (Edit)

Day 23, and I’m starting to get some swelling back, annoying to say the least. I’m able to eat anything I desire, but sometimes it’s challenging. Some pain associated with swallowing, but it comes and goes. I’ve worked the past six days, and have to admit, I’m completely exhausted and it’s a holiday week so it’s slower than normal. I am looking forward to the Christmas feasts. Still weighing in at 25lbs. under my pre-op weight, so I’m glad it has stayed off even after eating normal again. Nice thing is I don’t each much which helps because I get full quicker. Looking forward to hitting weights next week, assuming my skin cancer incision is healed and I can extend my left arm fully (scab still opens up when I extend it, the area where the skin tore from two stitches). @ Jennifer – you might feel up to going back to work, but I anticipate you will start to feel your pain intensify in the coming days. My doc said two weeks minimum your out of work, no exceptions, and he wouldn’t write me back before then either. I had short-term disability so it was all paid time off. Plus your breath is going to smell nasty, so I wouldn’t want to be around co-workers during this time. I avoided my wife for two weeks because of it. @ Gwen – I have a tiny bit of scabbing in the very back, but it’s a very small area. @ Jason L.-good to hear your doing well. Hope everyone enjoys the holidays. Happy Healing!! 33, m, surgery 11/29/11.
Julia says:
December 21, 2011 at 3:10 pm (Edit)

Best of luck to you all and Happy Holidays!

I just passed five weeks and finally feel normal. I’ve gone three days without my throat getting inflamed. Getting the surgery right before the holidays and parties was probably not the best idea. I’ve come home from most parties feeling like I’m getting choked.

The things that have helped me the most: 1) staying on a med cycle, every three hours like clockwork for the first week. 2) humidifier. Did my best to stay in my room with it. 3) day three when swelling was the worst my husband gave me a shot of Decadron (steroid). 4) Jello was the most soothing and rice pudding for substance. Ice cream was too cold. I didn’t eat real food for two weeks. Just oatmeal, eggs, jello and pudding. Bummer part was I didn’t lose ANY weight. 5) My throat and mouth were disgusting. I brushed my teeth probably six times a day and did nasal rinse. I never had any sensation of sloughing the scabs. At my two week appt my doc said I had scabs covering 25-30%. I went back to work (I work part time ) at two weeks and it was ok but fatiguing.

Thank you for this forum. There were days when I needed to know I wasn’t isolated and alone. This surgery is painful and weird.
Jason L says:
December 21, 2011 at 2:52 pm (Edit)

I had my two week follow-up. Most of my scabs have already fallen off, and I had no idea! I have resumed my normal diet. With the exception of some mild to medium pain, everything else is awesome!
Gwen says:
December 21, 2011 at 2:47 pm (Edit)

White scabbing. When does THAT go away? Forgot to ask the doc that yesterday.
Jen says:
December 21, 2011 at 12:01 pm (Edit)

@Jennifer the first 3-4 days were fine for me too, but then it got worse. Hopefully for you it will stay good, although hey, if you have the time off work, why go in?

So I discovered a great trick last night and wanted to tell you guys about it. I filled up a clean spray bottle with water. When I woke up, I’d spray water into the back of my throat and coat everything before swallowing for the first time. I was able to get much better coverage with a spray bottle than I was with a straw or just a cup and had much less of that dry-mouth scab-ripping going on.
Kerri33 says:
December 21, 2011 at 10:49 am (Edit)

I ate pizza last night, it was so good and didn’t really even hurt! Scabs still haven’t gone away, but I feel like I am getting close to the end. Has anyone else had scabs last this long? I am on day 12 and feel like they are never going away.

@Jennifer-I hope your honeymoon continues! I went downhill after day 3 and turned around at day 8, but that is me and if you are lucky you will be a fast healer!

@Tabee-Due to reactions to the pain medication, I didn’t take any after day 3. I alternated between tylenol and ibuprofen every 3-4 hours. My doctor said that it was okay to take ibuprofen, even though many say don’t because if you do bleed ibuprofen can make it worse. The first week was awful but I made it through. I would recommend taking the pain meds if you can, they definitely help, but if you really don’t want to it can be done, but it will not be pleasant! I am now on day 12 and only take ibuprofen every 6 hours and could probably go less than that, I’m just chicken to be in pain again:) I would have someone on call in case you need something, especially the first few days. My mom stayed with me for 5 days and I was grateful she was there; when I had issues with the meds she was the one that would call the doctor and run to the pharmacy because I couldn’t talk or drive. Hopefully you won’t have any issues and will be okay. Just make sure you have lots of ice and soft foods prepared before your surgery as you won’t feel like doing anything after you get home. Good luck!
Sarah D. says:
December 21, 2011 at 10:25 am (Edit)

@Jennifer, I felt pretty good except for mornings. And my scabs are nearly gone and I haven’t had a drip of blood. But…they also didn’t come off the way others described them. Mine came off in hundreds of pieces – some as big as my pinky nail but most smaller. I coughed a lot and hard. I spi t out what I could. My point is that although this didn’t hurt that bad, I’d not wanted to be in the office. N really, how could I have predicted I’d be ok? My scabs are almost gone and so I’d say the earliest you might think about returning is day 9ish… Today is 8 for me.
Gwen says:
December 21, 2011 at 8:50 am (Edit)

@Tabee – This is the first surgery I’ve had that I’ve used the pain meds longer than a day or 2. I don’t like taking them either, but it was either that or go to the nut house. I started going longer between doses the second week, and alternating with regular tylenol. By the end of the 2nd week, I was off the narcotics completely. I was told to NOT take ibuprofen for 2 weeks post-op. But I did take it 2 times during that second week for the inflamation. If you are a bleeding risk, be careful about what you take, ask the doctor. Today is day 20, and I’m down to one dose of Ibuprofen at bedtime.

