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.
Chuck, has your scabs healed at all yet? Coming off? Good luck to your recovery too. On day 4 right now.
Today is Friday the 28th of November 2014 and its been exactly 7 days since I’ve had my Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy. I’m 58 years old and knew this would not be a walk in the park. The night before surgery I went to Costco and bought two cases of Smart Water because it has electrolytes and I wanted something to help with nausea. I knew I would be nauseated from surgery and taking medication. Also, I bought three cases of popsicles a case of yogurt and a pill smasher. Surgery went well, no issues and I woke up by a nurse holding a cup of ice chips. Pain scale, 1 being the least and 10 the most was about 6 when I woke up. I was given who knows what, taken orally. It came in a container that looks like those small plastic jelly containers you get with breakfast at your local eatery. I swallowed the contents and results were immediate, I digressed into lala land and was utterly comfortable. I started to ingest ice chips, looking into the cup to find the smallest one I could tolerate and thinking….will I have the manual dexterity to pick this chip up with this spoon as high as I am? Well, it worked! One chip turned into two, two into three and so on. Right now it’s not called pain there’s only a slight bit of discomfort and I can deal with this. My Doctor popped in and asked how I was feeling and re-enforced his concern about me keeping properly hydrated when I’m at home and asked that I walk around the block (assisted) when I get home. I got the message: one hydration to help with flushing of all the general aesthesia and keep moving to keep the system flushed while recovering. When I arrived home I used what was left of the general aesthesia in my system to my advantage, I drank as much as water as I could. That was about 1 ½ pints of Smart Water. I immediately started taking my meds, which are two pills every four hours for pain. I crush them and mix them with two teaspoons of yogurt, which worked well for me. By 9:00 PM I was started to eat the popsicles. They provided a great deal of relief. I ate a case of popsicles in three days and was glad I bought more than one case the night I went shopping at Costco. I’d wake up at night and grab a popsicle, the ice cold helps relieve the pain. After surgery days 1 to 3 are about a three to five on the pain scale; however, days four, five and six the pain increases as does the amount the amount of popsicles you eat and the ice cold Smart Water you drink. When I awoke this morning (day 7) it felt like I was swallowing chards of glass when eating the popsicle. After having 3 popsicles one right after another; then, ice water, two pain pills I began to fell better. After starting off with such a poor start this morning I’m amazed at how well I feel the rest of the day. A mild discomfort in the throat (more discomfort when eating yogurt and drinking water) and today is the best I’ve felt since leaving the hospital. Things to note: 1. Sleeping is very difficult if not impossible the first nights because of swelling so get it when you can: 2 Mornings are the most painful. I don’t know why, they just are more painful then the rest of the day. I start each day with popsicles ☺ : 3. Take in as much liquid as you can tolerate it helps flush the system and even though you’re hungry being hydrated is most important: 4. My chest felt congested after surgery until day 6. I wanted to cough and did everything physically possible not to. I was afraid the scabs in my throat would come off prematurely, resulting in a trip to ER for them to be cauterized. Also, dairy products of any type increase chest congestion and it’s the last thing I want, so I stay away from the products like the plague. This is my first seven days, I’m hoping tomorrow (Saturday) will be better than today and each day after better than the day before. I wish all of you the best while recovering! It’s not easy but it’s something we all must do.
This is why im not even trying soft foods. Im going to stick with soup and jello etc for a while to avoid that.
Im on day 3 and apart from being a smidge swollen im doing allright so far.
Kate- thank you for your reply. For a minute I was thinking this isn’t so bad until I woke up today. The one thing I didn’t get or try is throat longes or spray. I will try to get some today. Your right, I see about days 3-5 is when it gets bad for some people. I’m gonna stay strong and work through this today. Thanks again for your reply.
Sorry Gary – you are entering the worst part of the recovery, and I am afraid you probably have a few days (maybe about 4) of this bad phase to go. If you look back through the posts you will see a trend of people starting to feel worse at day 4 onwards. The shock is that regular, maxxed out painkillers can’t take it all away, so you have to try other tactics, especially sucking on crushed ice, lozenges, using numbing throat spray, distraction e.g. watching DVDs. You might manage to get some soup down once the painkillers take the edge off it. There is a reason this operation is not routinely done on adults, and now you are experiencing it. Sorry you feel so bad – it DOES get better.