Planning and Recovering From Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy
Let’s start with my own tonsillectomy recovery story. I wasn’t always this healthy. As a kid I ingested more penicillin than a corporate-raised chicken. I was in the doctor’s office several times each year with a sore throat. As the doctor or nurse peered into my mouth, the reaction was always the same: “Whoa, those are some big tonsils!” The diagnosis was usually tonsillitis, or strep throat. As the doctor wrote the prescription, he’d explain that years ago, tonsils like mine would have been removed, but, “these days,” we try to hang onto them. “These days,” were the 1970’s. I guess the tonsillectomy pendulum had swung back from the days when kids got their tonsils out because their brother was getting his out.
Aunt Kate’s reassurance helped, but I still wrote out some just-in-case instructions for my brother and hid them in my closet. I sheepishly told him where they were, just in case.
“This is temporary. You WILL feel better. Hang in there and stay hydrated!” -Greg Tooke
As an adult I continued to suffer from frequent bouts of tonsillitis. It seemed that I caught every bug that passed through my house or workplace. I guess those big ugly tonsils were a nice home for those nasties. It wasn’t until my 40’s that I also became aware that I suffered from something called, Obstructive Sleep Apnea -a condition in which a person stops breathing while asleep. I snored often and would awake abruptly, gulping in big breaths. I felt tired most days. After raising four babies, I had come to accept fatigue as a normal part of life! One day at a routine physical my doctor remarked about the number of episodes of strep throat and tonsillitis I’d had. We also talked about the sleep problems. While he didn’t formally diagnose obstructive sleep apnea, he suspected that I had it. He recommended a tonsillectomy, because of all the tonsil problems I’d had. As a bonus, I might find relief from the sleep apnea as well. If not, I’d undergo a sleep study. Forty four years old and father of four boys and a doctor finally said it: Those tonsils are doing you more harm than good! As much as I hated those tonsils, I was terrified at the thought of going under the knife. I started reading about tonsillectomy recovery on the internet and talking to friends. That didn’t help. “My cousin knew a guy who got a tonsillectomy and bled to death.” “At your age, tonsillectomy is dangerous.” When I met with the ear, nose and throat specialist, (an otolaryngologist), he told me that the risks are the same for an adult undergoing tonsillectomy surgery as for a child, but tonsillectomy recovery is longer and more painful. He was right about that!
Deciding to get a Tonsillectomy
I scheduled the surgery for the day after Thanksgiving. A traditional day of feasting in the United States. If it was to be my last meal, I planned to make it a good one! As it turned out, I was so nervous and scared that I could hardly eat on that day. I was recently divorced and had shared placement of my four boys. So many people counted on me that I began to question my decision. What if I died on the table? How reckless to leave behind a family, simply to avoid frequent tonsillitis? My aunt, a registered nurse reassured me about how simple the surgery was, and how far anesthesiology had come. I had nothing to worry about. Aunt Kate’s reassurance helped, but I still wrote out some just-in-case instructions for my brother and hid them in my closet. I sheepishly told him where they were, just in case
“My tonsils were like a 400 pound gorilla on my back. I don’t miss them at all. Ever.” -from the forum ________________________________________________________________________________
I took a week off from work, asked my ex wife to take care of the boys that week, and asked my uncle to drive me to and from the hospital. (a requirement with anesthesia) That was about all the tonsillectomy recovery preparation I did. I was about to learn a lot! Surgery went fine. I awoke in recovery with a serving of Jell-o in front of me. (“Jelly,” to my British friends) The nurse said that I had to finish it before I could check out. I swallowed it with great relish. It was divine! I called my uncle and we were out of there. I felt ok. I told him thanks and not to worry. I’d be fine. I believed this. Aside from a couple visits, I spent the next ten days alone in misery. The pain set in after about 24 hours. Streaming movies and television shows were my friends. Sleeping became my worst enemy. I’d wake up with my mouth dried out and my throat on fire. Oh my God. I was not prepared for this! I ran out of Popsicle’s on day three. I ran out of pain medicine on day five. The pain peaked on day seven. I broke down and cried in front of my brother on day eight- a combination of pain, drug induced depression, and sleep deprivation. Since then, I’ve read thousands of similar accounts on the tonsillectomy forum I created. It didn’t have to be so hard. If I’d known what I do now, I could have done so much to make my tonsillectomy recovery better. I hope to reach as many people as I can to help guide them through the tunnel. It has been my passion and taught me more about compassion and the amazing strength of the human spirit than any other life experience. When you shine a light for others, you also light your own path.