@Jennifer – I do hope you are one who sails through recovery. I’ve not known of anyone who just kept getting better from day one, but I’m sure they are out there.
Good luck.
Jennifer says:
December 21, 2011 at 7:56 am (Edit)

I had my tonsilectomy late Monday afternoon so this is day 3 including surgery day. I backed down on using my hydrocodone last night (10mls instead of 15mls) and feeling too good to be ture. Im wondering if this is the calm before the storm…? As of now, I actually feel like I could go to work. I wont of course but I cannot believe how good I am sailing throught this. One thing I was not prepaired for is the pure looks of the back of my throat. Holy Cow, it looks absoulutly nasty!!! Has anyone felt sooo good at this point in the recovery and kept this progress going or shall I plan on this being the honeymoon period?
Jen says:
December 20, 2011 at 11:59 pm (Edit)

@tabee I stayed in the hospital the first 24 hours too and was glad I did, so I could figure out how to cope. Ask the hospital for a humidifer – they have this great one that brings oxygen and water and attaches to a cup you put directly on your mouth. Also ask for an ice pack. In general I found I had to be proactive because the nurses weren’t all that on top of things, and were pretty busy.

In terms of help, I was on my own for the first 24 hours and I was in the hospital, so I’d imagine you’d be fine. Just have a plan for what happens if you start bleeding, esp if you’re 1/2 hour away from an ER.

I was worried about pain med addiction with my last surgery, because I ended up having to take percocet for a month. It was rough to get off of them because of the depression, but once the pain was gone I had no problem stopping. This time I’m just taking them without worrying because I know I can get off of them. I think if you’re conscientious about them you’ll be fine.

Did anyone else have Pharyngoplasty, where they sew up the sides of your throat to make more room? http://sleepapneasurgery.com/pharyngoplasty.html I did and am wondering if my scabs will fall of or of they’re just kind of stuck in there.
Danny G says:
December 20, 2011 at 11:34 pm (Edit)

@Andrea, I was prescribed a z-pak of prednesone to start taking on day one. I think though it was more for my nose work than me throat. In either case, I think it actually helped with keeping my uvula swelling from lasting very long. I never had any bleeding from the throat, so it appears either the doc has skills or the steroid didn’t hurt in my case.
Tawnya says:
December 20, 2011 at 11:27 pm (Edit)

@Tabee…….you should really try to have someone with you. Especially when the scabs come off. I don’t want to alarm you but, I came really close to having to go to the ER after each scab came off a day apart. I bled pretty bad both times and there is NO WAY I could have dealt with that and try to drive myself to the ER. I was drinking plenty of water and doing everything I was supposed to. What I did do was a gentle cough and bam…….BLOOD everywhere. So just be careful.
Sarah D. says:
December 20, 2011 at 11:18 pm (Edit)

@Christina, in the OR 45 mins tops. But why do you ask? I reported to hospiral at 6am, went in to surgery 730, out by 8, & checking out by 915am. If I could drink down water, they said they’d let me go. But I was staying with my parents …

@Tabee…(1) You SHOULD arrange someobe to be with you. As your anesthesia wears off, weird stuff happens. I fainted, for example. But, first, I must ask, why are you staying 24 hrs??? (2) DO NOT do anything to try to help get the scabs off. Those that bleed are often (not always) those that aren’t drinking enough water o, are makung sucking motions or whatever else to help get the nasty scabs to slough.I want mine off too, but I know it must happen naturally. The body created them for a reason and knos how to rid them too. (3) Ask your dr. about forhoing the pain meds. I have a high tolerance myself, but did take the pain meds the first three days. Then, I switched to ibuprofen. Ask your dr tho.
Hope this is helpful. Again, it’s just what worked for me…not necessarily the answers for you. Good luck. But, seriously, have someone with you and drink lots of fluids!
Andrea says:
December 20, 2011 at 10:25 pm (Edit)

31 day 5 of recovery.
Was anyone prescribed a steroid to take? My doc prescribed one as needed. In his words he said to “take it on day 5 if #*/t hit the fan.” He said not to take it if I didn’t need it. I am just wondering if anyone took one and if so, did it provide much relief. I have read there is increased chance of bleeding with them, and we all know nobody needs that problem.
While I am here…some of my best tips…
-drink lots of ice water!!
-use ice pack on neck when pain is severe.(I find myself doing this at odd hours of the morning when I wake from pain of a dry throat)
-chewing dentyne ice is more of a relief than anything. (I like to chew it and drink ice water after I eat…great relief!!)
Happy Healing to all!!!
Laura says:
December 20, 2011 at 10:09 pm (Edit)

@Danny G, @Jenn – My mom talked to our pharmacist today and she said I should take Gravol right before I go to bed, and that it should help stop the heart burn. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it works because I cannot handle another morning like today’s!

