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.
Had long overdue surgery on August 2nd. Was really concerned about recovery because of my age (52). I read a lot of forums before my surgery and was very anxious and worried about complications. Yesterday was one week and I have had some issues but nothing as bad as expected. Following surgery, I was observed for a couple of hours and then sent home. When I got home I was feeling pretty good – able to talk, drink and have a little something to eat. I gradually started to feel nauseated and threw up later that afternoon. Spoke to the doctor’s office and they called in a prescription for anti-nauseas medication. Took the anti-nauseau meds along with pain pill that evening. I hated the way the pain medication made me fee and I decided to switch to plain Tylenol to control the pain unless it got unbearable. Took three more doses of pain medication the night of day 3/morning of day 4 (ear pain had started to set in) but did not take again after that. Just couldn’t tolerate the way it made me feel. I made it a point to drink plenty of ice cold water even when it was extremely painful to swallow. I slept through the night the first night but started to have difficulty sleeping after day 2. I have been eating jello, pudding, yogurt, popsicles, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, chicken and stars soup, bread and refried beans. The ear pain has been the biggest surprise. It’s not constant, but when it starts it is very painful. I found that a heating pad helps a little bit. Ear pain peaked at day 7. Feeling better each day. I’ve started to go periods of time where I am not feeling any pain which is really nice. I am so grateful things have gone so well and wish you all well in your recovery.
Hi. I had my tonsillectomy on August 4th, it is now the 9th. I am 39 years old and have been putting off having this surgery for a very long time. I had my adenoids out when I was a little girl and I have no idea why they did not do this procedure at that time as well. I sure wish they had!
The one thing that I insisted on was that they not give me any narcotics. For me, that is a huge help. Narcotics make me nauseous and so out of it, that there is no way to feel remotely normal when taking them. Instead, my doctor had me alternate, every 4 hours between 800mg of ibuprofen and 1000mg of Acetaminophen. For the most part, this has been sufficient in making the pain tolerable.
A nurse called to check on me the next day and was very surprised that i could talk normally and I was feeling decent.
Three days after the surgery I drove an hour to be with family on a boat tour. I took ice water and slushy gatorade. I was very tired by the time I got home and got sore from talking too much, but it was doable.
I eat only soft or cold foods. Scrambled eggs, cream of wheat, mashed potatoes, ice pops, pudding, & ice cream. I bought a snow cone maker and put gatorade or the snow cone syrup on that for variety. I tried pasta on day two but some small pieces kind of got stuck on the tonsil beds and made it uncomfortable. I may try again today.
The best thing to do is to keep ice water on hand and continually drink it. The only time my pain becomes extremely painful is if I have gone too long without drinking it. Often by morning, when I’ve been sleeping too long if i didn’t set my alarm. This leads to severe perceived ear pain.
Do set an alarm to wake you every couple of hours to drink some ice water! (Also for every 4 hours to take your medicine! Do not wait until you hurt to take the medicine).
Sleeping laying down is not viable option. The biggest annoyance is that my uvula is so swollen that if I lay down it rests in the back of my throat and makes it seem like I am going to choke on it. So I sleep in the corner of my sectional couch with a pillow under my chin to keep my mouth shut while sleeping. Otherwise I will breathe through my mouth and dry out my throat faster (not to mention the horrible drooling;)
Today the scabs have started coming off one side, it stings a little, but it feels better than the glob I have on the other side. Other than that, all I have today is a minor sore throat when swallowing. Not much more pain than when I have tonsil stones, but of course I am still taking my medicine religiously. I am afraid what it might feel like if I weren’t taking any.
For those of you reading this board before your surgery, just know that recovery is different for everyone and you might find that it is not as bad as you thought. Just be as prepared as you can before going home. I had the freezer stocked and the ice cone machine delivered the next day.
Good luck to all and speedy recovery. I sure hope that this won’t get worse for some reason. If it does, I will post an update!
Hi all. This website helped relieve a lot of my stress and concern during my tonsillectomy so I figured I’d post my story. Bit of background. I’ve got tonsillitis (and a myriad of other throat infections) for about a year. It was fairly consistent – 2 weeks sick and on antibiotics, 2 weeks feeling better and then the slow decline into another infection. I’m also allergic to penicillin and rarely take pain killers – i think i may have taken 4 or 5 in total in the past yr. Finally, I’m a 26 yr old female in Sydney.
