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.
Getting my tonsils removed next week Thursday, August 20th, 2015 by coblation method. I’m a 35 year old male and absolutely terrified of the pain after reading all these stories. I am getting them removed for chronic tonsil stones.
I had a table saw accident about seven years ago and know what a 10-10 pain level is and am not looking forward to experiencing it again. Negotiated with the doctor for the same narcotic pain management I was on for table saw accident that is 5mg Dilaudid every 4-6 hours and 10/325 Norco every two hours, Phenergan suppositories for nausea. Then adding 10mg predizone, and those numbing lollipops on recommendation of others.
Anyone on here have a similar pain management regime?
Hoping to find someone else going through this procedure around the same period to share this potentially horrible experience.
hi Curtis – I also had my tonsils removed due to tonsil stones and am so glad I did (a year on!)
The recovery is truly not nice, but you are unlikely to have 10/10 pain, especially with all those pain meds. Stock up on ice and ice packs, soft food, plus some box sets/books for distraction. And don’t plan to do anything but recover for a couple of weeks.
wishing you a speedy recovery!
Hey Kate and thank you for the reply. Here it is almost Monday and the count down begins for this Thursday.
Just signed all the release papers…
My other major concern is being able to get the pills down. I was incorrect on the dilaudid dosage, it is 4mg not 5mg every 4-6/h and Norco 10/325 every 2-4. Dr. Says they can be crushed up in apple sauce or pudding. But if you can’t swallow on day six then what?
My schedule is cleared for 16 days from work with my clients.
Will those numbing lollipops make swallowing possible to get food and meds down? Preferably in that order?
I’m sleeping in a recliner with two humidifiers next to me.
Why do people prefer the vanillia instead of chocolate ensure? Does one burn more?
Well i am British so most of what you have written about meds and food doesn’t mean anything to me!
I do suggest that you time your eating for shortly after your pain medication doses, when you have the best chance of swallowing anything.
And also try sucking on ice chips to numb your throat before forcing the medication down
Stock up on soup! I found chocolate of any type burned
And I found mouthwash useful when the thought of trying to clean my teeth was tough (due to all the swelling in my mouth) – swilling it around the front part of my mouth and teeth, but avoiding my throat, made me feel a little better about life.
It sounds like you are well prepared organisation-wise. Now you need to focus on relaxing a little and just getting through it. It’s not as bad for some people as others (I did find it fairly gruesome!). But you will get through it and then NO MORE TONSIL STONES!! Focus on that!
Hi there,
I am getting my tonsils out on 26th August 2015. I’m 30 and also quite nervous about what to expect!
Would be good to chat I think!
Hey Mary, would love to
Chat. I go in Tomorrow at 6:30a so I will keep you posted!
-Curtis
Ps… I do not do well with pain but the ENT I have is amazing and the pain management is second to none that we negotiated. My biggest recommendation is to tell them what you want to be on. What he was going to prescribe would not have worked for me.
Good luck!
Aug 20th, 10:41a: (Sorry for long post, this outlines from yesterdays Tonsiectomy to the following morning)
Please forgive any typos, still have a ton of drugs in me. To be clear, I am the biggest pansy when it comes to pain.
So much so, when they were hooking me up to the IV I almost decided not to go through with my tonsillectomy. The wife and the sedative they gave me helped sway my decision.
The reason: I had a table saw accident several years ago and knew what 10-10 pain is. If you are anything like me, you researched the sh!t out of this procedure and are now terrified because almost 98% of the accounts of this surgery are horrible stories.
I am journaling my experience for those like me that are spending 100’s of hours reading and prepping. Hopefully, this will help you.
Just had a coblation tonsillectomy at 7:30a Thursday August 20, 2015, for chronic tonsil stones. ENT told my wife he could not believe they were not removed as a child because of the scarring on them from multiple sicknesses.
I am a 35-year-old male and live in the USA. Just got back home now several minutes ago from outpatient surgery and wanted to start this right away while it is fresh in my mind. This must be the “honeymoon phase” since I am in very little pain. Maybe a 1-2 out of 10.
Ate jello and now about to eat Kraft mac and cheese since I hear when the anesthesia the stuff wears off, it is bad.
I am prescribed 1-2 Dilaudid 4mg every 4-6 and Norco 10/325 every 2-4 hours. Phenergan suppositories for nausea, tetracaine numbing lollipops, the tonsil fire extinguisher, and a stool softener. ENT talked me out of the steroids since he said it prolongs healing but I really want them, all I need to do is call and ask.
Drinking a TON of water right now to keep hydrated. Took two soft ice packs you can get in the camping section of Walmart and put them in a sock to wrap around my neck. Will keep you posted.
Aug. 20th 5:30p.
So pain is at about a 2-3 out of 10. Not terrible at all. I am at 64oz of water in a Nalgene bottle that has a neoprene cover on it to keep it cold. Resting in a recliner watching TV. Have two TV stands next to the recliner with a humidifier on each one, tv remote, etc.
