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.
Hi, everyone. I’m grateful to have found this site. I’ve been suffering with chronic tonsillitis for 25 years. I am also a singer, so have delayed surgery for fear that my voice may change. However, the ENT assures me that the time has come to get rid of these bad boys. She is also confident that she can preserve my voice, if not improve it. One question, can anyone tell me which technique was used on them and the outcome, pain level, hemorrhage rate? I’ve read some literature that suggests that COBLATION might be the best option. Anyone? Thank you in advance for your help and support.
Good morning Marielle,
My son 21 is on day 8 post op (surgery date 1/7). Although not completely a walk in the park, my son has had a pretty good out come during his recovery in comparison to some of the stories I’ve read on this site. We just went to his 1week post op visit with his ENT yesterday, and to our surprise he told us that my sons scabs were 40 to 50% dissolved already
(and here we were wondering when scabbing was going to begin, as I read it was painful)! He ate his first cheeseburger yesterday.. hooray! He had no bleeding durring/after surgery either. And no blood, blood clots on his scabs as of yesterday’s check up. He is not out of the woods just yet (one week to go), but we are very hopeful that he will continue to heal nicely without complications. Coblation is the technique used by the ENT on my son for his tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.
Hope this helps.
Good luck, and prayers for a great outcome!
Hi again!
Nearly finished day 3 and all i can think about is how much worse its going to get now! I’ll admit that the last few days haven’t been what i expected but they have been painful!
Waking up in morning has to be the thing i dread the most, i really do fear it the night before. This is the only part of the day i can not handle, so please be prepared! Ice and meds at the ready!
I can not stress how helpful using an ice bag has been, i feel it has been more effective at times than the meds, and it has made swallowing a doddle for about an hour at a time!
I live in the UK and my doctors told me that i have to eat rough foods i.e toast, biscuits, regular food as it will keep the build up of tissue down and will help stop the scabs from healing over everything too much. I know in the US they tell you to eat soft foods but i recommend trying our method! Ive been eating normal foods since day one, and although it hurts to swallow i know that it is helping speed the recovery up by staring it on day 1 than day 7!
Dreading days 4-7 now! here we go…
Katie x
Good luck Katie! – sucking on crushed ice really helps too. You could also try a hot water bottle from about day 9 onwards – it helped me relax my throat/get more sleep when I slept on mine. Might not help while everything is still really swollen though.
Set an alarm to get up and rotate your ice packs, hydrate with water or ice throughout the night, rinse your mouth with cool water, and don’t wait to take your pain meds! My doctor added liquid Tylenol to get me through as my pain was high two hours after taking my liquid hydrocodone. Don’t be afraid to ask for whatever helps you get through these days ahead! You will get through it trust me, I just made my two week point recently and thought I never would! The pain will increase but if you push hydration it really helps! I struggled at night and in the mornings because it’s all easier said than done! Saying a prayer of strength for you!
Hi Katie, I’m in UK too and have hardly eaten anything since my Opp 3 days ago, the thought of a piece of toast passing down my throat is just too horrific to even consider. I can’t imagine ever being able to eat normally again. The hospital gave me an egg mayo sandwich after surgery which I ate but I think I was so drugged up it was ok. I tried to eat the same yesterday and couldn’t get past the first bite!
Hi Keith!
I hope you’re getting through it! I’ve just hit day 14 and I’m completely back to normal now! Off my meds 2 days ago!
What helped me to eat was having my meds and then waiting about half an hour for them to kick in, it was a struggle and I went through stages of just not wanting to eat, ice helps before eating to as everything gets so cold you don’t feel it! I ate the tiniest bites and followed each mouthful with a sip of water to help it go down a bit better!
Good luck!
Katie C xx
I’m 39, and had my surgery on 12/29/15. The key is lots of fluids (and ice chips) but I know it’s easier said than done (swallowing felt like razor blades in my throat). Even when it feels impossible, you have to force fluids. I pushed additional fluids with each liquid pain dose.
Helpful tools for me were a cool mist humidifier, multiple ice packs to rotate through the day and at night on your throat, propping up on pillows to stay elevated, staying on top of pain meds and keeping a journal of the times as it was easy to feel like you need more before the next dose, my mom stayed with me the first two nights and then visited daily for a few hours to help me get through the worst days when I felt like giving up. I also had two steroid injections the first week due to the uvula inflammation which was making me feel like I couldn’t breathe. It helped a lot to reduce swelling/pain.