In the pages at follow, I’ll share tonsillectomy recovery tips with you that I learned from my tonsillectomy experience and years of coaching others through tonsillectomy and recovery.
First of all I’m speaking from experience not from what I have been reading, but believe me I’ve done my fair share of research before, during, and after this surgery. My Dr was straight forward with me and said it sucks, it’s gonna suck, and you will hate life for AT LEAST a week and he was CORRECT. I’m on day 7 of recovery and it’s 3:14am and I’m wide awake in hellacious pain. My days 1-3 were what I thought it was going to be like and boy was I WRONG! Keep in mind obviously everyone is different and if you’ve done research you will the only thing that everyone can agree is on this freaking sucks! I knew it wasn’t going to be a stroll in the park, so I tried getting my game plan together weeks before surgery. I got applesauce, yogurts, popsicles, soups, otc pain medication, if I thought it would help I had it, well guess what….NONE of it helps. I went from day 4-7 without eating anything at all. I could BARELY get down a sip of water, and the more pain meds I took the more my stomach would burn. FYI loratab is horrible! It burns and only puts you to sleep for about 1.5 hrs then you wake up and are in hell for another 3 hours before you can take anything else. Drs believe that only the horror stories get posted on these types of blogs and to be honest I thought that at first but I was going to post my experiences either way and it turns out to be a horror story, sorry. I had ice packs in hand and a humidifier and none of it worked. That’s just for the throat pain, did I mention your ears? Holy &):@&/?! Uncontrollably makes you wanna drill two holes in the sides of your heads HURTFUL. I by no means considered myself to be a whimp, iv been thru cancer and had a child with no pain medication and I’d rather have 50 than to do this again. If it weren’t for my tonsils being so large and blocking my airway id still have them suckers. I’m a 29 y/o female and this was by FAR the worse pain I have ever experienced. I truly wish I could offer some words of encouragement but I can’t. I kept up with my pain medication just like the Dr said. I did loratab liquid every 4 hours and Motrin every 4 hours, so I never went without medication, and yes it was still this bad. I would take my dose of medication at 1:00am and by 3:00 I was soaking in a hot bath with bath salts. I work full time and have a 6 year old kid so my life never consist of laying around 24/7 so that in itself was hard for me too, but it got so depressing and still is this far because I still see “no light at the end” I pray for success if you have this surgery coming up. If it’s not 110% demanding I wouldn’t do it as an adult. If you are considering this for your children, they are super troopers for this. My little boy was in no pain and eating and back to normal activities with in 24 hours of surgery and, was eating chicken nuggets the very next day, he had his operation at 4 years old. You will have other adults who haven’t even had this done (obviously) tell you it can’t be that bad…. they are full of it. So no voice, no food, thank God for text, and 7 days later I’m still in hell. Oh and there will be times you feel congested and need to cough, and will cough up thick and I mean THICK mucus do it and spit it out it don’t “help” with the pain but it will help your breathing. Once again folks good luck!!
Hello. I Just recently got my tonsillectomy procedure done on the 28th of September 2017. I’m On Day 3 and I’m In excusitating pain. This Is unbearable and should not be recommended unless it’s a life or death situation. I know it’s early n my recovery however this pain is ridiculously hard to handle. I wish I wouldn’t of got this procedure! I can’t eat talk barley breath and it hurts like hell to swallow. My doctor said stay hydrated and eat soft foods but that’s all bull S**t! I Been Crying off and on all day today due to the pain. You have to really force yourself to do anything. I Feel Weak and hopeless, not to mention this is a full 2weeks recovery so they say! I would of been better off just getting a prescription of Antibiotics when I do have a sore throat and let that be that. I haven’t ate since Wednesday night. I’m losing weight and my mind!!! My opinion to anyone that has to get this tonsillectomy should definitely do their homework on this procedure it’s really serious. Plan on all other possibilities and recommendations. This is not a walk in the park, this is weeks of constant agony and pain. Im going to give more feedback while the days of pain continue!
Hi I had mine out a day before you and I’m now on my 6th day, if you take painkillers (both paracetamol and ibruofen) every 4 hours correctly and eat half an hour after you should be okay. You need to keep eating especially toast because the crunch of it pushes the scabs down causes it to heal quickly. Day 5 -7 is said to be the worst but after that it’s okau, I feel a lot better now. I feel so weak and sleepy at the moment but rest is important and this is normal. Wish you all the best
Hello King, please do give more feedback, I got my tonsils removed 2 days before you and I would really like to know how you are healing.
