Tonsillectomy Recovery Day 11 and Beyond

Tonsillectomy Recovery after Day Eleven

 

At some point I hope to add pages for day 12, day 13, day 14, day 15, day 16, and another page for days 17,18,19, and 20.  For now, please share your tonsillectomy recovery experiences here.  I wish you the very best of health!



  1. ty
    Hey. Its me again. Had the surgery last week and OMG! The worst days of my life. I will make it but geeze!! This sucks bad. I had to read your comments again because I began to get depressed, lol. Im driving my husband and doctor crazy by keep asking them how long will this last. Its good hearing from someone that understands the process and pain. Your experiences are helping me through girl. Thanks again:)

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    1. Kate
      Horrible flashbacks reading your message Ty! I have just returned from a business trip, meeting lots of new people, and I didn’t have to worry about my breath: so liberating and confidence building. I discovered that one of my colleagues had her tonsils removed 2 years ago – when I happened to mention that I was just a few weeks on from my operation, she gave me a big bear hug because she could empathise with my more recent experience. You WILL eat, sleep and enjoy life again – I promise! Stay positive: you made the right decision.

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  2. Kate
    I am now four weeks post surgery (in the UK), and life is good! I had a tonsillectomy due to tonsil stones (I had small, pitted tonsils, and was unable to remove the stones myself, whatever method I tried) – private medical insurance and a past history of throat infections helped get me the surgery. I knew it was a drastic option, but I was prepared to do ANYTHING to solve my bad breath problems. I did nearly cancel when I read this forum the day before surgery though! But I didn’t, and I survived, and my tonsil stones and bad breath are finally GONE!Having found this forum so much help during the dark days post-surgery, I wanted to share my experience/what helped me. If you are about to have surgery, or are still in recovery, I can promise you it will get SO much better in a few days – hang in there!1. Don’t plan ANYTHING for the two weeks post surgery – and make sure you book at least two weeks off work. Days 5 – 8 were the worst for me, although in total I had about 10 days of constant pain/medication and sleep deprivation.
    2. I cried A LOT on day one – a mixture of the anesthesia/trauma, relief at getting through surgery, and pain! I had one night in hospital.
    3. Sucking on crushed ice helps a lot – make sure you have some in stock. I did not use a humidifier – we didn’t want to pump damp air into our bedroom!
    4. Take as much pain medication as you can – I used Tramadol, ibuprofen and paracetamol – you will not get addicted, and you WILL need them. But keep a drug diary so you can recall what drugs you took and when – you will not remember!
    5. Sleeping with my face/throat on a hot water bottle helped me a lot in days 5+: your throat muscles tighten up in response to the surgery, and I think this helped relax me a little
    6. The nights were the worst, as I would wake up in a lot of pain and then struggle to swallow more medication/get back to sleep. Listening to the radio really helped get me through the dark, lonely hours. My husband moved into the spare bed for the first 10 days, to ensure he could get some sleep and I could thrash around the bed as much as I needed to get comfortable!
    7. In the UK we are advised to eat rough food e.g. toast when we can. I did manage this a couple of times, but I mostly lived on soup (no bread!), fish in sauce (you can buy this frozen in handy microwaveable pouches), yogurt, porridge and hot chocolate. I tried making smoothies but the fruit was too acidic and hurt my throat. There were a couple of days when I could not face eating anything due to the pain. I did not get constipated, and I did not lose much weight – because I spent two weeks resting, and most of what I DID eat was high calorie!
    8. You will be too tired to read much – have a good set of DVDs on standby
    9. I did not have any bleeding. I felt so ill that completely resting in the first week was an easy option – and I made sure I had someone on call in the first few days, just in case
    10. I was able to speak on all days, although about half an hour of conversation was enough
    11. I went for my first short walk one week after surgery. Four weeks on, I am now exercising as normal – running, swimming and pilates.
    12. I stopped regular pain relief on about day 15, having gradually cut down on what I was taking.
    13. I gradually re-introduced different types of food after two weeks. I still have a sticky feeling in the back of my throat, which I expect to disappear over the coming weeks.My tonsillectomy recovery was the worst 10 days of my life. But ridding myself of tonsil stones is one of the best things I ever did!