I preferred cold items mostly fluids through week one, and a mix of cold and warm week two. I ate things like jello, applesauce, cup of soup chicken noodle with crushed club crackers in the wet soup, noodles, puréed chicken (week 2), Hawaiian sweet rolls, popsicles, smoothies, sherbet, crushed ice, apple juice, Gatorade, water. I also starting experiencing weird taste buds week two and some things tasted “like poison” to me. I’m still having taste issues.
I set my alarm each night to hydrate every couple hours and take my pain meds when due as the nights and the mornings were the hardest times to get through. I woke up crying I think on day 4 saying I can’t do this anymore as things were getting worse when I thought I should feel better! That’s the key is that it gets worse at day 3-9 and then you start to see improvement or the “light at the end of the tunnel” as I referred to. I had my mom stay with me the first two nights but found that days 3-9 were harder than 1-2 for me and everything got worse before it got better. I suggest having someone available to help as I also didn’t drive while on narcotics and don’t suggest it as it’s careless!
I’m down 13.5 pounds and still recovering with pain like one of my worst strep infections, strong ear pain and very tired/weak. It hurts to talk for more than 10 minutes without my throat feeling dry or hoarse. It hurts so bad to yawn!!! I’m just now starting to eat things other than soup, but the soft foods still are comfortable with fluids. I had a very hard time on day 3-9 and then things starting improving but were still hard on me. I highly recommend taking a stool softener or something similar as constipation was an issue due to pain meds and I had a hard time getting normal after I stopped my pain meds recently. Trust me!
I think some people underestimate the recovery/healing or they aren’t prepared for this type of surgery. You say you’re having a tonsillectomy and everyone thinks it’s rest and ice cream but that’s so far off base!!! Luckily, I had a friend that had the surgery last summer and she didn’t sugar coat anything. I’m thankful I was somewhat prepared for the worst.
I also had to request a refill of my liquid hydrocodone on 1/4/16 (day 7) which was a nightmare due to all the regulations with narcotics.
TIP: Don’t wait till you are almost out as the pharmacy requires a paper RX and these meds cannot be called in by your doctor!! I was afraid of running out and was taking it every 4 hours along with hydrating. I’ve had many different surgeries and never required pain meds that much so this was definately the worst pain I’ve experienced. I requested a few more days off as I’m still feeling bad and there are too many people out in public sick with cold/flu germs. Our immune systems are compromised after surgery/healing and I cannot afford to get sick on top of everything else.
I hope this helps prepare someone or feel they are not alone in this surgery. We all heal differently so there may be that one person that recovers fast or opts to not take pain meds. If so, kudos to you but that’s not the norm on this particular recovery and it’s best to be prepared than not. Best of luck to everyone!!!
Hi everyone. I’m 21 and had my tonsillectomy on the 4th. I’m having my ups and downs. Good days and bad so far. But right now the most painful part for me is the sores on my tongue, my jaw, and my ears. I’m still not able to open my mouth all the way. I was just wondering/hoping there was some advice on what to do about the sore tongue and getting your mouth to open. Thanks!
Hi Mia,
My son also 21 had his surgery on 1/7/16. Having the same issues you have described. Just wondering how you are doing now, and do you have any tips in regards to the swollen, sore tongue? You are 3 days ahead of my son, so I’m crossing my fingers that I hear back from you with a positive update on your recovery.
Hi all,
I had my tonsils out on the 5th Jan, and honestly thought the recovery process would be pretty straight forward……. How I was so wrong!
The first 3 days were okay, and I was eating pretty normal foods! However the 4th day was terrible, barely slept – woke up in serious pain and feeling like I could not drink water or take any tablets. The DR was supposed to give me liquid pain relief, but I got sent home with tablet form paracetamol and ibuprofen. I’m on the 6th day at the moment and only slept 2 hours last night! I literally feel like I can’t do anything right now, so I am hoping that the pain starts to ease in the coming days.No scabs are yet to come off.
In terms or making things easier, it’s a case of drinking as much as you can and trying to keep on top of the meds. But the pain is often unbearable. From what I have read, it seems like the recovery process is around 2 weeks.
Good luck!