Adult Tonsil removal (tonsilectomy)

[paullie]

Hi Everybody,

I am 29 yrs old male, being on my 10th post-op day. I thought I should share with you my experience, but let me first thank all those that already posted here and helped me a lot, more then any other advice.
Regarding my operation, everything went smooth, after 3 hours in hospital I got back home, with relatively small pains. The only painfull thing was drinking, but was manageable. On the 1st day I only had fluids, and the 2nd day I started having some salty crackers melting in my soup and such things.
I am happy to say that I never had unbearable pains through the entire recovery, I only had to take about 4 painkillers in 10 days.
However, there are some twists and turns that I went through. On day 6 I started bleeding suddenly even if I took care not to do any effort or sudden moves or anything. After an intense bleeding of few minutes, it all seemed to calm down. But I kept bleeding occasionally for the next 3 hours, so we decided to go to ER. There a doctor cleaned my throat and stoped the bleeding by applying pressure. No need to say that he also removed some pretty nasty and big blood clot. They kept me in hospital until next morning when I got released.
But in the same afternoon something else, that I never experienced before, happened: my tongue started to swell, so there I went back to ER for another check. The ENT said that everything looks fine, just gave me a shot but they admitted me again in hospital, where I spent 3 more days because the swelling stayed, and they thought it's better to keep an eye on me. I think all the swelling was due to the pressure that was applied to stop the bleeding.

And there I am on day 10, eating pretty much anything that is soft enough to chew, including meat and cheese and boiled eggs.
I hope from this moment on I won't have much trouble ahead.
All the best, and easy recovery to all of you out there had or will have tonsillectomy.

[landa]

I have really enjoyed reading all of your posts. I am having my submandicular salivary gland removed and the Dr feels he should remove my tonsils at the same time. I've had recurring salivary stones and now my gland is full of stones. I also get food stuck in my tonsils...I think they call them tonsil stones. I've heard these conditions are related and the only preventative treatment is surgery.  I'm obviously nervous about having my neck cut and the complications with avoiding nerves in the area, but I'm more nervous about my tonsillectomy. Has anyone ever had this type of combined surgery? What advise do you have for pre-surgery preparation? My surgery is scheduled for Dec. 18. I'm 39 years old and an active mommy who can't stay down for long. I hope I am able to get around pretty good post surgery.

[skyeler]

Hello guys and gals!  I would first like to start off by telling each and everyone of you who posted before me.  I felt so much more prepared.  Yesterday was my birthday(Nov. 24) and I had my tonsils removed.  I hope in the end I will feel like I gave myself a great present!!  Although right now I don't feel like it.  I was very upset with most of the nurses.  They were more interested in compairing others jewelry to their own.  The recovery nurses were the worst.  So I was only given one dose of pain meds while in recovery, hoping they would just get me back to my room, so those nurses could give me something.  Well I had to wait another hour and a half, for them to get the medicine cause my nurse felt it more important to take break.  So by the time I finally got pain medicine the pain had already set in so bad, I was in tears.  Which now I have found it impossible to get it back in control.  I can't eat, drink, or sleep.   

The nurses did not give me any other instructions besides drink fluid and keep ice on it.  So again I think all of you before should have been paid the nurses wages as I received more advice from all of you than the nurses. 

As far as the pain I'm feeling right now, it's not too bad as long as I don't swallow, cause my throat is so stiff and hurts so bad when I do, so I'm just going to keep up on my pain meds and hopefully I will feel like at least drinking something.  Well I wish all of you who may be going through this at the same time, a great big Get Well Soon!

[skyeler]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!   Although I may not be able to have a big meal, I hope I will be able to eat a little something.  I have been able to eat little meals and keep lots of fluids down after the doc finally gave me meds for the nausea.  I did vomit the 2nd day which was horrible, but since then I have been able to keep the pain in check.  I have been drinking water and green tea all day everyday.  I have been able to eat chicken noodle soup, pudding, jello, and cream of wheat.  The day I threw up I had just ate a banana and jello, so I haven't tried another banana yet.  I have been able to sleep fairly well and have just kept lots of liquids going.  To me the pain is tolerable, but it comes and goes and I've already began cutting back on pain meds as I felt I only needed them twice yesterday instead of every four hours.  I was able to brush my teeth and mouthwash yesterday which felt great as well.  I hope all of you going through this at the same time and in the future a speedy recovery and happy holidays!