How is your daughter doing?
Background- Age 24. Two weeks prior to surgery I had a severe case of strep which caused an abscess which caused ridiculous pain, trouble swallowing, and trouble breathing. I was in the hospital for 4 days on oxygen, iv fluids, antibiotics, steroids, and morphine. I could not even swallow water it hurt that bad. Pain was an 11/10.
Tonsillectomy recovery
Day 1- In the recovery room they tried to make me drink juice and sprite but I asked for water and that was better than anything else. I also had to eat a popsicle. I was nauseas after surgery and they gave me something for nausea that didn’t quite work so they gave me Phenergan which did the job. I almost threw up the liquid pain meds they made me drink because she didn’t warn me that it taste like liquid acid! I got myself together and finished it then slept for about an hour. Had to go the restroom before they would let me leave so I did and finally went home. Slept most of the day and ate popsicles and drank water when it was time for pain meds(hydro/acetaminophen mix) . Pain was around 4/10 but I was really loopy. Sleeping propped up on the couch with humidifier. Regime- eat popsicle, take pain med, drink sip of water, then after 1 hour fall asleep for about 2hrs wake up for about an hour and repeat process.
Day 2- Pain still 4/10. Still pops and water when med time. Slept and watched Netflix. I could talk without it really hurting as long as I didn’t try to talk loudly.
Day 3- Pain 3/10. Ate eggs for bf which was not that bad pain wise. I added half a protein shake to my pops and water at med time. Best friend came to visit and we went to Chili’s for lunch I had a bowl of potato soup and soft flour tortillas. Went home super tired but pain remained at a 4 or 5 the whole day.
Day 4- Pain up to 6/10. A little more uncomfortable today and the ear pain has set in. it isn’t debilitating just annoying. Pops, water, and the occasional protein shake throughout the day. For dinner I ate cold mac and cheese and it was okay. Sleep and Netflix for the day. Still living propped up on the couch with humidifier. Same pain med regime.
Day 5- Pain 8/10. Thought I would try to be a cool kid and stop taking my pain meds. Bad idea. Didn’t wake up to take my meds in the middle of the night and woke up to my mistake. Immediately took my meds and after awhile pain went down to a 7. Day 5 was definitely the hardest day pain wise. Nothing I couldn’t handle just worse than the other days.
Day 6- Pain 7/10. I say 7 mostly because the pain in my throat is accompanied by the really annoying ear pain. I got out of the house today to run some errands but didn’t drive. Also, started eating regular food, it hurts for sure but not enough to not eat after 6 days. No more humidifier.
Day 7- Pain 5/10. I took my last dose of prescription pain med on day 7 in the morning and switched to over the counter (liquid) 500mg extra strength acetaminophen. It doesn’t reduce the pain as much as the hydro but it dulls it enough. I drove and picked up my 4 year old son from daycare.
Day 8- Pain 4/10. Went back to work on day 8. I was tired most of the day especially towards the end. The pain got up to a 6 toward the end of the day but after I got home to rest it was not so bad.
Day 9- Today, pain 2/10. Hurts only when I swallow or yawn (yawning is the devil after a tonsillectomy just fyi pain jumps up to an 8 while yawning). Ears are still hurting especially at night and without the pain meds its hard to get a good nights sleep. I haven’t been taking them throughout the night but I do recommend it. I have not had any bleeding so far so I can not give experience on that.
Best of luck to all going through a tonsillectomy. I hope my story gives you a little hope that it wont be as bad as you think.
Also forgot to mention that I drank atleast 8-10 oz of water an hour after I had my pain meds each time and more if I could. I think it really helped with my recovery.
Omg I’m on day 7 and it is horrible the pain is crazy sleeping is my worst enemy this is no joke wish I had read this before my surgery
The pain is terrible I’m on day 5 and very nauseous I don’t know what to do feeling like it was a bad decision I took
The pain is temporary and will improve in a couple of days. Make sure you’re keeping a constant amount of pain medicine in your system even if it requires you to wake up at night. Your doctor should be able to prescribe you medicine that will help with the nausea–it could be a side effect of the pain meds. You can’t go back so keep looking forward to when this is all over and you’re on the other side.