I had my tonsils out 4 days ago. The pain is steadily getting worse every day as the docs said it would and I am dreading it getting worse! It’s so bad in the mornings but once the painkillers kick in, it’s bearable during the day. I just worry the painkillers won’t cut it if it gets worse! In the UK we are told repeatedly to eat solid foods post op like toast and rough, textured foods as it helps to clean the area and prevent infection and prevents thick scabs building up and then coming off causing a bleed so I have stuck to it and eaten solid foods from day 1. Hopefully it will work as I would much rather be eating jelly and ice lollies! Eating normal foods seems to get more difficult each day but I will carry on as I’m sure it’s the best thing to do, not least because it gives your body energy and helps heal. I’ve also had no problems sleeping too and I’m sure that will help speed up the healing. Keeping really hydrated is also a must to stop the throat (and scabs!) drying out and also water helps heal as well. Anyway I’m still only on day 4 so it seems the worst is yet to come…I’m scared!
Well I was right to be scared! It’s day 5 now and I woke up at 2.30am in the worst pain I have ever felt. It felt as though my throat was going to explode out of my ears. I couldn’t even cry it was that bad, I just sat there rocking on the bed, waiting for the painkillers to work. If I hadn’t have read people’s accounts of this agony or the doctors had not warned me about the pain getting worse around now, I think I would have gone back to hospital thinking there was something wrong, it was that bad. Although I knew it would get worse around now, I don’t think I could have imagined how bad it was going to be. The thing you have to remember is that it only lasts as long as the painkillers have worn off, as soon as you get more down you and they start working, the pain is manageable again. You just need to have a schedule for taking the painkillers. I have started writing it down and setting alarms. I read a lot of people saying to do this and I ignored it, thinking i would just take them as and when and I would know when I needed to take them – I was wrong! I lost count, I took too many in a short period and was then not allowed more in that 24 hours, I took 2 lots together (paracetamol and Ibuprofen) when i just spoke to a nurse who said i should be spreading them out to make them last the whole 24 hour period etc etc. I agree now you need to set alarms to take them in the night to avoid waking up to that ever again!
I’m hoping that if I take the painkillers according to the schedule from now on, I won’t have to deal with the pain getting any worse as I really don’t think I can handle it being worse than that. I don’t want to scare people as I scared myself reading others accounts but I really think if you do take the painkillers on schedule, you can avoid the pain getting that bad and it’s as simple as that. Just don’t do what I did and ignore it. Work out what you can take in 24 hours, include nights in the schedule not just days (as I did at the start!), space them all out to make the most of them and set alarms for them all.
Well I will see anyway how the next night goes…I dream of the day I feel normal again. I am trying to be positive and remember it’s only 1/2/3 weeks of my life, not much in the grand scheme of things and it will all be over. Hopefully my life will be improved and all the problems caused by my horrible tonsils will be gone forever and it will all be worth it! 🙂