I had my tonsils out on July 18th. It was a late procedure so I was required to stay overnight. Procedure was scheduled for 3pm, but was delayed until 7pm (STARVING). Woke up in my drug haze with the doc saying my main focus for 2 weeks was to get water down, with soft foods as my priority (so I guess some Aussie docs don’t recommend hard food). I woke up properly at 11pm and was able to send a quick text to family letting them know i’m ok before I started vomiting. Drank some water and went back to sleep. I was on an IV so I was feeling pretty good.
Day 1 (19th July) – pretty normal. No energy (because no food). I ate some soggy weetbix in the morning because the hospital wouldn’t let me out otherwise. Spent the day drinking water and sleeping. No dramas. Visually, my throat didn’t have any real scabs at this point.
Day 2 – horrific. Everyone told me to stay on top of my pain killers. My doc said start with normal pain killers (panadol) and he gave me 2.5 day supply of Endo/Oxy to use for my crazy days (he predicted Days 4 and 5 – he was right). He also told me to take antibiotics. I took 1 panadol at 8am, and 1 at 12pm. But 1pm I was vomiting everything and not keeping liquids down. Vomiting with wounds in your mouth is horrific. Quick phone call to my doc and he said likely my body isn’t used to pain killers, and to slow down (I stopped taking them completely – so went through the whole recovery with no pain meds. I know, right). I felt a bit better but not completely – so I googled the antibiotics (don’t remember the name anymore) and turns out it’s “associated with penicillin but not actually penicillin”. Called my doc again and he said my allergies might extend to that family too, so stop the antibiotics too. Day 2 was mentally and physically draining. Horrific. But by 11pm i felt better. Visually, my throat had a little bit of scabs, but pretty sure the vomiting stopped a lot of it growing (?)
Day 3 – the pain was bad, but compared to Day 2 i felt really lucky. Not on any pain meds, but remembered the doc said to drink a lot. I drank 1-1.5L of water each day from this day on out and had 1 electrolyte or hydrolyte popsicle for food. Visually, I had a yellow coating on my throat, but I could tell it was soft so I didn’t count them as scabs.
Day 4 – I thought the doc must’ve miscalculated because the morning and most the afternoon I felt… in a fair bit of pain, especially when swallowing. But it was manageable – through breathing, distractions, putting my forever cold hands on my throat. But come late afternoon and the evening, my goodness. I only cried once during this whole experience. I cried on this night for 5mins (sounds short but I didn’t have much energy so exhausted quickly). I don’t like crying unless it’s for an emotional movie, so this is an indicator on the amount of pain I was in. Visually, the yellow coating was starting to harden in some areas and were quite thick in others.
Day 5 – The whole day was like Day 4 night, but I was mentally prepared. Lots of distraction. Forcing myself to drink water. I started using my popsicle as an ice pack on my throat throughout the hour it took me to eat/drink it. Visually, my scabs we hard. They were definitely there.
Day 6 – I had a little bit of trouble sleeping in the previous nights, waking up every 3-4hours, but I could usually get back to sleep within 5-10mins. The night between Days 5 to 6, terrible. I think I slept a couple of hours. The pain was excruciating. And sleeping in the sitting position against my bed board (didn’t have the luxury of a recliner) – I often questioned how bad it would be for me to sleep lying down (I never did it because I’m stubborn). Day 6 morning was just like Day 5, but by the evening I felt a little better. I even thought I would be able to eat in a couple of days – my throat only hurt when I swallowed. Visually, my throat was still yellow and scabbed.
Day 7 – The morning was ok. Only painful when I swallowed but I could tell it was a less painful than previously. By night, I could feel some scabs falling off. I would softly cough (because I had to, people – not a choice) and feel gunk in the back of my throat thin out when i drank water. Visually though, only a minuscule amount of scabbing had disappeared. More like the thickness decreased slightly.
Day 8 – I was feeling pretty good for someone who hadn’t eaten food. (Sorry I should have mentioned I drank about 100mL of literal, chicken water from Day 3-7 – i.e. raw chicken breast boiled in plain water, and I drank the water, sounds disgusting now, was absolutely freaking delicious). I had about 3-4 spoons of potatoes that when through extreme processing until it was near soup. A large portion of my scabs came out today. I was tempted to eat some real food, but was conscious that if scabs came off prematurely, I could get crazy bleeding and start the whole recovery process again. Not happening.