Considering I got off to a horrible start today, the rest of the day was good. I managed to visit with my best friend and went and saw a movie with my mom. Sitting in a room full of people eating popcorn was torture but I am not ready for that challenge yet! I definitely didn’t eat much today, some canned peaches and a slice of bread with peanut butter, but I wanted to take it easy. I am definitely tired and ready for sleep and am hoping that tomorrow will be a good day!
Tabee says:
December 20, 2011 at 9:53 pm (Edit)

@ Gwen

Thanks.

During my pre-op appointment the doctor said that I’d be there overnight; just over twenty-four hours. I am definately going to be drinking a lot; I’m a big water drinker so that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. A timer is a good idea for remembering to drink!

What is concidered “normal” bleeding? I live a half hour from the hospital, so at what point should I worry and head to the ER?

Pain meds are a big worry for me. Family members of mine have had problems with becoming addicted to pain meds, so I’m scared that will happen.
Gwen says:
December 20, 2011 at 9:24 pm (Edit)

@Tabee – You are supposed to have someone with you the first 24 hours. If that isn’t possible, make sure you are set up with liquids, popsicles, soft food, and get your pain meds ahead of time. Make sure to keep drinking to keep that scabbing soft. If it comes off too quickly, bleeding will cause you a trip to the ER and possibly back into surgery to re-cauterize. My doc told me to keep setting a timer every 10 minutes and drink something. You don’t like taking pain meds? Try to get over that and take them anyway. Ice packs on your neck right under your jaw will help.
Gwen says:
December 20, 2011 at 9:09 pm (Edit)

Day 19. First post-op appointment today. Doc says everything looks like it is healing normally. Growth WAS a tonsil, and all tissues came back benign. Any other tonsil that dares to grow back will be treated topically if needed. This is a good thing, because he is NOT getting anymore tonsils from me. 🙂 Probably gonna have the sore throat off and on for another couple weeks or so. 23 hours since my last ibuprofen, ready for some now, but I’m gonna stick it out for another hour. Things are improving, and going further between doses.

Good luck to all who are in the throws of the worst of it. It DOES get better eventually.
Tabee says:
December 20, 2011 at 9:05 pm (Edit)

Hi.

I’m having my tonsils’ taken out on Jan 6th, and am super nervous! I am 26/f, and currently live by myself. I’ve had really bad “tonsil stones” for about six years now, and they’ve started to cause infections and bleed, so the doc said it’s time to remove them.

I just have a few concerns and questions that will hopefully prepare me.

1– I live by myself, though have a family member that can drive me home (i am driving there), but I have no one to stay with me or to really come and check on me. Is there any significant risks where I should really try to find someone to make sure I’m okay? Or is it usually just for moral support (which would still be nice!)

2– I have a habit of bleeding kind of easily. Not huge I can’t clot bleeding, but to a point where when I’d donate blood I had to tell them so they’d know to put lots of pressure on my arm when taking out the needle. The doctor knows about this, and didn’t seem concerned. Do you think this will be a problem at all when the scabs begin to come off?

3– I have a high tolarance for pain (i worked once for two weeks with a broken wrist), however I have read nothing but horror stories on how much this will hurt. I don’t like taking pain medicine; is there any way this could be managable without taking any?

That’s all I can think of right now– please. If anyone has any advice or anything, please pass it on. Thanks. 🙂

-Tabee
Christina says:
December 20, 2011 at 7:42 pm (Edit)

How long does the surgery usually take? I’m scheduled to have my surgery tomorrow morning.

Has anyone with TMJ had their tonsils out? I’m wondering how the surgery affected your TMJ. I forgot to ask my doctor about it before surgery. I’m hoping someone here might have some insight.
Thanks!
Jen says:
December 20, 2011 at 6:21 pm (Edit)

@Laura have you talked to your doctor about your heartburn? Maybe s/he can prescribe something to help.

Pooping advice – try warm prune juice. Sounds disgusting, but I think it tastes pretty good and it usually works pretty well for me.

Day 6 here. I seem to get crankier and more sore and sleep worse every day. Hopefully I’ll hit the proverbial wall soon and then things will start to get better.
Sarah D. says:
December 20, 2011 at 4:04 pm (Edit)

Sarah D. here. 29/f/day7
@Jadee
@Danny G
Thanks for the info on the scab sloughing! I haven’t had any bleeding yet, and I’m not going to force my scabs off even though you better believe I want them gone! They are probably about 1/3 gone now. I have been trying to clear my throat and spit the chunks out into the sink or toilet. I know I can’t completely avoid swallowing them, but it’s extremely disgusting to me… What does come off seems to be a gooey mess about the size of my pinky nail. If it’s going to bleed, my guess is it’d not yet ready…
@Cameron, I shat early early this morning and damn near filled the toilet bowl. Today is exactly one week after my surgery. I didn’t feel any urge either. But my stomach felt a bit upset and I thought if I could get it out that end, I could prevent vomit (which could get ugly w the scabs and bleeding). The first were hard as rocks and greener than grass in April. The rest was a stanky mess. But maybe now I can claim I lost a few pounds too. 😉 You’ll be fine. Just be patient. Good things come to those who wait. Bahaha.
Danny G says:
December 20, 2011 at 12:38 pm (Edit)

