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.
Hello,
I had my tonsillectomy last Wednesday, July 8th. The first two days were not bad at all, but since then it has gotten worse. My throat and right ear sting everytime I swallow. For some reason it has always been the right side that is painful. I am still on a smoothie diet with chicken broth. Hoping to feel better soon.
Okay listen, stop reading all of these blogs they are just scary. I had my tonsils out on July 2nd, today is July 11th. If I had read all of these “horror stories” of incredible pain and suffering, I never would have had mine out. Which is the reason that I did not in the first place. Here’s how everything happened for me and will most likely happen for you. (If you’re looking for info just on the scabs scroll to the bottom.)
Day of Surgery: This was my first surgery so I was nervous but excited with the knowledge that once these annoying tonsils were gone I would live a much better life. So the surgery was performed and my tonsils were removed. I woke up loopy on drugs and amnesia. (P.s. if you’re scared of surgeries like I was, don’t be, it just makes it worse.) Now at this point I felt nothing at all, this whole night I was fine barely experienced any pain at all.
Day 1 (after surgery): I had slept a lot of the day of the surgery away, so most of it is quite blurry, no real pain. When I woke the day after everything was tight, and a little painful but nothing bad at all. Spent the day laying in bed and HYDRATING. THIS IS CRUCIAL TO A GREAT RECOVERY, DRINK EVERYTHING, WATER WATER WATER, NO SODA. I had a little of trouble swallowing but that is so expected, I didn’t leave my bed except to walk to the bathroom and I always held on to something while I walked because I was still getting off the amnesia and it made me dizzy.
Day 2: Throughout the night I woke up and took a drink of water to lubricate my throat, this sucks when you do it and the pain is usually pretty bad when you wake up but honestly it’s worth it, and you don’t lose that much sleep. Wake up about every three hours, maybe three times the first four nights and then you can back away in the later stages. Again today wasn’t horrible, just DRINK and stay on top of your medication.
Day 3: Woke up with the worst pain yet which was a 7/10, couldn’t eat, no appetite, and barely drank (WHICH MADE EVERYTHING WORSE). I took a pain pill without any food in my stomach and almost immediately had a lot of nausea. I was on the verge of throwing up and this was the most scary part for me because of how painful I thought it might be, luckily it did not happen. I was prescribed nausea medication for if in case it happened again. This by far was my worst day, which is a good worst day to have in my opinion.
Day 4: Again, during the night I woke and drank water per usual. I had slightly less pain, not entirely sure what caused my pain there in the first place but less. Now what you should expect, and this is normal, is pain in your ear and jaw, I’m sure you’ve read about this but it is a strange pain. I read a remedy for this somewhere online and it absolutely works. Rub your ear/jaw with a soft blanket until the pain goes away. Again, I have absolutely no idea why this works but it does. Ride this day out slowley if three was bad and just keep drinking. Also today I noticed my uvula was GIGANTIC, again this is normal but can make things harder to swallow. My suggestion, drink cold water and sluchies to reduce swelling.
Day 5: By this point I was walking around somewhat normally. (REMEMBER: I have not left my house and done any strenuous activity since the surgery. So if you can find a really free time after your surgery make sure to schedule it then because you need to be able to just relax.) Around this day the foods and drinks that I had been eating got very gross and started to lose taste so I got some new ideas, here are what I ate and drank. I highly reccomend doing this as it held me over until I could eat new foods.
Food List:
Applesauce (flavored)
Mashed Potatoes
Gatorade Sluchies, (Freeze gatorade and then put them in the blender.)
WATER haha
Peaches from a little container you buy at the store
Mac and Cheese (REALLY soften this up, this is like a day 4 food)
Ramen Noodle soup, again be careful with how soft it is
AND NOTHING HOT
THAT’S PRACTICALLY IT FOR DAY 1-4, DAY 5 and on below
Quiche
Very soft small pieces of chicken
Pasta, regular pasta.
Cheese quesidilla
Arizona Iced Tea, still staying away from soda
Matza ball soup
and anything else you can swallow will be fine, just take it slow
Day 6: Like I said, ate new foods, very exciting. Today I was talking quite a bit and was fine, your voice still might sound kinda funny, but that should be expected don’t freak out. Nothing too bad was hurting again today, just stayed on top of medication when I needed it and was okay. By now I’m only taking half of one perkaset, not even a full pill.