[j2008_uk]

Hi all
Thought I would post my experience am now post op 6 days.
been having tonsillitis nearly every two months,which has really affected my career so needed them out.
Well my op was not easy and had a bleed within half an hour of recovery which had to be stopped so I was kept in for 2 days.
The day after the op I had some soft cereal to eat and was only on paracetemol,for lunch some battered fish on the nurses advice.Got home on day 2 pain not to bad eating and drinking but with some pain.Increased my pain relief,which helped.
Day 3 little change from day 2 and had loads of energy.
Day 4 got a little ear pain and feel throat tightening harder to eat.
Day 5 increase in pain,but still eating and drinking also some ear pain.That evening had small bleeding and stopped with ice cubes and ice pack.
Day 6 have bad nausea,swollen mouth and severe throat pain having trouble eating and drinking.
Was told to expect pain day 5-6 and a gradual improvement from then on.So fingers crossed!
Up until today i have been drinking plenty of water 3-4 litres and taking vitamins,some white patches have already come off so im sure thats a good sign.
Found this site very helpfull,least you can get a rough idea what to expect.
So hoping the pain might start to ease off,hoping drinking so much fluid has helped.!
Good luck to anyone about to have the op,Im sure its worth it all in the end
Ok so an update...
Bled on day 6 and had to go to the hospital and had it stopped after an hour.
days 7,8 and 9 had pain but not as bad as day 6 but hurt like hell to swallow and drinking even water was like drinking acid.Forced myself to eat and drink as best i could.
From day 10 onwards improved day by day.
Now day 17 and almost back to normal,still a little pain when I wake but off pain meds now which is a bonus.
All I can say is yeah it hurts like hell, days 4-7 had to be the worst ( gets you down ). I bled a few times after day six but nothing like the big bleeds.
here I am day 17 almost pain free and survived it.I can swallow and breath the best I have in years so have to say i am glad i had them removed ( I can say that now)
My own tips that worked for me....
Water water and lots more water.
Hydrogen peroxide mouth wash,they use it to stop small bleeds in hospital.Helps with reducing infection cost £1.50 from most chemist and is a mouthwash, it helped me loads with small bleeds.Check with your doc though as might not be for everyone.
Spacing paracetomol in between other pain meds.
Chewing gum.
Half cooked toast with honey,enough to help sluth scabs but not to sharp.
Complan Drink( UK supplement drink) helped keep strength up.
Loads of films and stuff to keep busy.
I read this site and got really worried after some of the horror stories.
Yeah it is hell some days and you feel like it is never going to improve!I had a couple of good bleeds lots of problems but still healed in good time.( Im 38 so no spring chicken)
Everyone is different,so good luck to anyone taking on this op!!!
Happy New Year!!!!

[siahn]

Hi All,

I just got my tonsils removed on wed dec 17th, The doctor stated he could tell i had had at least 20 years of problems with those suckers and he would be right.  My tonsils had fused to my tongue.  The day of the surgery i was extremely nauseaus and vomited 3 times hacked up blood but it stopped pretty quickly i thought that was as bad as it gets at the time boy oh boy was i mistaken.  I would actually trade how i felt that day for how im feeling now.  Everyday the pain gets worse and worse.  Im afraid to go to sleep because when i wake up its sheer torture like a stabbing pain in my throat.  I was prescribed hydrocodone syrup which i thought initally would be a problem with previous surgeries those pills made me extremely sick.  The nurse said it was more than likely the anesthesia that made me vomit than the hydrocodone and had me use a suppository to stop it.. That worked.  My mom even bought me a humidifier in hopes that it would help me sleep so that my throat didnt dry up but no cigar.  My ears feel like i have been jumping on and off planes constantly for a week..lol and my teeth feel like they are infected and need to be pulled.  The nurse advised me that because of the nerves that ear pain was normal. As i lay in bed crying yesterday because the pain had become so unbareable i called to get something stronger for the pain because now the hydrocodone feels like acid as i swallow it.  It burns with everyspoonfull and never completely gets rid of the pain always leave a dull ache.  They prescibed my roxicet i guess i have the generic just took that about 30 minutes ago i pray this does the trick.. I swear i would rather give birth again than have this surgery! I'm a pretty tough cookie and thought that the people who told me it was really bad were just punks boy was i wrong!!!

[marcuk]

Hi, I have been reading this thread with interest because I am due to have my tonsils removed on Wed 28th Jan 09!  I was scared of having them removed but after reading the posts on here I am now terrified lol.  My problems started about 18 months ago with constant sore throats and swollen tonsils accompanied by awful white lumps that I could squeeze out with cotton buds (nice huh!).  Anyway since I got my hospital appointment through in December I haven't had tonsillitis once and I am now seriously considering not bothering...  Has anyone else experienced a similar situation where their tonsils have seemingly got better on their own and have not bothered having the OP?  If yes, what was the outcome?  Did you have to eventually have them removed or are they still in there??  I really don’t fancy all this bleeding and having to spend time in hospital, I didn’t realise it would be so painful after the op!