@Laura. I was taking my Nexium from literally day one of surgery to avoid this type of thing. I also took an antacid as needed. Are you not able to tolerate these? I feel for you, though I never had it as bad as you’re noting…
Laura says:
December 20, 2011 at 12:20 pm (Edit)

I feel like every time I take a step forward I take two back. Yesterday was a good day. I actually ate real food! My throat wasn’t too sore, and I was able to eat some spaghetti with olive oil, some canned peaches and some bean soup (was hoping that would help with the constipation, which it did!). So when I finally went to sleep, I was feeling pretty positive. Then 4 am happened. I had such terrible heart burn I thought I was going to die. I didn’t take anything because that is what made me throw up on Saturday. By 5:20am I couldn’t take it, and was throwing up stomach acid all over the bathroom. What a nightmare! I think part of a scab might have come off, which might have caused it, but I just don’t know. There was no blood (thank god!) but I cannot suffer through another episode like that. I felt like I wanted to die.
Danny G says:
December 20, 2011 at 12:13 pm (Edit)

Day 20… Swelling comes and goes in the cavaties where the tonsils were. My uvula even swelled a bit yesterday (probably due to the surrounding swelling). Nothing intolerable, but causes it to hang on the back of my tongue a bit. Appetite is finally coming back. I’ve gained back 4 pounds (of the 17 lost).

@Cameron. Not gross – fact of life. Not sure what they used on you, but I know in my surgery they used paralytics, as well as heavy narcotics. This alone causes intestinal & bowel grief, but adding in my screwy diet and the narcotics I was taking for pain for the first 2 weeks had my system in complete chaos. My discharge orders said if I didn’t have a BM within 2 days of the surgery to call the doc, so that would definately be my advise for you.
@Sarah, I agree with Jadee. Once it starts it’s over fairly quickly though if you’re like me a spot or two will seem to take more time. I found eating and drinking even more durin this helped in sloughing the gunk off.
@Brian. You will know 😉 When the sloughing starts, you’ll feel some scratchy irritation, maybe a tickle in your throat that will prompt coughing (where you will see evidence of gray, white, and/or green, gunk coming up). Additionally, for me the sour taste I had been having increased to a nasty level as this process started. I’m fairly sure I swalled a lot of it while eating, because all the sudden it was fairly cleared off back there.

Good healing to all.
Cameron says:
December 20, 2011 at 11:50 am (Edit)

WARNING: this post is gross

When am I going to poop? I had the surgery a week from today and have taken miralax twice since then and it didn’t work. The weird part is that I have no urge down there to even do it. It’s like my stomach is empty (which it most certainly is not). I am just wondering if this is normal.
Sheila says:
December 20, 2011 at 10:27 am (Edit)

When does the sloughing “normally” begin?
Sheila says:
December 20, 2011 at 10:03 am (Edit)

I’ve been reading this blog trying to get helpful hints to help care for my 20 yr. old son and have found many of the suggestions very beneficial. He had his surgery on 12/16/11 so he’s now in post-op day #4 (some people refer to this as day #5 I think).
One thing I should have taken more seriously, but regrettably I did not…DO NOT THINK SLEEP IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN TAKING PAIN MEDICINE OR DRINKING!! He is such a big sleeper I thought I’d let him sleep for 7 hours straight…BIG MISTAKE! Now playing catch up on the medicine and fluids. He’s being such a trooper with drinking. He prefers shaved ice and ice water over everything else.
I hope everyone has a smooth recovery. I’ll continue reading and posting his progress.
brian says:
December 20, 2011 at 1:44 am (Edit)

@ Jadee- how did u know when the sloughing process started? (dumb question?)
brian says:
December 20, 2011 at 1:42 am (Edit)

(25/m) I had mine done 2 weeks ago exactly. still hurts a bit but i am able to go through the work day without codeine. I have noticed slight ear pain and a foul odor when trying to clear post-nasal drip. Normal? Thanks for any input.
Jadee says:
December 20, 2011 at 1:27 am (Edit)

@ Sarah D. – My scabs sloughing process took three days total, but once they started to droop into the back of my throat and came off the walls it was a day total. I know your not big on my advice for the straw, but to get the scabs to come off I used the sucking motion as if I were trying to clear post nasal drip, a few times of this, and those green, grey, white nastiness came out. Both scabs came out in two parts about the size of a quarter each time. Great details, huh, but I guess this is one place where we can openly talk about it and not gross people out. I gagged quite a bit because of the taste of them and they sloughed right into my swollen uvula causing my gag reflex to react, had some heavy bleeding, but gargled ice cold water for 20 minutes and it stopped. It sucks, but once they are free you will be in heaven, the space it creates is awesome. Very impressed by your recovery, keep it up. Will post tomorrow, too late and I have to get up in 4 hours to head out to work.
Sarah D. says:
December 20, 2011 at 12:22 am (Edit)

The scabs started sloughing! The scabs started sloughing! I have been coughing all day. I had this nasty taste. I couldn’t tell if it was the cashews I ate earlier stuck in my tonsil cheese or what….so I spit it into the bathroom sink. It looks like the greenish whitish grayish mess from the back of my throat. No blood. None. How long will this process take?
Kerri says:
December 19, 2011 at 11:16 pm (Edit)