Day 9 – Today I was feeling good. No real pain in when just sitting around, just numbness. Still had pain when swallowing, but it was the sort of pain that *hurt* but not the pain you had to prepare and psyc yourself up for. So I had a very small bowl of insanely overcooked/over-boiled spaghetti (I used oliver oil and smoked salmon to give me some nutrients and good fat – fat takes the body longer to digest). By night, my throat hurt in a pulsating numbness fashion, so i went back to my liquid diet. Visually, a lot more scabs had gone.
Day 10 – I had 2 boils of the same pasta above throughout the day. I even managed some sushi in the late afternoon. Definitely felt like an actual human today. When I woke up, it felt like i had ash in my mouth. Drinking water was slightly painful, but the sort of small pain that I used to get to flag I was about to get a sore throat. Putting that niggly pain aside, today was good. Visually, most of my thick scabs were gone. A slight, thin layer was still there.
Day 11 – I left the house today. It was amazing to move somewhere with sunshine. I ate completely normally, in the sense i had normal soft food that wasn’t too hot or cold (Ms Goldilocks here) – I had more sushi, avocado on bread, smoked salmon, rolled oats (cooled down). My throat didn’t hurt swallowing, it just got dry really quickly, so i learnt to have a bottle on hand. I didn’t look at my throat this night.
Day 12 – again I felt completely normal. Visually, i still had a fair bit in thin yellow.. i wouldn’t call them scabs. Maybe mucus-like substance?
Day 13 – 15 – I felt fine. Didn’t look at my throat (didn’t feel the need to as I was doing everything normally). Eating hot and cold foods with no problem
Day 16 – looked in my throat. Right side completely healed with pink new skin. Those deep holes in your throat that you wonder what’s going to happen – no idea. I missed the storyline in Day 13-15. But on day 16, the right side hole was GONE with new skin there and the left side … i feel like the hole is sitting behind the new skin because new skin covered about 70% of the left hole, and there was a gap in the new skin that showed nothing was behind it. The left side also had a little bit of scabbing (yes scabbing again) inside the hole that remained between the fresh skin.
Day 22 – today. The right side is fine completely. Left side still has a tiny hole, but 90% healed. Food and toothpaste (no idea how it got that far back) sometimes sits in that little hole, but disappears on its own accord. No pain in general – I only slightly cringe when I yawn because i can feel the fresh, new skin being tugged.
The first 10 days of this recovery was rough. I got through it (WITHOUT ANY FREAKING PAINKILLERS PEOPLE… just to emphasise the craziness of my situation) which means you will too. I spent so many hours reading and re-reading people’s posts on their experiences, comparing my daily experiences to theirs, and I wanted to add my story too. It kept me sane. That and constantly messaging people lists of food I was going to eat when I could.
PS I took 2 weeks off work. My first 2 days at work were tiring. My body was lethargic with food and my concentration was poor. But I’m feeling better now. Just need to get back to the gym – I’m going to take it easy because my daily walk up a hill makes me breathless, even today. It’s important to note that I was a gym’er pre-tonsillitis, semi/rare-gym’er during tonsillitis and with 2 weeks straight barely moving more than 50meters a day, my muscles have disappeared. It’s going to be a long journey back to being fit and healthy, but at least my throat is in a good position.
The turn around will be slow at first for me (see my Days 7-8), but Day 9 onwards I was surprised how better I was fairing through the process. Good luck to all those going through the recovery. Yes I was scared. Yes I cried. But, yes it was worth it (I questioned it too, but it’s true).
I am a 16 yo female got tonsils and adenoids out on Wednesday July 27. Today is Day 7 and I am in complete and utter hell. The doctor told me my pain should have peaked yesterday but today has been worse. Both of my scabs have ripped and each of my tonsils have been bleeding profusely. I have had to rinse with hydrogen peroxide so often I get nauseated from the smell. The first few days were tough but everything worsened on Day 4. I am not able to chew or swallow anything that is not in liquid form, but I am craving real food so badly it physically hurts. I had this surgery to remove terrible tonsil stones and enlarged tonsils and as of now I feel very regretful. Not only am I unable to speak, eat or move my head in certain positions, but I am constantly nauseous from the pain medicine (barely works) and the disgusting taste and smell of the scabs (which is enough to bring tears to your eyes). Additionally the pain medicine causes wicked constipation that will leave you with a bloated stomach and pains. I encourage people considering this surgery to weight the costs. I have sunk into a mini-depression as I wake up every morning unable to move and in horrendous pain. This procedure is an absolute nightmare and I beg you to consider this before going through with it. I am hoping someone can clue me in to when I will start feeling better? Is the bleeding normal? Sending prayers to anyone else who is struggling with this long recovery.
