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’m 36 yrs old and I workout, light weight train and yoga. I try to eat all organic and healthy. I was told the same thing! It’s hard. But you will get light at the end of this dark tunnel. I personally loved my humidifier because it kept my throat so moist. I would drink wheat gras juice everyday. You can have someone buy you a container of it in dry form and mix it with water. I was watching oat meal and cream of wheat for most of my meals. It’s so hard. Also I started drinking prune juice just a little bit here and there around day 9,10. You don’t want to be constipated. I had the worst experience with that. I took warm Epson salt baths to relax, forced myself to shower even though it was hard. Just stay clean and get lots if rest. Be patient. All your symptoms are normal and I felt them too. I’m on day 14 and my throat is still sore, but just feels like a regular sore throat. I’m going to try throat losenges today and try to get up and go for a small walk. I have a post op aptt tomorrow so I’ll let you know if the dr gives me any advice on what else to do. It’s the worst most annoying recovery ever but it will be over soon. Just keep calm and keep your throat relaxed so it can heal. No crying. Try not too.
Im on day 13 so I just got through the hard part. It will get better. I ate a lot of crushed ice. Just hang in there and rest as much a possible. I loved having a humidifier to keep my throat wet at night, it’s next to my bed. Also make sure to take some type of stool softner, I learned the hard way and had a bad day 8 because I was so constipated from pain meds. But just keep in mind it will get better in the next couple days. Your almost there.
You know what I’m really struggling with is the fact I am never sick I go to the gym 6 days a week eat reasonably healthy so everyone was telling me it will be a breeze the only reason I had my tonsils out was I have had 2 Quincy that I was rushed to hospital with because they can get very nasty so the specialists said they need to come out he told when I was in recovery I had large tonsils stones as well — at the moment I feel like I have some major stuff stuck in my throat and just want to cough it up ewwww and yes I’m constipated as well tomorrow is day 8 lets see what that brings
firstly OMG thank goodness I found this page I’m on day 6 of recovery ouch ouch ouch it really hurts to talk, eat, drink, sleep but I’m doing all of them everyone is saying drink ice cold water or have a Popsicles that hurts more, I had no idea what to expect after surgery I was only told for an adult it hurt more I had my 55th birthday on day 3 I am struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel I’m still in heaps of pain
Hi Debbie. Glad you found us! You are in the thick of it. The next 48 hours won’t be fun but it WILL get better. Hang in there and KEEP DRINKING!!!
And happy belated birthday!!
Thanks Greg
Updating :
Day 7 – (Thu. Nov. 13 2014)- Only taken one pain med dose throughout the day when I first waken up upon 5 hours sleep with a pain level 5, pretty much the same similar counts as described on day 6 however felt 15 percent better today on day 7 vs. day 6, as my pain level was constant between 3 to 5 for the day and didn’t feel the need to take any more pain medication throughout the day yet again…still consuming jello, otter pops, ice cold water, sesame chicken and noodles, chili, and soup as swallowing food or fluids wasn’t too bad 90 percent of the time with a pain level 3 but a few times it increased to a pain level 5….still waiting on “when the pain is really going to hurt” stage.
Day 8 – (Fri. Nov. 14 2014)- Finally regressed upon the worst for first time in this recovery ordeal after waking up to a pain level 7 and noticed my right side surgical area is bloody red and freaking out about it, immediately gargled (pain level 8) and held ice cold 30.7 F temp water in my mouth (pain level 6) for the next 10 minutes…..didn’t notice tasting blood until 5 minutes after waking up and looked inside my mouth to see it’s status, as I estimated only losing about one quarter of a teaspoon of blood.
The bleeding had stopped after the 10 minutes initially, then briefly started bleeding again another 10 minutes later and I promptly continued to gargle and hold ice water in my mouth again, this time for an additional 20 minutes…..Waited for an hour after that as my bleeding never progressed any further and stopped, took one dose of pain medication while pimpin’ hard on drinking ice water a lot, which eventually brought the pain level down to a 1 after the dose kicked in.
Calmed down after three and a half hours following this recent ordeal and went back to sleep, woke up four hours later with a pain level 5 and took another dose of pain med, after the dose kicked in my pain level never got any higher than a 3 throughout the rest of the day and didn’t feel the need to take any more pain med….swallowing pain regressed back to similar accounts of how it was on day 6.
Day 9 – (Sat. Nov. 15 2014)- Woke up with a pain level 6 and took a dose of pain med, brought the pain level down to a 1, and to my surprise that exposed red bleeding spot that happened yesterday in day 8 had rehealed itself and coated back to white just like the rest of the surgical areas.
Two hours later out of nowhere I had some serious abdominal pain in my lower intestinal area and fought this for 30 minutes while feeling nauseous and real close to throwing up, so I loitered in the bathroom for the half hour and finally lost three pounds of number two as it finally exited my body – to my surprise I was constipated and had a blockage incident, more likely from all the noodles I was consuming the past three days as I also consumed one banana each day which generally keeps me regular.
Later in the day I felt the hungriest appetite since day 3 and decided to fix a three egg omelet (first time eating eggs) as I started taking half bites and swallowed the food which I felt no pain or any minor difficulty for the first time since surgery, and tried a full bite which was successful and didn’t hurt in any way – everything I ate and drank throughout day 9 was painless swallowing with full bites…..I felt I gotten over the hump after the second half of day 9.
Day 10 – (Sun. Nov. 16 2014)- Woke up for the first time feeling like a dry throat with a pain level 5 and took a dose of pain med after four hours sleeping (still sleeping in the recliner chair with the neck brace as my airway is still getting partially blocked trying to lay down flat in a bed)…went back to sleep after 30 minutes and slept another four hours and woke up with no pain of any kind in my throat, full bite swallowing solid foods and fluids now with no difficulty or any pain to my surprise….gargling, coughing up a loogie, sneezing, and yawning still hurts up to a pain level 5 though if it is a full scale cough, sneeze, yawn.
Day 10 recovery is the first time I ever sneezed (twice) or coughed (once) since before surgery as I have to alter the way I cough, sneeze, yawn, etc. so it does not hurt too much, and plus I was very fortunate to never having a congested nose as I was able to fully breathe in and out my nose throughout this ordeal of entire recovery phase with no issues at all….I still feel I achieved over the hump and coasting downhill (at least for now) upon the worst of the recovery process as I even improved more compared to the last half of day 9 recovery…..never had the need for any more pain med throughout the day yet once again other than first waking up to an irritated throat.
The swelling is virtually gone in my tongue and the center overhang thing, as the white surgical surface areas are still present but they seemed more glazed than solid white and feels like it is improving.
If I regress backwards upon my improved condition at the present time from here on out, I will post on the status, otherwise I will stop posting on my condition of improvement should this continue forward, as my recovery status throughout 10 days seemed like a cakewalk and was very blessed without too much pain overall and not really suffered at all other than a two hour ordeal during day 8 recovery which was my worst period, compared to the hundreds of people here that had posted their experiences that were very grueling and painful and even worse, which I fully expected to go thru that at 49 years of age.
I still plan to take it easy and not over exert for this upcoming week as well, recommended by the doctor’s orders.
AK the red soars may be the scabs falling off earlier than they did for me but call your doc to ask.