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    1. Ty
      Thank you for sharing. I also have tonsil stones and thought I may be going to far getting surgery to remove them. I’m a married woman and nothing’s is more damaging to a marriage than insecurity. TMI, I know just wanted to say thanks for sharing your experience. I’m going forwadr with the surgery.

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      1. Kate
        I am also married (and 47 – forgot that bit!) and would not even discuss the problem with my husband. So I feel your insecurity! It will hurt a lot – stay focused on the goal and remember that in a few days you will be much better, and also liberated!

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  3. Ellen Howard
    Day 9 of my recovery.I’m not sure how relevant this will be to anyone because I’m not entirely sure how common it is. I’m just turned 18 and have been having a lot of problems with my tonsils for the best part of three years. One thing I always found when digging out those god awful tonsil stones was that my tonsils were extremely prone to bleeding – something my ENT surgeon also found out on the day of the op!He said no one in his experience had bled that much in a tonsillectomy procedure in years. I had to be stitched right up on my right side and let me tell you, we all know how sore recovery is without stitches right? Imagine being wheeled out of theatre with those bad boys in you. It’s been sore, for the first few days it was the actual space at the top of the back of my throat that was painful and white and scabby. I was throwing up old blood so frequently (and a lot of it might I add) that I couldnt keep anything down; not food, not painkillers. It was awful.But I powered through and ate as much as I could, despite the pain, because I thought ‘you know what I’ve put up with enough sh*t from my tonsils this time I’m gonna show ‘em what I’m made of!’ And after about day three or four the pain subsided from my tonsil bed area and is now a horrible stingy/achy feeling further down my throat, which apparently is due to the whole stitching procedure, I guess a lot of tubes were bumped around in this process and it’s seriously bruised me inside. I find the pain really hits me at night and I’m starting to get severe earaches to accompany that, which is nice! My co-codamol painkillers ran out days ago so I’m going strong on paracetamol and Diclofenac.

    I hope everyone else is managing to power through! Just think of all the tonsillitus and nasty tonsil stones that you’re gonna get to avoid for the rest of your life! Remember, at most this recovery process is going to take 17-20 days, which in perspective, is more than worth it to be tonsil free!

    Stay safe xxx

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  4. Lindsey
    I am a 24 year old female, I had my tonsils removed on July 23. I had my tonsils removed due to horrid tonsil stones. Let me start off by saying DRINK WATER NO MATTER HOW BAD IT HURTS!!!! Day 1: after procedure you’re so loopy from meds it flys by. I was offered a blue slushing and teddy Graham’s. 8 bags of teddy Graham’s later I am ready to keave!! After surgery I even had McDonald’s I don’t even remember eating it. Throat was numb all day long. I received percocet 5mg. All you will want to do is sleep. Have someone wake you up to drink and take meds!!Day 2: pain was still tolerable I started taking the pain medication every 4 hours so the pain doesn’t get out of control. I was eating mash potatoes ( the pre made bob Evans kind was the smoothest), I noticed ice cold water stung my throat so room temperature worked. I was drinking every 20 mins to keep the throat moist. Sleeping was horrible, I ended up sleeping on couch so my head would be propped up. Waking up every 45 mins to sip water, you get no sleep at all. I didn’t want my throat to dry out because it is so painful. I set my alarm every 4 hours so I would take my medicine.Day 3,4,5: Worst days ever! Extreme pain 10/10, that pain medicine didn’t help! Ear pain started kicking in. I had ice constantly on my throat to keep swelling down. Scabs were formed in back of throat very thick. Drinking water was a task. Everytime I swallowed felt like razorblades. I had to force myself to eat. Ended up getting a blood clot on my left tonsil on day5 and started bleeding. On call dr told me to drink ice cold water and it helped. Woke up after and blood clot resolved on its own. I was having mini hot flashes all day.Day 6: I felt like a new person. Pain was a 6/10. I was eating drinking taking my neds around the clock

    Day 7,8,9: scabs started falling off day 7. It feels like something is caught in back of throat when them fall off. Throat is very sensitive after they fall off that any liquid or food stings the throat. I have bumped my meds down to 1 pill every 4 hours instead of 2 pills. Sleeping longer through the night.