[j2008_uk]

Since my last post,I have improved loads and feel a lot better!
Can swallow and breath a lot better also don't get the feeling crap all the time. My only advice would be to get prepared for a couple of weeks off and have them out. Not sure if i would of had mine out though if I had read this site first

[boxofrocks]

I'm a 44 year old male who next month will be having my tonsils out, deviated septum repair, and reduction of my turbinate bones.  The thing that scares me most is the long lasting, serious pain, since I have a high tolerance to hydrocodone (barely takes the edge off most pain for me).

Can someone please help alleviate my fears?

[gabbythefck]

First let me just say that this topic has been SUCH a great help to me, by reading it I feel I was really prepared for my surgery.  I'm a 19yo female and I'm only 5'0" tall and weigh about 110lbs so there was some concern about medicines being too strong and such post-op.  I have had chronic tonsillitis and strep throat about every 3 weeks for the past year and I've had significant trouble the 5 years previous to that so my tonsils and adenoids NEEDED to come out.

I had surgery yesterday morning in the hospital.  My nurse was amazing, numbed my arm before my IV, gave me lots of warm blankets in pre-surgery so I wouldn't be cold, gave me all my meds and they gave me one which she called the "I don't care" medicine because after they give it to you, you don't care.  Well, after she gave it to me I just didn't remember anything.  Apparently I was awake because I said bye to my parents but I don't remember going into surgery or anything about the room at all.  Surgery took less than 30 minutes and all went very well, he had to cauterize 10 blood vessels but said that was pretty normal.  He said my adenoids and tonsils were HUGE and pretty much fell apart as he was doing the surgery.  He does the type of surgery where he dissects the tonsils with a laser and heals them that way - so no stitches and the only cauterization was for my blood vessels that didn't want to stop bleeding.  This kind of surgery assures that my tonsils will never grow back.  I woke up less than an hour after I finished surgery in recovery and immediately drank four cups of water and ate all the ice in them.  I was discharged after talking to the nurse and the doctor, and apparently I sounded and appeared really drunk haha.  I went home and slept for a while, and when my Mom woke me up to take my first dose of meds (really strong oxycontin that most pharmacies in the area didn't even carry and the one that did was scared to give it to me because of my size) I ate two cups of yogurt and drank an entire glass of ice water.

On day two (today) I had a bit of nausea this morning after taking my meds but I just chewed on some ice and it went away.  I'm not taking the anti-nausea meds because my sister had a severe allergic reaction to them last year when she had her tonsils removed.  I've also eaten two bananas and am currently eating some mac and cheese.  A lot of people have suggested toast to get rid of phlegm but I actually ate angel food cake and it worked great!  It also wasn't as hard to swallow as I'm sure toast would be.

So far I am in less pain than I have been with chronic tonsillitis in the past year.  Many who posted in this topic made it seem like I would be in hell (and the worst is probably yet to come) but I feel pretty okay..I can walk around and eat a lot of things and drinking isn't too difficult..today my jaw and ears hurt a bit from the surgery but that is to be expected.

The best advice I can give is drink PLENTY of water right from the get go and start eating ASAP because the pain increases once you get home, it doesn't decrease.  Also, the recovery is going to go a LOT better for you if you can keep your pain meds down, so either eat a lot with them, or just have a strong stomach (as I do).

Will update as the days progress but so far so good!  And it was also my first surgery (I've never even had stitches before) and I'm glad I went through with it!

[gabbythefck]

Well after day 2 things stopped going so well haha. I threw up on the night of Day 2 and it like ripped my throat apart which made everything hurt exponentially more after that.  The pain meds were just too much for my tummy.  After that the doc called in some nausea meds that are brand new (and super expensive) and also don't have the ingredient my sis was allergic to in them, well those did the trick and I didn't throw up anymore.  On day 8 I went to Target and saw a movie with a friend, ate a pb&j and some cottage cheese for dinner...but that night (last night) woke up at about 3am and puked, it was HORRIBLE.  I have no idea why that happened - but we refilled my script and I'm taking the nausea meds again so I should be okay. The past few days, and today, I've only taken the pain meds about half as often as prescribed and I'm only in moderate pain - no pain unless I am swallowing, eating, talking or drinking.  I think when the doc was cauterizing my blood vessels in my throat he hit my tongue because there is a spot on my tongue in SERIOUS pain, I just move my tongue out of the way whenever I eat or drink ANYTHING because if anything but spit touches it it feels like the fires of hell have invaded my mouth.  If that it was the entire cauterization method of removing tonsils feels like I feel SO sorry for y'all that had to go through that.  Overall it really hasn't been THAT bad.  There has been pain, yes, but the severe pain comes in spurts and only lasts for a few minutes at a time, the rest feels mostly like a really really bad sore throat.  It is a very tolerable surgery - the most annoying part to me is not being able to talk and being holed up in my room away from the world, but I'm dealing.  The surgery is DEFINATELY worth it and I encourage everyone who needs it to get it despite how bad some people are saying it is.  My advice - have a REALLY good surgeon (as I did), get REALLY strong pain meds, DEFINITELY get nausea meds (because if you don't throw up you recover much faster) and make sure you have plenty of time to recover.  Good luck everyone!!