Hi everyone! I am 33 and had my tonsillectomy the morning of Dec. 9th. Overall I am doing pretty well, except pain when eating and talking too much. I had bad reactions to the pain medication (vomiting, dizziness, rash) so I have been alternating tylenol and advil since day 4 and it seems to have worked pretty well for me, minus a few really awful times, usually after sleeping. A few of you mentioned you were worried about taking advil, my doctor and pharmacist both said it would be okay and it has been, no bleeding for me, however my scabs still haven’t gone anywhere. I was thought they would be gone by now, is it normal for them to wait this long? I want to enjoy lasagna and wine for Christmas but I am getting nervous it isn’t going to happen. The advil has also been a lifesaver to take down the tongue/throat swelling. The first time I took it I noticed a huge difference, I was able to actually drink, not sip, my water.

Today I noticed white spots on the back of my tongue. When I called my doctor’s office the nurse said that it was normal, but I am still worried it could be something else…anyone else have this problem? I thought maybe it was from what I was eating, but when I brushed my teeth I tried to brush them off and they didn’t go anywhere.

I have mostly been able to eat warmer things like eggs and soup, the cold things seemed to sting more…yogurt, pudding, ice cream, smoothies all didn’t work for me. Ice water has been a lifesaver. Juice and anything else hasn’t tasted good.

@ Cameron–if you feel up to going out, try it. I went shopping for an hour on day 6 and had to come home and take a 2 hour nap I was so tired! I hadn’t eaten much before that point because I couldn’t take pain medicine so I know that was part of the issue. I am definitely bored being at home alone all day, but know that resting will help in the recovery process. Good luck!

Gwen says:
December 19, 2011 at 9:55 pm (Edit)

@Melissa – My “tag” was forward of the pillars. In a strange spot, almost to where my back molars are. It is all gone, but I have quite a wound there still, and all the symptoms of most everyone else at this point. I’m at day 18. My main wound is the part where all the infected tissue was removed, and that is practically the whole pillar area. It wasn’t bothering me that much, but they were concerned it was something other than tonsil tissue, and all the infection was pretty much hidden, so I guess it was a good thing they went in to remove the tag (and adenoids). At the spot where the tag was, would not have been over looked, unremoved tissue from the first tonsillectomy.

Day 18. tomorrow is my first post-op appointment. I still have that “no warning ice pick in the throat” cough, and it’s about to make me crazy. Having to take Advil about every 18 hours. Hopefully I can get down to once a day and then off completely. Ear pain is reducing.
Tag says:
December 19, 2011 at 9:38 pm (Edit)

So…attempted to have my surgery this morning. I got to the hospital at 6 AM and wasn’t too nervous, even when they were prepping me for surgery. I got changed into my gown, etc . I was sitting up in the bed when my nurse started to put the IV in. Then, I fainted. I guess I don’t really like needles. Anyway, when I woke up, there were 3 nurses in the room.

My nurse told me when I had fainted, I had gone stiff as a board and started shaking, classic symptoms of a seizure. They had me hooked up to oxygen at this point and she had taken the needle out. I started crying and they brought my mom back. I have had seizures, but only 2-3 and the last one was when I was 12, 9 years ago. The anesthesiologist and my surgeon didn’t want to do the surgery because anesthesia lowers seizure threshold.

So, they called the neurologist on staff. He was very nice and after hearing a detailed description of what had happened, said it seemed just another sort of fainting (I forget his term). Even though he’s almost positive it was just me passing out, he scheduled me for an EEG to be sure. If everything looks like, I should have my surgery on Jan. 3 instead.

Having problems and I haven’t even made it to the OR yet….sheesh.
reneeasmo says:
December 19, 2011 at 9:16 pm (Edit)

Sorry I meant scabbing
reneeasmo says:
December 19, 2011 at 9:16 pm (Edit)

Day 26 and I still have whitish scanning as my Dr calls it. Anybody else have this for this long? Not in pain except when I wake up or do something stupid like eat crunchy food. Still have muscle soreness with my tongue and throat area but nothing more then a nuisance. Need these scab things to go. I can’t take the taste anymore. I actually swabbed it off and it was very red and raw but they were gone…for 10 minutes then they were back.
Melissa says:
December 19, 2011 at 8:40 pm (Edit)

Hey everyone!

I had my one-sided tonsillectomy on the 15th and the first few days sucked. Yesterday was particularly bad – not pain wise, but mentally/emotionally. I hate being secluded and bored! Today was pretty good, I even held off on pain meds until mid-afternoon. Now I’ve got this crazy itchy/scratchy nasty pain going on – I think it’s the scabbing process. Am I right??

I thought it was the T3′s making me ill – but I discovered it was actually the blood in my stomach left over from the surgery and my little bleed later that day. The T3′s constipated me and the blood was just sitting there. Once the blood left my body during a horrendous evening, my nausea mostly disappeared. The amoxcillin I take 3x daily also causes nasty side effects.