    Day 10 and on: pain has started to be controlled with Motrin. I feel 100% better!! I am starting to eat solid foods. I had PBJ sandwhich and it was easy to go down. I feel back to my normal self. Throat still hurts but just like it would as a sore throat.

    I think keeping myself hydrated non stopped helped with my speedy recovery. I go back to wk in a few days and feel comfortable going back. I still have to drink water so throat doesn’t get dry. My scabs are 75% gone. I’ve had someone with me the whole time and you DO need that. Milk never seemed to cause the phlegm in my throat as others posted. It soothed the burning. I lived off mash potatoes and chick n star soup mix for the first days. Keep taking medication when it’s due so pain stays under control!! Take the full two weeks off dr reccomends because you will need it. I would do this surgery again knowing it is going to cure my tonsil stones and stinky breath! Sorry this blog is all over the place my mind is going crazy! I hope everyone as a good recovery as well as I’ve had!

Check out our new tonsillectomy recovery video- Caution: Not always pretty

A collection of various experiences of adult tonsillectomy patients after their tenth day of tonsillectomy recovery
From thousands of post comments to the tonsillectomy recovery forum, I am assembling a sampling of various accounts and impressions of tonsillectomy recovery for each day. Below I share comments about tonsillectomy recovery after day 11. These comments are from tonsillectomy patients who were kind enough to share their experiences to help others as they navigate the bumpy road of tonsillectomy recovery.

 

Many will experience depression toward the end of of their tonsillectomy recovery.

Depression after tonsillectomy
Depression After Tonsillectomy?

-Greg Tooke 

343 comments

  1. Hi all,

    I’m currently on post-op day 11…though I had to re-cauterize yesterday morning due to bleeding and massive blood clots, which has been so depressing. Has anyone here had to do this as well? How long did it take after this to heal? It seems like the pain set me back two or three days, but the diet is back to liquids.

    Any help would be appreciated. Thank you & thanks to this site for not allowing me to lose my mind!

    se

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  2. I am now 3 months post-op and I am grateful each and every day that I got the surgery done, it was the best decision I’ve ever made for myself and my health. It is so amazing not being sick and ran down all the time due to chronic infection.

    I hope people are doing their research and opting for the coblation method. I had a smooth easy recovery and I hope to see others choose the coblation method as well. Not all doctors use this method so you need to search around and find one. Make sure they have plenty of years of experience using this method as well. My doctor had been using it about 8 years and he did a great job on me. I had no swelling, bleeding, or complications of any kind, and the pain was very minimal. Don’t just read this and forget about it…start looking into *coblation* tonsillectomy today!

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    1. That’s the method that my doctor used. I had braced myself for the worst but it’s been so easy. I returned the ice backs I had bought for the swelling (I had no swelling). Glad to see him not like only one. Day 8.

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  3. Hi everyone

    I am day 14 post op and can honestly say its been awful! I had complications with the anaesthetic and then my throat bled on day 5 and I spent 7 days in hospital. The pain has now subsided greatly in comparison to what it was however I am still reliant on the pain killers. My throat is still red and swollen and I am finding it difficult to swallow with any ease. I am trying as many different foods as possible but sometimes I feel like I’m choking and I need to swallow everything about 3 times before it feels as though it has gone. Can someone tell me if this is normal and if so when is it likely to get better?? My tongue is still numb too and my mouth doesn’t taste very nice. I am completely sick of this feeling and just want to know when it will return to normal. I am suffering with my ears especially loss of hearing, like when you get of an plane. Please can anyone give me any tips or tell me when this will get better?? My ENT surgeon hasn’t offered me a follow up so I’m really worried that this won’t return to normal