Ate jello, which went down great then ate Kraft Mac and cheese again, and a protein shake.
Wife made me mini Gatorade ice cubes and strawberry ensure ice cubes.
ICE, ICE, ICE and WATER, WATER, WATER is a must! Was able to take a few cat naps about 30 minutes a piece. Making sure I stay hydrated.
My sister is a surgical nurse for an ENT and stressed the importance of ICE and Hydration. I have had an ice pack around my next the entire time.
Not too much more to report. Oh, buy one of those travel neck pillows.
Aug. 21st 2 am
Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your seat trays and seat backs into upright and locked position because we are in for a bumpy ride. Boy am I glad I got that food down earlier.
Took my last pain meds yesterday night around 10:30p and fell right to sleep. I set an alarm for 1:30a to make sure I drank more H2O and took more pain meds. Well, no alarm clock needed. I woke up with a solid 7-8 out of ten pain level at exactly 1:19a. Feels like the left tonsil scab is wanting to peel (which it does not appear to by flashlight inspection) and like the worse case of strep throat I ever had.
I forgot to mention from when I woke up in recovery and to now I have not talked, but two words to make sure the vocals still worked. Been using a dry erase board or texting from my computer and phone to communicate with the wife. From several other peoples stories they said talking tends to make you pay for it later.
On top of that, I also forgot to mention I am on three different blood pressure medicines and Prilosec as well for acid reflux that my GP, who referred me to the ENT said I must stay on. That is an additional four pills a day that must go down each morning.
From up until now I was rotating from one Norco 10/325 to one 4mg Dilaudid every three hours. The pain I just work up in, I just took one of each and a Phenergan to keep the nausea down. I also drank another 16oz of water, had apple sauce, and made another protein shake.
It is not my intention to scare anyone away. I did mention earlier I am the world’s biggest pansy when it comes to pain, I just want to share an accurate experience of what I am going through as it happens. It has been pretty much on par with other people’s stories.
I am journaling this in pages on my Mac, so I will go ahead and upload it to this forum in case someone else is in or near the same recovery phase as me.
The Phenergan is starting to kick in which makes you sleepy. Thanks for listening and must keep that end goal in mind of NO MORE TONSIL STONES:-)
Hey! What happened to you after the 21st????
I am good jealous that it’s over for you now!!!
My 6th day has been horrible. Is 7th better??
My 14 year-old son had strep @4 times every year from age @5-10. I was told he’d grow out of it. We then went for 3 years with no strep and I thought we had. This past January, strep came back with a vengeance. He had it 3 times in 5 months. The dr said that step occurrence can increase in the teen years. Already on the adult dosage for antibiotics to fight strep, I was worried his strep would become ever more complicated and difficult to cure. I decided it was time for a tonsillectomy. I know there is still a chance for strep, but thought it was a way to at least reduce the occurrence rates. Of course, my hope is that strep will never be his diagnosis again. My son had his tonsils removed 11 days ago. This has been a particularly long and painful ordeal. I sure hope it was worth it.
He has a very high tolerance for pain. He has endured multiple in-office nose cauterizations and an open (compound) arm break requiring 2 surgeries and rods with 3 months of PT. But those were nothing compared to tonsillectomy recovery.
I want to share some of our experiences to help others. I want to make special note that having a humidifier is very helpful. I just got a small inexpensive travel one and that worked well. Ice water and ice chips were also a great source of hydration and pain management. A few soft foods that were not mentioned that were great for us were ripe avocados and baked flounder. We are trying to help him regain the 7 pounds he lost over the past week. I have learned that Wendy’s has frosty’s that are 500+ calories and Cold Spring Creamery has milkshakes that are 1,000. And I didn’t see it mentioned much on these boards, but Ensure is high in protein and calories!!
Day 1 was tough but not awful. He had painkillers in his system. He was nauseous from anesthesia, but never vomited. He started on his Hydrocodone once we got home. No bleeding. Ice chips were all he could tolerate. Gatorade and everything else burned. Artificial ice pops are the best as the fruit based ones also burn. Alternated hydrocodone and Tylenol. Nausea increased.
Day 2 was similar to Day 1
Day 3 the pain intensified and the ear pain was the worst. Nausea increased and he vomited. Tried to get him to eat applesauce etc. so the hydrocodone wouldn’t make him so sick. Didn’t work so I decided to switch to alternating Advil and Tylenol regimen instead of hydrocodone and Tylenol. The Advil worked well. Continued the Advil/Tylenol regime. (I saw some posts on here that dr had prescribed Advil – ibuprophen – so I figured we were out of the woods with the bleeding, so it would probably be ok.) I did that for 2 ½ days. Then he started spitting out blood. Small at first. Then he start puking blood. He was sent to ER and he vomited up a big blood clot as well as some more blood. A pretty scary amount, although I didn’t measure it. One doctor and one nurse yelled at me for giving him the Advil. Another doctor and nurse said it wasn’t the Advil that caused the bleeding. Either way, I was a mess and felt like a stupid idiot for giving him the Advil.