Practically the rest of the days have been the same, not much pain other than small spikes here and there. Don’t stress about this surgery, yes there is pain, I can’t lie. And sure it MIGHT be the worst pain you’ve experienced but for me, it has not been horrible. Now if you want to know how the scabs falling off for me were keep reading.
Scabs:
So sure they are there, and are unavoidable. Don’t do anything dumb and dig around there, I can only imagine how painful that would be. Just leave it alone and let it run its course.
My scabs are about 3/4 of the way off I would say and it’s not like a scary thing, just kind of weird.
Around day 6 I started noticing them and could slightly feel one piece coming off. Thankfully this was right before I went to sleep and just dozed off, I woke up and I believe that it came off in my sleep. Now, I had the misconception for a little while that they would peel off like regular scabs, however I could not have been more wrong. Most likely, you are just going to cough and they’ll come off. When I cough I just swallow, no pain, nothing, it is absolutely fine when it does.
I won’t lie, it does hurt a bit more when they do come off just because… I don’t know, imagine ripping a regular scab off, it stings and then stops. So don’t be concerned. Some advice though, when they come off, it is like a fresh, open, wound. So drinking acidic things does not feel great. Even water, not great. But don’t stop drinking because of this, keep drinking, it will only help the healing process.
I hope I answered any questions you have, if not just write a message and I’ll do my best to answer it. Good luck! I’m sure everything will be just fine. 🙂
Thanks Spencer- It’s always good to hear a positive story
Take care!
Hey
I suffer from bad breath since last year. I went to the ENT yesterday and he told me to do a surgery to remove my tonsils but my problem is I hardly ever get tonsil stones so that wouldn’t be the cause of my bad breath so if I had to remove my tonisils how would that help with my bad breath?
Seems like a pretty invasive option for bad breath. I’d get a second opinion. Good luck to you!
It will defintely help with the horrible taste yes, but be aware that this surgery is no small one. So make sure you are clear on what you’re getting yourself into before you do that. But to answer your question, yes the smell will go away. 🙂
Okay listen, stop reading all of these blogs they are just scary. I had my tonsils out on July 2nd, today is July 11th. If I had read all of these “horror stories” of incredible pain and suffering, I never would have had mine out. Which is the reason that I did not in the first place. Here’s how everything happened for me and will most likely happen for you. (If you’re looking for info just on the scabs scroll to the bottom.)
Day of Surgery: This was my first surgery so I was nervous but excited with the knowledge that once these annoying tonsils were gone I would live a much better life. So the surgery was performed and my tonsils were removed. I woke up loopy on drugs and amnesia. (P.s. if you’re scared of surgeries like I was, don’t be, it just makes it worse.) Now at this point I felt nothing at all, this whole night I was fine barely experienced any pain at all.
Day 1 (after surgery): I had slept a lot of the day of the surgery away, so most of it is quite blurry, no real pain. When I woke the day after everything was tight, and a little painful but nothing bad at all. Spent the day laying in bed and HYDRATING. THIS IS CRUCIAL TO A GREAT RECOVERY, DRINK EVERYTHING, WATER WATER WATER, NO SODA. I had a little of trouble swallowing but that is so expected, I didn’t leave my bed except to walk to the bathroom and I always held on to something while I walked because I was still getting off the amnesia and it made me dizzy.
Day 2: Throughout the night I woke up and took a drink of water to lubricate my throat, this sucks when you do it and the pain is usually pretty bad when you wake up but honestly it’s worth it, and you don’t lose that much sleep. Wake up about every three hours, maybe three times the first four nights and then you can back away in the later stages. Again today wasn’t horrible, just DRINK and stay on top of your medication.
Day 3: Woke up with the worst pain yet which was a 7/10, couldn’t eat, no appetite, and barely drank (WHICH MADE EVERYTHING WORSE). I took a pain pill without any food in my stomach and almost immediately had a lot of nausea. I was on the verge of throwing up and this was the most scary part for me because of how painful I thought it might be, luckily it did not happen. I was prescribed nausea medication for if in case it happened again. This by far was my worst day, which is a good worst day to have in my opinion.
