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. Have a question, when you are de scabbing does your syliva getting so thick you can not swallow it and when you try you gag and more spit comes out from somewhere below your tongue. Plz help

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    1. For me, yes! My saliva seemed like it was foamy or bubbly. Looking at my tonsil beds, I could see the foamy saliva back there. I also felt that my scabs or the foam and saliva were like a shelf down behind my tongue, so that liquids and food felt like they were getting stuck back there while I tried to swallow. It did not suddenly get better, but by day 15 or so, I was noticing an improvement.

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      1. Thank you so much M, I seem to have a stich and scab down there and I have been bleeding down there and I swish the mouth and nothing, but then I gag a bit to bring saliva back up and I am pulling up a lot of dark blood. Any thoughts on how to get fix that… been like that for about a day and a half now.

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        1. I had bleeding that required a trip to the hospital, but the doc told me the clots (or the size of them) which I would cough up were inconsequential. If you were vomiting bright red blood, that would indicate active bleeding. You have probably had some small bleeds, hence the clots (dark blood is older blood), but I think a ton of folks have some bleeding when the scabs are pulling off. It’s the bleeding that causes vomiting or does not stop with swishing ice water that you would worry about.

          The only advice I can offer is to be patient. Try to not clear your throat by coughing, suctioning, or gagging the saliva back up to spit it out. I had about 4 or 5 days where I really was bothered by the thick saliva resting back there. On the positive side, It did do a good job of keeping my throat moist. I have a feeling that since it prevented me from taking big bites, it also prevented irritation and bleeding back there as the scabs continued to slough off.

          I am on day 19 now, and I can finally gulp water and take normal sized bites, and I only have noticeable discomfort at the start and end of the day or when yawning/sneezing/coughing.

          You’re reaching the end of this ridiculous journey. Just keep being patient and the healing will happen!

        2. Well that would be very nice to even eat something. I have not been able to eat since my procedure which was June 24. I was stuck in the VA Hospital in Pitt for four days leaving to go home on the past friday. I was not even able to drink anything until July 1st when I had a very big scare of death. I had a lot of blood in my throat that was blocking my air ways. I was able to cough it up and it was about the size of a small fist. At that point I knew I had to start getting something in me. I was able to go to my local VA hospital and we were able to change the kind of meds from Liquid codeine, which I have a allergic reaction to… and they knew it, to the liquid kids pain meds. So that was a hard thing to swallow but when I did get both 2 tsp down total of 4 tsp I was able to get some things in me like Pedylyte freezies, boost, water, gatorade.

          My biggest thing is now today I was able to finish my steroids and I have not been on my liquid pain killers all day because they really only help a bit. I have been able to start swallowing today also due to my mother scaulding me about how I need to hydrate. ps I love my mom.

          Well I just coughed up another clot but I can’t tell if it was a scab or just a clot… I launched it out into my parents garden and its gone. Well Please do keep in touch I really do like to know that I have someone else I can relate with.

          Also just so you know, I had my Tonsils, anoids, and my throat streched.

  2. Day 11 after coblation tonsillectomy on 6/20. I had a terrible night of sleep last night – the pain in my throat wasn’t too bad, but my nose kept getting stuffed up, and since I was trying not to sleep with my mouth open, I woke up numerous times because I wasn’t getting enough air through my nose. I felt pretty bad this morning, just from lack of sleep, so I took it easy. As the day went on, I felt better and more energetic and got out for a longer walk with my dog.

    I am trying to cut back on the Tylenol as well, going from doses every six hours to every 12 hours. It was mostly OK, but then I ate a more aggressive dinner (just rice with some soft vegetables, but it was still pretty rough on my throat), and I could feel it. I am sucking on a Cepacol lozenge now to try to quell the soreness.

    I still have scabs on both sides – it seems as if they are gradually getting smaller, but nothing dramatic so far. I can talk for longer, but my voice gets tired pretty easily, and I can’t open my mouth too wide. It has probably been a good exercise for me to have to eat so slowly and chew so thoroughly. I’ll try to remember it. I am planning to go back to the office tomorrow, at least for a half day of work. We will see how it goes. I will post more if anything interesting happens, for sure when the scabs finally come off. I hope everyone is hanging in there!

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  3. Greg, when I found your site I read everything you had to say and the shopping list AND everything else was so helpful! Thank you so much for setting up this webpage……you have been a Godsend to me!

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  4. I am currently on Day 17 of my recovery and for the most part I am back to normal. I am back to a normal diet but find that I still need to be mindful of not having large mouthfuls and ensuring that I chew properly. I haven’t tried anything crunchy like chips yet but I am eating toast again.

    Overall I would say that my recovery was pretty good. I hit an emotional wall on Day 8 and had a bit of a breakdown as I wasn’t able to get any food down without pain. It was easily my worse day but I turned a corner three or four days later and started introducing more solid foods into my diet.

    My throat still feels a bit weird but I guess that is to be expected.

    I was lucky enough not to have any ear pain (aside from an old ache) – though my ear was popping a lot on Day 14 when I was swallowing but it was annoying more than anything else.

    To those still recovering, I hope that it’s as quick and as easy as possible.

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  5. Day 11 after my coblation tonsillectomy: I simply feel like I’ve got a bout of tonsillitis. I’m really not sure what it is, but I think it’s scabs down where I can’t see them causing a lump in my throat. It’s the sensation you get when you get choked up and cry. It sometimes gets worse when I eat and drink or strain my voice (too much talking, too loud, or too high pitch). I’m entirely confident that this will not last forever, and it’s more of a nuisance than a pain.

    The rawness/pain with swallowing was worse upon waking, let up wonderfully during the day, and then worsened again by bedtime, just like any sore throat I suppose.

    I still get a few pangs of sharp pain which seems to be the scab pulling away. I’m thinking when the scabs are finally gone, the lump ache will go away. I’m trying to be patient with the scabs. I had a bleed cauterized two nights ago and want to avoid any more bleeding.

    With that in mind, I’m limiting any strenuous activity that would put any pressure on my throat. I’m just taking it easy, enjoying feeling alive again. I did not take a nap today! I can eat toast, potatoes, anything well-cooked, so long as I chew, chew, chew.

    Since this is the last entry for me, I just want to give Greg a major shout out. The post-op information given to me by the my ENT/hospital was a complete joke. Without Tonsillectomy Resources, I wouldn’t have known at all what to expect, would have no idea how to handle the bleeds, and would have had very little support. My family is astounded at the length of time it takes to recover from “such a minor surgery,” but we’ve all learned a lot during this journey. Documenting my days on the site helped me step back and see my progress, showed me that everything I felt was normal, and encouraged me with the reminder that the grass IS truly greener on the other side. I will NEVER have another tonsil stone, bout of tonsillitis, or a tonsil taking up half my throat. I thank God for that, and I thank Greg for this site!

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    2. Martha – good luck! Thank you for all of the detailed posts! Please come back and post again if you have any other insights as your recovery continues. I hope it is a totally smooth road from here on out!

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