The ENT on call is my least favorite ENT at our practice, in fact, he is my least favorite doctor ever. He loves surgery and his bed-side manner is appalling. He, of course, suggested he cauterize my son – under general anesthesia. When I heard he was the ‘on call’, I knew this would be the case. My son’s bleeding self-limited and for hours he was fine so I wasn’t comfortable with the cauterization. If it was bed-side, I would be, but more general anesthesia for something that the dr was unsure if he really needed, seemed a bit much. If my regular dr would have suggested it, I would have done it, but this other dr is surgery happy and a bit of a quack. I was nervous about my decision, but thought it was the right one. The on call ENT told me that it takes 5 days for Advil to leave the system so my son had to be on a liquid diet for 4 more days. That didn’t make sense to me but I was so grateful we weren’t have surgery, I agreed.
My son was getting weaker and weaker. I knew he needed food to heal. ENSURE!! Of course, why hadn’t I thought of that earlier in the week! He drank it but he needed real food.
Since my regular dr was on vacation, I called the office to schedule an earlier follow up apt because of the hemorrhaging. The woman I spoke with asked me how my son was feeling. I told her how weak he was and about the all liquid diet…..she put me on hold and spoke to another dr in the practice. He said to get him on soft solids stat. She also agreed the Advil hadn’t been his cause of hemorrhaging.
I called Advil customer service and the woman I spoke with looked up the information on how long Advil stays in the system. She said that 70%-90% of Advil is out of the system within 24 hours. If that’s the case then 100% must be gone by 48 hours, right? Dr. Quacks 5 day theory was way off.
We had many low points. He said for the first 3 days that he regretted it. I finally agreed on day 4. Exhausted and discouraged, we cried together.
We are on day 11 and his energy is about 70% and he is beginning to talk a lot more. His voice still sounds muffled, but it doesn’t hurt to talk. Hemorrhaging again is still in the back of my mind, but it’s been 4 days so I’m feeling more confident that it won’t happen. He is eating more – although it’s all still soft. We see our regular dr in 2 days. That will be day 13.
I never thought it would happen, but we made it to the end of the dark tunnel and the light is within reach. Day 10 was a big turning point. Hang in there to all who are going thru this. This too shall pass.
To clarify, The hemorrhaging occurred on day 7.
Hello! what you had to live was horrible, I am so sorry. I decided not to take the vicodin because I read that’s the cause of the vomit and I just couldn’t handle it with the pain and everything. I am on my 6th day and it’s the first day I can’t eat or drink…its terrible. You say you son had the bleeding on the 7th!!! OMG I won’t eat tomorrow either because even drinking water makes me bleed today. Thanks a lot for your informative message. I am sure he is doing great now 😉
Day 8. I am pretty sure the scabs have started falling off pieces at a time cause that sharp pain I feel and the mucus that fills my throat I imagine is it. The earache that I was not so warned about has come at full force which I must say has been the worst of this so far. I had strep so often that the painful throat swallowing wasn’t such an issue as this major earache that I am having (and only on the left side) does anyone have advice for me on what to do to ease the pain other than my obvious pain meds? Please.
I am on day 8, too, with ear pain and had found elsewhere on the site that chewing ice or having it melt in your mouth helps, and it does! Also, draping a cold pack, or “ice sock” like they send you home with from the hospital around your neck helps, too. Hope you get relief soon!
I know its over for you now but just in case someone reads this. Yes, for me cold packs were the best. Also, I have been reading a lot about controlling pain with auto hypnosis and relaxation and it really helps or at least I don’t feel desperate. Bye¡
I have found that ear plugs help ease the ear pain pretty dramatically. I think it has something to do with the pressure. I noticed that plugging my ears when I swallow dulls the pain a little as well. Icing around your sides of your neck towards your ears helped me a lot too. That ear pain is killer!
I am currently on day 15 post op from my original surgery, day 8 post op from my second surgery. On day 7, I had very intense bleeding and had to be taken again for cautery. Also, during my second procedure, there was an issue with the cautery, which caused a very large burn on the right medial canthus of my mouth. At this point, pain is about 5/10 on the second surgical site, ears, and burn, but I have been pulling off the pain meds. I want to stop the opioids in general, but am afraid frequent ibuprofen and similar drugs could cause more bleeding. Thankfully, I’m able to take a full two weeks off from work after the second procedure, to try and avoid a third go around, ha!
I’ve found this website incredibly helpful through this endeavor, and even with the complications, I’m so looking forward to not ha
I’ve found this website so helpful!
I’ve been keeping a blog to document my experience and any tips I’ve found useful along the way. Not going to lie, i’ve found it very hard and very painful!
Read more about my journey here:
http://laurastonsillectomyjourney.blogspot.co.uk
Please share, I hope I can help more people with their journey. Thanks!