Day 4: Again, during the night I woke and drank water per usual. I had slightly less pain, not entirely sure what caused my pain there in the first place but less. Now what you should expect, and this is normal, is pain in your ear and jaw, I’m sure you’ve read about this but it is a strange pain. I read a remedy for this somewhere online and it absolutely works. Rub your ear/jaw with a soft blanket until the pain goes away. Again, I have absolutely no idea why this works but it does. Ride this day out slowley if three was bad and just keep drinking. Also today I noticed my uvula was GIGANTIC, again this is normal but can make things harder to swallow. My suggestion, drink cold water and sluchies to reduce swelling.
Day 5: By this point I was walking around somewhat normally. (REMEMBER: I have not left my house and done any strenuous activity since the surgery. So if you can find a really free time after your surgery make sure to schedule it then because you need to be able to just relax.) Around this day the foods and drinks that I had been eating got very gross and started to lose taste so I got some new ideas, here are what I ate and drank. I highly reccomend doing this as it held me over until I could eat new foods.
Food List:
Applesauce (flavored)
Mashed Potatoes
Gatorade Sluchies, (Freeze gatorade and then put them in the blender.)
WATER haha
Peaches from a little container you buy at the store
Mac and Cheese (REALLY soften this up, this is like a day 4 food)
Ramen Noodle soup, again be careful with how soft it is
AND NOTHING HOT
THAT’S PRACTICALLY IT FOR DAY 1-4, DAY 5 and on below
Quiche
Very soft small pieces of chicken
Pasta, regular pasta.
Cheese quesidilla
Arizona Iced Tea, still staying away from soda
Matza ball soup
and anything else you can swallow will be fine, just take it slow
Day 6: Like I said, ate new foods, very exciting. Today I was talking quite a bit and was fine, your voice still might sound kinda funny, but that should be expected don’t freak out. Nothing too bad was hurting again today, just stayed on top of medication when I needed it and was okay. By now I’m only taking half of one perkaset, not even a full pill.
Practically the rest of the days have been the same, not much pain other than small spikes here and there. Don’t stress about this surgery, yes there is pain, I can’t lie. And sure it MIGHT be the worst pain you’ve experienced but for me, it has not been horrible. Now if you want to know how the scabs falling off for me were keep reading.
Scabs:
So sure they are there, and are unavoidable. Don’t do anything dumb and dig around there, I can only imagine how painful that would be. Just leave it alone and let it run its course.
My scabs are about 3/4 of the way off I would say and it’s not like a scary thing, just kind of weird.
Around day 6 I started noticing them and could slightly feel one piece coming off. Thankfully this was right before I went to sleep and just dozed off, I woke up and I believe that it came off in my sleep. Now, I had the misconception for a little while that they would peel off like regular scabs, however I could not have been more wrong. Most likely, you are just going to cough and they’ll come off. When I cough I just swallow, no pain, nothing, it is absolutely fine when it does.
I won’t lie, it does hurt a bit more when they do come off just because… I don’t know, imagine ripping a regular scab off, it stings and then stops. So don’t be concerned. Some advice though, when they come off, it is like a fresh, open, wound. So drinking acidic things does not feel great. Even water, not great. But don’t stop drinking because of this, keep drinking, it will only help the healing process.
I hope I answered any questions you have, if not just write a message and I’ll do my best to answer it. Good luck! I’m sure everything will be just fine. 🙂
I had my tonsils out about 2 years ago and it was the worst pain I have experienced but well worth the agony. However about 7 weeks after the procedure I started having throat pain again. I thought I had strep throat…I went back to my doc and he told me that wasnt my usual problem and dismissed me. Over the course of the last 2 years I have been back to different doctors and was always told they didnt see anything and I was dismissed sometimes with antibotics. I found another ENT who looked and saw nothing.. but asked me if I had ever smoked. I almost said no but said yes I did I had quit 33 years ago. He numbed me up and ran a little tube down my nose and told me I had a large cyst. Basically a tonsil cyst. I do not know if I had before surgery or it developed after the surgery….but anyway had surgery again last week and poof no more throbbing pain. Hope I am through once and for all with the throat problems.
They will close eventually. You are lucky I couldn’t eat or drink for 21 days due to the pain and scabs and stiches. It’s been a little over one year and I just started to be able to drink pop/ soda again. Good luck. Eric