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.
Well guys just doing a follow up. 5 weeks since surgery and today I went to the hospital. The last 4 days I’ve had increasing pain, as I didn’t have much at all. I ended up looking at the back of my throat and saw more white stuff forming and weird spots. As my family doctor is out till Monday, same with my ENT, I came to emergency room and I have an infection. Geeze, this was the whole point of getting my tonsils out. I’m disappointed but I will say, I’m not running a fever and not miserable like when I had them in. I hope this will get better and can’t wait till I’m over this. Thought I was doing well until this. For those reading this, an infection can happen as I am here with it. Good luck to you all and happy new year!!!
Since childhood, I was suffering from tonsillitis, 3-4 times a year my tonsil got inflamed. Most of my attending physician advised us to remove the tonsil to avoid the complications. Until now, I’m 35 and still suffering from tonsillitis. And finally I had my tonsillectomy last 24th of December this year. So, it’s been 6 days ago and suffering the worst and unbearable pain. I wake up my mouth is dry and my throat is firing and felt something bulge inside my throat. I’m working in other country and living alone , I feel so miserable and alone, I asked one of my friend to stay with me just for emergency. Today I tried to eat pizza and I guess I don’t feel much pain why swallowing or maybe because I took pain reliever. I hope my life would be more better and sick free. Thanks guys and god bless!
There are 2 different methods for a tonsillectomy and I feel that how much pain, whether you bleed much and how long it takes to recover depends on what method is used.
Surgery is quickly done using method 1 – a small instrument called a tonsillar snare is used. It has a fine wire loop (snare) at one end of a tube and when the plunger at the other end is depressed, the wire loop retracts (closes) both crushing and cutting the tonsil off at the base of the stem (the connection) attached to the sides. While there’s more to a tonsillectomy, basically this is what most surgeons use.
Method 2 takes longer to do and is more finicky so few surgeons do it this way. Rather than cutting the tonsils off at the base, the surgeon basically peels the tonsils off. There’s a thin membrane between tonsils and the sides of the throat. By slowly and carefully peeling them off, there’s a VERY low risk of bleeding. Recovery is quicker and pain is less.
If I had to have a tonsillectomy, I’d make sure I found a surgeon willing to use the second method.
I’m 18 and had my tonsils removed the 22nd so today is day 8 for me. From day 3 on I’ve expireinced the most excruciating and unbearable pain, I was miserable and saw no end in sight. Today, For the first time since surgery, I ifelt a glimmer of hope as my pain seemed to reduced drastically and I’ve regained so much energy. I was able to eat toast and avocado and eggs for breakfast…my first food besides soup and ice chips since surgery!! I thought the worst was over but my scabs have begun falling off and even the slightest sip of water sends my mouth into this searing, burning and stinging pain..is this normal? If so, how long does it last? I’m so OVER this recovery and just want to eat real food again and leave my couch. I was banking on being better for New Years Eve but from the looks of things I’ll be staying in. 🙁 sos
I’m 19 and on my 10th day of recovery. I almost feel back to normal but my throat is still sore. What I found help when my scabs fell off was warm tea instead of cold liquids. I did this until about day 9 when I could drink Gatorade and cold water again without being in pain. This was the longest recovery I felt like and the pain was unreal. But on day 8 for me everything just seemed to change and from then on I have been better and been able to eat. So just know that you will have a day when all of a sudden the pain is bearable and you feel human again!!
I found this after my op on 8th December this year….. I can empathise with the night wakings feeling like my throat was on fire. I had to move to the spare room as I would literally count the hours until I could take my next codeine. It was hell and took an hour to eat my dinner! On Tuesday 16th December I became one of the small, yet devastating statistics of the bleed…. I had a spontaneous arterial bleed and lost over a litre in my kitchen sink in the 13mins it took the ambulance to arrive. I was blue lighted to hospital and needed resuscitation as I was haemodynamically unstable. It was the most terrifying experience of my life! Turns out I had a bad infection. So guys – keep on top of your pain. Mine was bad. And quickly recovered when I was on iv antibiotics. If you are unsure see your doc!
Rebecca I too was a bleeder! I had my op on 21st nov and a week later I had big bleed 🙁 had to go back to theatre to be re cauterised and stitched! How are you now? Did u have stitches? How did they stop the bleeding? My stitches are still there and don’t seem to be going away 4 weeks later 🙁