Totally forgot a few things...

If you're on narcotics and bed rest, you WILL get constipated.  I made sure to drink fiber powder (any will do really) but I didn't ..let's just say, have a #2 for a WEEK.  This was the only part that was scary.  I was in no pain what-so-ever but it was just frightening because I eat a very healthy fiber rich diet so this has never occurred before.  But once it did happen, I have been fine since, so make sure you eat fiber!!  And whatever you do, do NOT take laxatives, they are SO bad for your digestive system and they will just ruin you during a recovery.

I could NOT eat hot foods, I still can't, not even warm.  I tried to eat potatoes and thought I would DIE.  But, I let the potatoes get cold and then I was fine. If you try potatoes and think "omg they must have salt, or something, this hurts SO bad" it might just be that hot things are a no-go for you.  I think this has to do with the cauterization they had to do.  So if hot doesn't work, do cold, and if cold doesn't work, do luke warm haha.

Wash your teeth/rinse your mouth with baking soda!  Apparently a lot of ENTs give you some horrible mouth wash but baking soda isn't too bad, it's a natural cleaner, and while it tastes salty it didn't burn the inside of my mouth at all and the taste really isn't that bad.  It gets your teeth clean, lets you spit out a bunch of nasty crap after the first few days and gets the NASTY white coating I had on my tongue off.  I wouldn't recommend doing it the first few days, though.

Get an ice pack, or two!  These REALLY help to hold on the outside of your throat, especially when you're in a lot of pain.  And even if you have an ice maker (as we do at home) you need to buy bags of ice haha.  My Dad has had to go buy 3 extra bags of ice because our fridge can't keep up with my high demands.

When you wake up from a nap you're going to be in pain because your throat won't be moist but you HAVE to drink water and push through the pain if you want your throat to stop healing, trust me.  The first two days I had my Mom wake me up every hour just to take a drink of water and it worked wonders.

[swiss chick]

Hi everybody,
I'm glad I have found this forum. Now at leats i know whats coming towards me. I have been suffering from frequent ear infections for years and chronic tonsilitis. I've had enough! I went to my ENT (again) and she recommended to take the tonsils out. i'll do whatever it takes to make a stop to the constans ear infections.

I was wondering if it would be possible for me to return to work on monday if i have the surgery on a thursday/ friday. I've never har a general anestisia and have no idea how this will affect my body.

I have to go back to the ENT in a 2 weeks and hopefully the infection is gone by then so they can give me a date.
wishing you all a fast recovery..
Thanks,
Swiss chick ..

[jilla]

HI.
This is my only post on here as I thought I should share my experience after reading everyone's post prior to my surgery.  I am 35 year old female who had my tonsils & ulvea removed 12 days ago.  My ENT remarked how large my tonsils were both times I went to see him for sinus issues.  I never thought much about them before he said something.  Then I told him that my husband complains of my snoring ever night for at least the last 5 years (been married 9).  He said that they would seem obstructive and was surprised I didn't notice.  The same day I decided to have them out, my 2 year old daughter's pediatrician told me her's were a bit large and we should keep an eye on them.  He said it is genetic.
So my ENT told me it would be the worst pain of my life and to be prepared to not eat normal for at least 2 weeks.  So this is how it went.

Night of the surgery I slept in a glider b/c I was afraid I would choke on my own spit it was so painful to swallow.  I swallowed every 20 minutes...so I slept for 20 and was awake for 20, slept for 20 and awake for 20 the entire night. Also, had cool air humidifier on low-med to make sure the air I was breathing was moist, in order to keep my throat moist...ENT said that was a great idea.  It seemed to work well and did so till about day 10.

Day 1 - used ice pack on throat...made myself eat a few small ice chips and sip water, but not much due to pain.  Took liquid tylenol w/ codine every 12 hours and that did not work after the 1st 4-6 hours..my Mother in law is a nurse and said I could take it every 6 hours and would still be ok...did that and felt much better.  Also took liquid antibiotics 2x daily. Could not talk.