    Thanks

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      1. Thanks for your reply Greg

        No they didn’t re-cauterize. I had a large clot and they monitored me for days. The pain is much better than it was and I’m guessing my recovery will be slightly longer due to the bleed. I’m just worried I won’t be able to swallow normally again. My tonsils were very large and I have quite big holes in my throat but the surgeon didn’t say if these would get smaller. I’m just fed up of it all now

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        1. I see. It does take some time- perhaps 6 to 8 months, for that tissue to completely “firm up.” Most people describe the feeling of not having a tight seal back there for some time. Like, swallowing and water going up your nose. I had that too. It did get better and I’m sure it will for you too.

        2. I’ve had the water up my nose! That makes me feel better, thank you. The doctor doesn’t give enough information in regards to this and the tongue numbness and it’s very daunting. I wasn’t sure if it was normal or not. Hopefully I will feel much better in the next few days. Thank you

  4. This site saved my quality of life post tonsillectomy. 30 years old and it was the absolute worst pain of my life for approx. 9days. All of the tips on this site helped me tremendously though. 1.
    Humidifier 2. Round the clock pain meds 3. No diary. 4. Slushy maker purchased via Greg’s site on amazon.com 5. Ice collar
    6. Heating pad for referred ear pain 7. 100% Liquid diet for 21 days post op. 8. Oral hygiene. Thought it was extremely difficult to open my mouth more than an inch even after 2 weeks so oral hygiene was a challenge. 9. Kept a log of acetaminophen mg/24-hour period, not to exceed 3,000 mg per my height/wt. once I was off Percocet (on day 9 and beyond) so that I didn’t kill my liver.
    10. Lots and lots of family support. Was so weak a times from my limited caloric intake that I struggled to dress myself having mom and hubby there was crucial for the initial 2 weeks. I was able to go back to work at 3 weeks and this was just enough time for me to recover though I still had a significant amount of trouble swallowing at 3 weeks.

    I am now almost 3 months post op and the only lingering issue is I cannot taste worth a darn. So upsetting. I wanted to lose weight yes, but I lost 14 lbs in th initial 3 weeks following and have shed an additional 10 due to my sheer lack of taste for foods I formerly loved. Have talks to my surgeon. He said thy he’s never heard of taste disturbances latig quite this long and that he’d like me to follow up with him monthly til it returns. I’m not too hopefull at this point that it will wee be the same. But…I still am glad I had the surgery. No more throat pain, no more allergies, no more tonsil stones and hallotosis! Yay!

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    1. Lots of typos, sorry, typing on iPhone. NO DAIRY was what I meant to say. Dairy caused me way too much phlegm as did yogurt products. I lived on a protein powder/water combo with probiotics added in to prevent oral thrush.
      Thanks a million, Greg for making this site.

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  5. Day 11: 30 years old and had tonsillectomy (with adenoids removed too)
    I HAVE TURNED THE CORNER TO WELLNESS! Last night I slept 5 straight hours! I woke up to a throat that felt like I had ate a bowl of nails and drank acid, but the new numbing medicine worked quickly and the painkiller kicked in soon after. But I didn’t even care because I SLEPT!!!
    I only needed half as many pain meds today and the medicine they gave me for my canker sores was a miracle treatment because they were completely gone after one application! (in case anyone else has canker sores, the medicine is Triamcinolone Acetonide Dental Paste) I am definately not 100%, or even 50% yet, but I feel so much stronger and more clear headed than I have since surgery.
    I still have throat pain, ear pain and jaw pain but it is nothing like the pain of the past few days. I’m still not talking completely normal yet, but I’m sure that will come back soon.
    I will post again in a week just to check in. Thanks again for this wonderful resource 🙂

    Reply

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