Today, I choked down some soup! It was fantastic and it hurt, but it was totally worth it. It was the first food I’ve eaten that wasn’t a pudding or a popsicle. I’m drinking water like crazy but I’m finding it hard to eat things, so my daily diets consists of maybe one pudding and 3-4 popsicles. It means I’m starving but oh well. I just wish I was losing more weight as a result – I’m only down 4lbs!

Aside from the scabbing process, my biggest pain is that my ENT left a good amount of tonsil tissue in there. The swelling is going down and I can see what’s been left behind. He didn’t talk to me before/after the surgery and he didn’t want a follow up but I think I’m going to make an appt to figure out what happened.

My goal is to eat lasagna with my family on Christmas Eve!

@Sarah – I am worried about ibuprofen too! I asked 2 different pharmacists (they both actually recommended it from the get-go, I called back with questions) and they said it was fine and would help. But I really don’t want to bleed so I think I’ll avoid it for a bit longer, but I have taken about 4 so far.

@Gwen – I’m not sure if you’re still checking the board regularly, but I hope you’re still doing well! I have a question for you – did your tonsil tag grow only in the pillars? Or in different areas? And did your ENT remove all of it or leave some?
Sarah D. says:
December 19, 2011 at 8:15 pm (Edit)

Pss. Last but not least, I have been posting photos of my throat to ‘Tonsillectomy Resouces’ wall. I am curious if yours look as nasty. Wish I could share them here, but I welcome your feedback there.
Sarah D. says:
December 19, 2011 at 8:12 pm (Edit)

Ps. Since we share the gross details here, I have been eating a rack of food since day 3 & today was my first day of, “What goes in must come out.” It was a teeny tiny sorry greeen guy, but it was something. I am on Day 6, & haven’t taken pain meds since day 4. I have been taking Advil, and it has been working nicely. I am scared of bleeding though, so I am going to try just Tylenol until my scabs slough off. Good luck everyone!
Sarah D. says:
December 19, 2011 at 7:50 pm (Edit)

I am now at the end of day 6. I haven’t taken any hydrocodone but have been taking two advil every 6 hoyrs or so. Today, I woke up in serious pain but I think it’s because I didn’t take ANY meds last night. After a couple Advil, I was fine again. I frosted Christmas cookies today and ate a few of my final products painlessly. Honestly, the foods that aren’t “soft” feel best to me because my tonsils (or lack thereof) itch like heck! I ate a cheeseburger today, went to get a hair cut, even did some very relaxing exercise. Now, it’s not all hunky dory. 😉 I have a slight headache, my ears have pain, and even when the throat pain is low, there is a tickle in the back of my disgusting-looking throat. I have seen others warn me not to coufh, but it’s really really hard not to. My next biggest concern is my scabs. Can someone who passed this stage provide some details? I have been taking the Advil. Shod I stop? I saw someone recommend salt water. Should I try this? I realize I am doing decently well now, and I don’t want to muck it up!!!
Miko B says:
December 19, 2011 at 7:22 pm (Edit)

I am a 34 yr old and had my tonsillectomy done on the 15th. It seems to me that everyone kind of follows the same routine. The first couple days were pretty easy going, but it seems to be that nights are the absolute worst for me. I am thinking that it’s because (although I try not to) I sleep with my mouth just slightly opened. The thing that has actually seemed to help the most is drinking water like non-stop. I am not on any pain meds, liquid lortab and Percocet both upset my stomach and made me feel too crazy. So I’m only taking Tylenol every 4-6 hours. I have heard that I should try ibuprofen as well, but am too scared (risk of bleeding). My ENT even suggested rotating it with my Tylenol. I have not had any bleeding do far, not even a drop…does anyone else know if I should risk taking the ibuprofen? Tomorrow will be day 5 for me and I am nervous about bleeding g when the scabs fall off.
Tawnya says:
December 19, 2011 at 5:37 pm (Edit)

@ Edna, try not to be scared! I know it’s not a fun experience. I’m 39 and had my surgery on the 5th so I am almost back to “normal.”. 😉 . Hang in there. For me, when my scabs came off, it felt like I needed to cough…..try not to do that. Mine fell off at day 7 and 8. What has your dr. told you about when the scabs fall off?
Tawnya says:
December 19, 2011 at 5:27 pm (Edit)

@ Marie, HANG IN THERE! Yes, for me as well, my recovery progressively got worse up until my scabs fell off. After that, everything got better from there. Try to keep hydrated as far as the sandpaper feeling……I think that’s just your throat telling you that it’s dry. Does it hurt when the scabs come off? For me, it didn’t hurt but it felt like I needed to cough and I would recommend as hard as it will be…….try not to cough. I’m 39, and I had my surgery on the 5th. I am on the tail end of my recovery. Did your dr. warn you about the possibility of bleeding when the scabs come off?
Kim C says:
December 19, 2011 at 5:22 pm (Edit)

Day 7 I didn’t think I would be able to say this but some of my ear pain is finally starting to go away. Wow I’ll take any kind of relief I can get. What a long ride. I know it is only day 7 of recovery but it feels like forever. I finally was able to eat something yesterday that was not frozen. Good ol’ chicken and stars. Yummy! I was grateful for that. Still need to stay on top of the pain meds though. When 4 hours rolls around I am ready for more. Is it normal for the pain to fluctuate like it does. You feel relief one minute, take a nap, wake up less then an hour later and feel worse then before. I find that happening alot. Makes you want to not sleep. I keep my trust Italian water ice on hand at all times. Help with the throat but my ears are killing me! No anti-inflammatories allowed here. Have to wait 10 days after surgery for bleeding purposes. That’s my worst fear. Ill patiently wait. But it is very hard to do. Hopefully everything goes good at the docs office tomorrow.
Kate says:
December 19, 2011 at 2:41 pm (Edit)

Day 10- things are now beginning to get back to normal. I have been reading through some of the posts and here are my 2 cents: I went to see my doctor this past Friday, and she gave me new pain meds, which didn’t work for me. What did work was taking Aleve, which has naproxen in it. The Pharmacist suggested this, and said it was safe to take now since my chances of bleeding are minimal. They REALLY help.

