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.
I am 22 years old and am getting my tonsils removed tomorrow. Is the pain really going to be bad as the rest of the posts on here? (I’ve noticed that people are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s).
I am now even debating canceling my procedure because now I’m starting to think “Do I really need to remove them?” I get frequent sore throats throughout the year, and this past summer, I got strep 3 times within a span of one month. Not sure if this warrants getting this procedure done?
Hi Claudia. It’s definitely worse some some than others. Youth helps.
Find us on Facebook. You’ll get lots of feedback.
Hi Claudia, yes it is as painful as you have read. I am on week 6 of recovery.
It is really worth it, just keep taking your meds and make sure you get the correct meds. I was given only Panadol and volvast and it was hell. You will make it through and feel better for it in the long run
It is horrible. But, with time you’ll get better! Just have to push through!
19 year old female in US. Surgery was on 12/11, planning on being better by Christmas. Day of surgery I was wide awake until midnight, the Acetaminophen/Hydrocodone strung me up and I wasn’t hungry. Day 2, I switched meds to Acetaminophen/Codeine every 6 hours, and I can really tell when it’s wearing off. I ate mashed potatoes, eggs and jello. I am drinking lots of water, tea and ice coffee. At night I can hardly sleep from pain, choking and coughing. Today is day 3, and I am swollen and hardly able to swallow. A little afraid to eat. Pain in ears and neck. Using ice packs.
25 year old female had tonsillectomy on 3rd December. Tonsillectomy has been the most awful experience of my life. Day 4 to day 9 absolute agony and legitimately wanted to die I was in so much pain. Was not prepared for this!!! Ended up at emergency and was given gargles on day 9. WISH I could turn back time and have these from the beginning!!!!
*********BUY THESE GARGLES they stop the agony and torture*********
– Aspalgin (dispersible aspirin combined with codeine) it’s a throat gargle and you swallow it.
– Xylocaine-602 viscous solution (throat gargle that completely numbs EVERYTHING, so you can actually eat. Be careful tho don’t have too hot food and chew slowly. You can’t feel your tongue either)
The above were 100% more effective than my painkillers of: 4 x endone, 12hrly slow release targin (ocycodone), and brufen. These hardcore painkillers provided NO relief. Was on absolute agony day 4 and it progressed worse and worse each day! Unable to sleep due to pain, vomiting, earaches, jaw pain, sinus pain, gp visit due to horrendous pain and got sent to emergency at the hospital for pain management and that’s when i got referred to gargles. If you’re pain plan is not working go to GP and ask for something different it is awful suffering through the agony day after day. I’m not out of the woods yet my scabs are still there but at least pain is more tolerable now. Seeing specialist Monday for review. Hope this post helps someone else out there. Be strong it is awful but you’re not alone!
Please delete my previous post for advice for mouth washes.
One of the gargles caused me to have emergency surgery due to aspirin which thinned my blood. Was given wrong medication incorrectly from emergency and resulted in waking up with blood pouring from wound, ambulance to hospital. They stopped it but it happened again a day later has to have emergency surgery lost a lot of blood narrowly avoided blood transfusion. Home today after 4 days in hospital. Most traumatic experience.
Hi Kristina- I deleted that post for you. I’m so sorry to hear of the trouble. Yikes! Hope things go smoothly henceforth.
I’m a 23 year old female and I’m currently day 8 post-op.
If I had known I’d be in this much pain, I reckon I wouldn’t have gone through with the procedure to be quite honest.
You see I had my tonsils removed when I was 4 years old however unfortunately they had grown back and had been giving me problems throughout the year. The doctors called is residual tonsils and said it’d be best to get them removed so I agreed.
Post op recovery:
Immediately post op I was fine, great actually. Eating, talking etc.
12 hours post op, when the aneasthetic started to wear off I think, the pain kicked in and it was horrible.
I remained in hospital overnight so nursing staff were quite helpful regarding pain management.
My Doctor prescribed triple pain therapy every 6 hours…which I shifted to every 2-4 hours because 6 hours didn’t do any justice.
Like most people I ran out of pain meds on day 6, needed a new prescription.
My worst day was day 7, the pain was indescribable. I couldn’t eat at all and spent most of the day crying and sleeping.
I was given advice by nursing staff to drink coca cola, eat Biltong and chew on chewing gum. These three things helped quite a bit.
I was also told to start on solid foods day 1 post op which was impossible according to me and jello, scrambled eggs and coca cola was what my diet consisted of.
I’m day 8 today and I’m feeling much better, to be honest after eating solid foods I generally feel a lot better. It helps to take my medication an hour before my meal (on an empty stomach, against doctors orders) this way I feel less pain with the struggle of swallowing.
The solid food helps with the scar tissue removal at the back of our throats so I’d advise trying small things as soon as possible.
Wishing everyone a speedy recovery 🙂
Hello and welcome Savanah,- I’m so glad you found us! Sorry you’re having such a tough time. At day 8 you really are in the worst of it. Things should start improving very soon! Hang in there!
.Thank you Greg appreciate it this site really helps.just hope I get some sleep tonight.
im from South-Africa Pretoria im on day 7 and its almost like the pain is getting worse the more days goes past. my pain killers has also been prescribed 12 hourly which frankly sucks do they know how much pain it is. they can use this as a torture tactic just joking . but I have never had so much pain in my life and I had tons of ops and im chronically ill use to deal with pain 24/7 but this is something new. I haven’t cried this much in a long time. my dr said I have to eat solid food immediately so not as lucky as some of you whom got jelly and icicles . but I must say this site helps a lot now I know im not alone.
Hi Elri – South Africa- wow! You are a long ways from me- geographically. We’re all together in this experience. You are not alone! Things will get better- I promise. I remember feeling like you do- it was like I was in a dark tunnel of pain. Stay hydrated, run a humidifier, try propping yourself up a bit when you sleep. I wish you all the best.
i actually did pop my cushions up so you almost sit and sleep. my hubbie tries to help by rubbing my back when I cant sleep . sometimes it helps just to know there is someone and other times your in so much pain you don’t know what to do. thank you for all your advise appreciate it a lot. will let you co-painers know how my healing is progressing. chow for now.