Hi Alicia
I’m 20 and I just got my tonsillectomy on Monday August 1st. So far this is the third day and one of the worst for me. I feel your pain. Especially about the food. I’ve been craving all kinds of different food and it’s only day 3 so I can only imagine what you’re going through. You should try letting ice chips melt in your mouth it really helps to ease the sore throat and swollen tongue. Just remember after this you’ll be better and you won’t have as many problems so as much as it sucks it’s for the best. Stay uplifted my friend! And try to move around in small amounts it’ll keep your body from being super stiff.
It is awful when you are suffering like thisand it feels like it will never get better. But it will. Just take one day at a time. And be kind to yourself. I had an awful time. Bled on the 3 rd day and had to call the paramedics. Ended up in hospital for 5 days. Bleeding is not normal and you should seek advice if this happens. I kept bleeding and was due to a badinfection. It really traumatised me but glad i no longer have tonsil stones or constant tonsillitus.hang on in there!
I had my surgery tues july 26 at 9 am, I had to stop taking hydrocdone+tylenol by thursday at 2 because I was so nauseous I couldnt even stand to eat or drink. So I went off the pain meds. Ive been on 100- mg of tylenol crushed up since thn every 6 hours. I am managing but Its very hard. I had 2 pop tarts today. But now its saturday and everything besides water stings so badly! I can see the scabs thinning. Ive been able to talk and eat since the day of surgery. They said talking helps so I keep talking even when I dont want too. The stinging comes and goes. I had fairly big earache but ice packs on the ears helps especially sleeping on them. I drink constantly since im not nauseous anymore, however today is the first day it is very hard to swallow. The did give me antinausea drugs but they made it worse and I couldnt stand the diziness. Im bracing for many more days of this but its so hard, not going to lie. Im 34 and have had 2 homebirths. Id rather have a child than to ever do this again! Ive noticed that everyone has a unique story so Im waiting until I can tell my complete story. Whenever this misery is over. Ienjoy reading others comments. I want to take at least one dose more of pain meds, but Im so terrified of the side effects. A nurse told me alot of people also get nauseous in the beginning because of swallowing a lot of blood during surgery and the worst is in the beginning. Mine didnt really start bad until weds night thursday. by the way when does Day 1 start? The day of surgery or the day after???
I went to the ER Sunday morning due to bleeding. Pain got so bad I tried Vicodin again and it immediately made me vomit which dislodged the huge scan on the left side. The left side actually felt amazing no stinging despite the scabless surface. Drs said to go to ER because ice water wasn’t stopping the bleeding. They gave me some steroids which helped a lot and auger I take Tylenol and ibprofin every 3 hrs alternating instead. I hoping he extreme pain has passed but you never know. I’m have low expectations. Just day by day, so hard to eat every 3 hrs, I still get nauseous as well which I take a suppository for, zofran didn’t work so I’m trying phenergan, it makes me so dizzy and nearly halicihenic but better than vomitting again. Scabs fully reformed by the end of the day, they are looking thin now tho. Still. Lot of stinging mainly on right side, but when I eat both sides. Might ask for another shot since it seemed to make such a difference. Me and my family are so tired, kids are tired husband is tired. Need some relief soon!!
I’ve had really bad nausea issues also. I only threw up once so far though. I got my surgery Wednesday, July 27th. My anesthesiologist told me that the smell of alcohol takes the nausea away and that’s what they gave me after surgery. I had a friend pick up a box of 100 alcohol wipes for about $2 from Walgreens. I strongly suggest trying it, just put it under your nose and it works in seconds. My scabs haven’t fallen off yet and it’s really starting to bother me because I just want this whole thing to be over. But today is the first day I haven’t felt like I was on my death bed. I really hope this helps a little bit. Also, I counted the day of my surgery as the first day.