Day 2 - pretty much the same as day 1....every day I felt a little better..I just kept telling that to myself...you will feel a little better tomorrow...and I did.
I think I was able to get down 2 popsicles. Could not talk more that 2-3 words at a time.

Day 3 - a little more water, about a tablespoon of scrambled eggs, water, ice packs on the throat....got out of the house for an hour to blueberry pick with my Husband and 2 & 4 year old. that was nice, but back to resting and ice packs on the throat after that. Sounded like a deaf person when I talked and tried to talk as little as possible.

Day 4 - got my voice back...hurt to talk, but was talking when i needed to. Ate Grits, let cereal disolve in my mouth, yogurt smoothie...very slowly

Day 5 ,6,7 - ate a little more, drank more and talked more, but still hurt and began having ear aches really bad....ENT told me to expect that.  Earaches stopped around day 11

Few notes: ENT said no medicine but tyelnol for 3 weeks due to bleeding potential...ladies when you can swallow a pill of tylenol (around day 10 for me) do it and save the liquid with codine if you need something more than tylenol for your period.

Eat lots of yogurt and probiotics when you can so the antibiotics don't cause a yeast infection for you.

Keep thinking  I will feel better tomorrow.

I can breath like i never could before and sleep better than I ever knew I could.  it was totally worth it and I still have a sore throat on day 12. Good luck!

[specialmonkey35]

Hi Everyone

I am going in on Tuesday for a uvulaplasty - I have suffered with obstructive sleep for years and have tried everything to stop it.

This all started after I had rhinoplasty done 9 years ago and I am worried that one operation just leads to another problem!

The doctors say I may be able to return to work after two weeks - is that realistic? or should I be expecting to be off longer?

Also be honest - what kind of pain will I be in? and what are the delights I have to look forward to after, I believe food and drink can flow back through the nostrils - how long does this last?

I am very worried and havent took the decision lightly - doctors have tried to talk me out of it but I cant cope with the lack of true sleep any longer and if this dosent work I really dont know what will happen next.

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

[ktuck0205]

I had the surgery on Friday October 9.  I decided i would share my experience thus far with everyone. 

Surgery day:  I went to have the surgery and come to find out my tonsils were bigger then the ENT originally thought.  Still the same everything went fine.  Basically it was I went back for surgery, I woke up, they medicated me and sent me home.  I slept most of this day so there is not much to complain about.

1st DAY:  It hurt really bad could not eat or drink anything even when I tried.  It was a bad day.

2nd DAY & 3 rd DAY :  Went well I ate and drinked soft and cold things.  Night times and mornings were still very painful.

4th day:  This day which was yesterday was unthinkable.  I woke up to really bad pain along with burning in my throat.  No matter what I did the pain would not reside.  Then around 6 pm that night I thought I felt my mouth fill with saliva that was to large to swallow so i went to the sink to spit it out and when I opened my mouth blood rushed out of my mouth and nose.  This happened twice within 30 seconds.  The worst part of this is my four year old son seen the whole thing which natuarlly scared him to death.  I went to the ER, the ENT who did my surgery met me there, he basically cleaned in out to make sure there was not more bleeding.  Then I went home and had a bad night with no sleep. I bled a little more that night which was scary.


Day 5 : Went to the ent this morning.  He switched my pain medicine which has seemed to help amazingly.  The pain is very easy to deal with today.  Hopefully now it gets better each day.

[Erin Faye]

I hate to hear that, KTuck, about your 4th day!  Hopefully you are well on your way to recovery by now and on the mend.  The bleeding is NO JOKE and very very scary.  I've been through it myself, twice.

Good luck and hang in there!

[stephsimo2255]

I notice this thread is a bit dead now, but hopefully somebody will see this and reply...?

I am 21 and had my tonsils removed one week ago and the pain has got steadily worse every day. Nobody at the hospital gave me any information on what to expect, or what my throat should look like. I have read a few posts and most people talk of scabs forming - what do they look like? My throat has a thick greenish white coating all over it (yuck, i know its gross) and no red bits to be seen. It doesnt appear to be infected - but th stuff in my throat is not shifting no matter how much scratchy food I eat.
Is this normal?
Can anyone shed any light on this for me, I know scabs are supposed to frm and then drop off - but my throat has looked the same snce the day i got out of hospital, the swelling hasn't even gone down.
The prescribed me cocodamol for the pain - this barely even rids me of headaches, so I'm getting mre distressed day by day.

If anyone actually reads this post, get back to me if you can

Thank you all

Steph
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