I have had ear aches on a daily basis, worse on the left than the right. This goes for my throat as well- my right side is much better than my left. I found that the more I made an effort to eat, the faster the scabs came off (gross, but true). I can’t eat anything with a red tomato base, but that’s been about it. I had coffee for the first time today, and it was not very good.

I hope all of you in the first week of healing are doing alright. Someone said drink water, and I totally agreee. Juice made me feel sick, but water hit the spot. I also have been gargling with warm salt water, and this has given me some relief, and some of the scabby crap also came out as well.
edna says:
December 19, 2011 at 12:29 pm (Edit)

I just had my tonsills removed on friday @ 9am ish…. It has not been fun. I havent taken any pain meds for about 2 days b/c the percocets had me vomiting all over the place. Im feeling a lot better today. My throat hurts really bad but at least the rest of me is ok. When do the scabs start to fall?? do i just swallow them? i hear that this is when i will experience the most pain. Im scared. 🙁
Cameron says:
December 19, 2011 at 10:50 am (Edit)

Hey everyone! I’m an 18 yr old female and I got my tonsils out 6 days ago. For me it has been good/bad. Day 2 was by far the worst! I woke up and felt like my body had ben hit by a Mack Truck! Honestly, that hurt more than my throat did. My mom would joke with me and say that I must have fallen off the operation table haha. As for today my body feels fine but my throat still feels like there’s a knife being jabbed into it whenever I swallow. I’ve noticed that one side hurts more than the other and I am wondering if that is normal. Also, since it is my Christmas break I was hoping to maybe finally leave the house tonight and just have a calm night out with my friends. Would y’all say yay or nay to this idea?
Marie says:
December 19, 2011 at 9:11 am (Edit)

Wow so I got online today to find out a little bit about my tonsillectomy recovery and found this website! I cannot tell you how helpful and good it is to know someone knows my pain! I had my tonsil’s out on Wednesday the 14th at around 8 in the morning. Today is day 5 and it has been horendouse. Every day has progressively gotten worse. It’s odd because the first few days were the easiest actually and the pain has intensified. On day three the perkeset upset my stomache and I threw up twice! That was no picnic for my poor throat.

I am 21 years old so when I went in to see my doctor he said recovery would be slow. He said I should feel about the same for a week and that my scabs should come off around day 6-7. I am hoping that he was right. I am ready to be better!

I was wondering….when your throat is scabbing, does it feel like sandpaper when you swallow? Does it hurt really bad until your scabs come off?
Kersti says:
December 19, 2011 at 4:26 am (Edit)

@Sarah D
Two surgeons told me not to take any anti-inflammatory medication 14 days prior to the op and 14 days after (and it was also on a brochure that one of them gave me), but one of my friends is using an anti-inflammatory spray on her throat and hasn’t affected her. Suppose it’s up to the individual on what you want to do, but I won’t be taking any after my first bleed :/
Laura says:
December 18, 2011 at 11:15 pm (Edit)

Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone. I hit a new low shortly after posting my previous post. I took one little nibble of a canned peach and got terrible heartburn, so I of course took a Tum to help with it (it had worked the day before). This turned out to be a very BAD idea. Within half an hour I was on the bathroom floor puking my guts out (which is a hard thing to do when I haven’t eaten anything!) After this I dozed on the couch off and on for 2 hours with terrible stomach pain and cramping. Since then, I am miraculously feeling a little better, and managed to eat some canned peaches as well as a slice of bread. I am going to try switching to Tylenol since the Percocet seems to really be messing with my digestive system. Tomorrow will be day 5…I guess I now have scabs to look forward too!
Jadee says:
December 18, 2011 at 10:55 pm (Edit)

