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 the tonsillectomy, deviated septum, tabulators reduction procedures all done at once on Wednesday January 25, 2016. I was in prayer, asking GOD to help me, and this is what I believe came back as an answer. Think I have found the key to a quick and pain free recovery. Right after surgery I had about 8-cups of ice cold water. After going home the same day I had noodles and toast. When I say this, it may be hard for some to believe, but the ice cold water and toast in combination worked a miracle.
I done this three times a day alternating between oat meal and noodles. Once the toast hits the back of my throat, I got relief from the pain. On the third day, I was up and going with little pain. When ever pain would come, I would eat and drink ice cold water. I took the antibiotic prescribed by the Doctor. People I’m telling you, drinking the ice cold water right after surgery and eating non-buttered toast is something I can’t explain but it worked wonders for me. Only off from work for a week, being that I work in the heavy construction industry. I could feel the scabs after 4 days, slight irritation, but if you force yourself to eat the toast and ice cold water, you will get instant relief.
Day 1 of recovery. Is it common for your whole body to feel sore and weak? I’m not in much pain and I am currently only taking ibuprofen and Tylenol (and of course a steroid)
I can’t decide if it is because I had to sleep sitting up or not? When I woke up in recovery my neck was o sore, it’s like they beat the shit out of me while removing the tonsils.
Day 1 of recovery. Is it common for your whole body to feel sore and weak? I’m not in much pain and I am currently only taking ibuprofen and Tylenol (and of course a steroid)
I can’t decide if it is because I had to sleep sitting up or not? When I woke up in recovery my neck was o sore, it’s like they beat the shit out of me while removing the tonsils.
I am 36 and on Day 6 of tonsillectomy recovery. I had the “cold method” done. I have had an incredible recovery!!! I am so glad I didn’t chicken out getting this done (my reasons were cryptic tonsils that were causing tonsil stones which were causing a constant unpleasant taste in my mouth). Apparently it’s difficult to find a doctor who does the method I had done, because it’s a little old school. My doctor is Dr. James Ross, he is a head and neck surgeon (ENT) at Duke University, and he has performed thousands of tonsillectomies. I say this bc I know without a doubt that it was his method and technique that has given me such a positive recovery. Dr. Ross uses cold to control the bleeding during surgery, and he cuts the tonsils away with just a plain ol’ scalpel. He then “spot-welds” to cauterize any individual blood vessels that are bleeding. He will use a few stitches, but only if he was faced with increased bleeding that forced him to use too much cauterization. Dr. Ross has been around a long time and he said the more he cauterizes the more painful the recovery will be. This is why he does a procedure that is a little longer in the OR, but his method does not destroy any unnecessary tissue either. I take it he is not a fan of thermal-welding or coblation for those reasons. So, with that said the first thing in your recovery is knowing what procedure you are having done bc that will set the whole stage for how you will live your days post-op. Day 1, immediately after surgery was the worst for me bc as the throat numbness wore off the pain was bad! But as soon as I got my pain meds right a few hours later, it was smooth sailing. I was on oxycodone and I never took it on an as-needed basis… stay ahead of the pain! Day 1-3 I took 10ml every 4hrs and then gradually started cutting back to 5ml and then 2.5ml and adding a Tylenol in every 4 hours. One thing I wish I did immediately was add a stool softener in with the narcotics. I figured that out on Day 2… the narcotics really make your bowels fall asleep! As for eating, I had very little food restrictions so I pushed myself to eat immediately and I’m glad I did! It really helps the healing process! I had mac and cheese, meatloaf, chicken pot pie, soup, pancakes… I mean if I could handle it, I ate it. Not too hot, though… just luke warm. I had no problem with dairy… I ate yogurt and ice cream. Yogurt is an excellent source of protein and probiotics so it’s a really good food choice if you can handle it! Raspberry fat-free sherbert was still my favorite thing to eat, though! I also got bags of ice chips from Sonic bc you can get pellet ice there. For the first 4 days if I wasn’t drinking ice cold water, I was sucking on ice. I had a humidifier blowing right in my face when I slept, and for the first few days I set alarms to wake every 2 hours to drink water and every 4 hours for pain meds. Day 6 now and I slept great last night… my throat stung a little when it would get dry so I drank water each time I woke, but only really got up for pain meds. I’m telling ya…. stay ahead of the pain!! Another thing to mention is that with my procedure, I have very little chance of post-op bleeding. The thin white healing tissue that forms over the incisions have looked healthy and just totally white from Day 1, none of this black mess in my throat you see from patients who have doctors who remove tonsils with lasers and heat. I’m so glad I got this done! Not every tonsillectomy recovery story is a nightmare! Feel free to email me if you want more info about my recovery or my doctor. I would recommend my doctor and his technique to anyone! And one final thing… I am married with three small kids (youngest being 7 months). I had no problem talking or even getting up out of bed to spend time with my kids. Actually on Day 5 I felt so good I had to force myself to not overdo it. My mom came in for 2 weeks to help, and my husband took 3 days off work. That’s huge… don’t go at this by yourself. You need rest and help, be sure you have someone to help! Good luck to all!!!
Thank you for this great post Kristy! Hope your recovery continues to go well!
Wow! I wish mine was as pleasant as your recovery!
Hi everyone!
Its been 4 weeks (sorry for the late post) but i’m reading all these comments and just want to tell you all its so so so worth it!
ok, if i drink a drink too fast it goes up my nose, but it becomes a bit of a thrill and then you get used to not drinking liquids too fast! But other than that i’m completely fine! I came off my meds completely on day 10 but felt fine on about day 7/8. (still slight pain on days 8/9/10)
1. Bags of ice on my throat was the best pain relief ever!
2. My worst day had to be day 5, from then on it got easier. Though, reading some peoples stories i think i had it a lot easier that some!
3. Give your meds 30 mins to kick in and then eat, its so much easier when the pain meds are just kicking in!
4. Mornings are horrible and this is where i was in the most pain, so have a drink and your meds near you to take for as soon as you wake up!
5. Eat rough foods like toast, chicken nuggets… anything as soon as possible! This helped me recover so much quicker as i didn’t have to ‘learn’ to eat again, and it keeps the scabs and mucky stuff in your throat to a minimum!
I didn’t end up going to my follow up appointment as i was swamped in work but i knew that if anything went wrong i’d go see my doctor… but everything is fine and i feel great! Looking back, though it didn’t feel it at the time, the 2 weeks went by so fast!
Good luck to everyone!
Be brave its worth it!
Katie C x