@ Gwen – Day 18 here and I have all the same symptoms, hurts to yawn, can’t use tongue as a toothpick, some swelling and I can see it in the mirror, don’t have the ear pain as much, but still the dull pain. I didn’t take any pain meds for 24 hours. Still some coughing due to irritation, but sneezing well that’s a different pain all on it’s own.
@ Laura – Somehow you need to get something down, have you tried soup, I agree your recovery will be longer if your not nourishing your body. Like Sarah D. explained before eating I had a ritual, popsicle or two, then ice water, then pain meds, then another popsicle, ice my neck while preparing food, and then I would eat cuz pain meds would kick in. After eating anything I went back to a popsicle. Everything hurt, but you need to grind through it. I liked applesauce, jello, soup, and hot tea with honey. After day 4/5 I ate pizza, regular buttered popcorn (the clouds parted and the heavens shined through on that night), chicken, mac n chz, I’d bounce back and forth between some rougher foods, to softer foods based on how I felt.
@ Jen – Although I was able to talk, I didn’t because I sounded like Kermit the Frog, it’s the swelling, and it didn’t go down until around day 9 or after my scabs were sloughed, once they are gone, I felt like it was smooth sailing. I had one fall off the day before the other and I tried pulling the other off with a tweezer because I just wanted the relief, stupid “yes”, but it wasn’t successful.
@ Sarah D, hope your recovery stays the course as you are having a good recovery. As stated previously my pain peaked around Days 5-8 during the sloughing process, and the ear pain intesified each day. If the ibuprofren is working I’d stick with it, wish I knew that little trick cuz I would have practiced it. Anything to cut a corner. Good Luck
Well hope the rest of you are getting better by the day, I was hoping Dawn would check back in to see how her son was doing, so if you read this could you post an update. I truly do feel better even though there is a lingering pain. Good luck everyone and happy healing. 33, m, surgery 11/29/11.
Meredith says:
December 18, 2011 at 10:49 pm (Edit)

wow this website was very useful. I am on day 6 laying in bed wondering when my pain will finally end. Day one was a breeze. Day two was pretty rough. I can’t talk, or choose not to yet.. But I will say by day 6 my pain has eased up some what. The swallowing isn’t as horrendous as before. My mom is a nurse and I will give you the same advice she gave me. DRINK. no matter what you mustdrink. It may hurt really bad and you may even feel like crying but it has to be done. If you don’t drink you cancer dehydrated and worse you can bleed from dry mouth. I havelost seventeen pounds so far. I can only eat small amounts of food, and it about kills me to do that. I hope this helped hang in there everyone. We can do this 🙂 )
Jen says:
December 18, 2011 at 9:07 pm (Edit)

@Laura here’s what I do. I spray Cepacol spray on my throat, wait about 2 minutes, then eat some jello with canned peaches, since that’s the easiest for me to get down. Then I take pain meds. Then ice my throat. Once the pain meds kick in and the ice makes the swelling go down I eat a more substantial meal and drink a fair amount of ice water and/or warm herbal tea with honey. It hurts but I power through it because I feel so much better afterwards.

Meals I’ve eaten: soft-boiled eggs with mashed potatoes, pureed soup with a grilled cheese sandwich cut up and dumped in the soup, let soak until it’s falling apart before I eat it, oatmeal with raisins, protein drinks, drinkable yogurt.

Anyway know when I might expect to get my voice back? I’m at day 5 and finding it very frustrating not to be able to talk.
Gwen says:
December 18, 2011 at 7:43 pm (Edit)

Day 17 – I’m a little disappointed that I am not completely back to normal. Still have to take Advil twice a day for non-swallowing throat pain. I tried to suck it up and go without, but if i I go too long I get a heck of an earache. Also, late recovery swelling that is strange. I feel like I have a bunch of those cotton rolls that the dentist puts in your mouth during a dental procedure. Throat dries out quickly, so I continue to keep up frequent liquids. Coughing continues, I suppose due to dry throat.

@Sarah D – Only your doctor can tell you whether or not to keep taking the Ibuprofen. I see that a lot of people do take it, and it seems to work well with the hydrocodone. My instructions were to not take it 2 weeks before surgery and 2 weeks after. I didn’t start taking it until day 14, although I took it twice during the second week, and it helped the inflamation. I’d had no problems with any kind of bleeding, so I felt it was OK those couple times.
Tawnya says:
December 18, 2011 at 4:22 pm (Edit)

@Laura, I know how you feel. Some things I’ve been eating are applesauce (makes the pills go down easier) I kept some by my bedside so in the middle of the night I could take my pills (I’m done taking pain meds). Yogurt, pudding, jello, orange sherbet, malto meal, oatmeal (later in recovery), soups, scrambled eggs………the sherbet was my life saver……it really puts the fire out and feels good on the throat. Try icing your throat with an ice pack also. That might help. Good Luck and I hope this helps.
dresdeno says:
December 18, 2011 at 4:04 pm (Edit)

Geez, hard to believe one month ago today I had my coblation tonsillectomy. I am a 50yo female. My recovery was very mild compared to some of the recovery postings I’ve read.

I was able to eat just about all I wanted to tolerate swallowing. I chewed and chewed, so it took a while to eat a meal. I never have had severe ear pain.

This is what I’m experiencing today;

*minor sore throat pain
*mucous which seems to be hanging down my throat, annoying
*sweet foods taste metallic
*yawning is still painful, but I noticed this past week I am able to open my mouth wider now while trying to yawn
*off and on minor ear throbs
*I can touch the back molars and soft palate with my tongue as its discomfort is easing up
*bad taste in mouth has become the norm these days

This site has been the best recovery tool.
Sarah D. says:
December 18, 2011 at 3:56 pm (Edit)

@Laura, my first real food was puffcorn. You kno the fake popcorn that has no hulls? Trick is to eat about 30 mins after you take pain meds and after you have eaten a popsicle and have been continuously icing the outside of your neck… Try this or some jello first. I found the mashed potatoes, applesauce, even the yogurt and pudding were harder than jello or puffcorn.

Adult Tonsillectomy Recovery