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I just wanted to get an idea of how long it really took for you to be able to go back to work after your surgery. I go to the ENT on the 15th of January to schedule my surgery. If surgery is on a Friday do you think I could go back to work by Tuesday? I only work p/t and tolerate pain very well. I am someone who can't rest knowing that there is work to be done. I figure I could rest when I get home and all night. My husband promises to take care of everything while I am recovering. I really need to be at work though. I am going to Hawaii with my husband on February 22nd and wanted to get this done before then 1) because I don't want to have any tonsil problems while I am there and 2) the weight loss would be a nice side effect. If I am going to be in pain, losing weight would just make it all tolerable.

I want to thank all of you in advance for your replies. I have learned a lot reading all your stories on this board. Thanks for sharing.

Today is exactly 2 weeks to the day that I had my tonsillectomy. While I feel healthy and healed, I don't think you'ld be ready to go back to work within 4 days of having your surgery. You may say that you tolerate pain well, but this is a very draining surgery, whereby you will require a buttload of sleep. You won't have any energy to do any sort of work because you will not be able to eat, and anyone will be able to attest to the fact that when you don't eat, you are a weak person. I honestly did not start to feel better until around day 9-10 after my surgery. It was at this point that I could finally have a conversation with people, and was able to eat foods like mac-n-cheese. The weight loss has been very nice actually, I am down 11lbs since my surgery, but I would have lost a few more lbs had I not drank gatorade the first 4 days. But, the gatorade replenished a lot of the electrolytes I lost, and also, prevented me from being so dehydrated. You will be on pain killers, your stomach will be messed up, and the last thought in your mind will be "I am going to the office to do some work." Take off a week at least, because you will definitely need it. Good luck, and if you have any questions I will be glad to answer :) oh, and make sure to give yourself at least a month before your trip to fully recover.

shayna, glad to see everything worked out for you. I enjoyed reading your daily writings after the surgery. Mine is this coming monday, hope it goes well.
bbmom - I've also read somewhere that you shouldn't fly for 4 weeks after a tonsillectomy, something about how it's connected to the eustachian tubes or something. You may want to ask your doc about that too.

Brandon48... good luck with your surgery. I am sure all will go well. I am a 35 y/o male and I recently had my tonsils out on 9 Dec. A good site to check out is www.tonsil.org ... it will give you a visual of the surgery so you know how it is gonna be done. I followed all they said there and it really helped me alot. If you have any questions, please let me know. Most importantly, know that the pain will go away and that the short term pain is worth the lifetime enjoyment you get from it. One key I would say that helped me was during the first 5-7 days, take those pain killers at the minimum intervals allowed. Doing it this way won't let the pain set in. Don't wait until you feel pain to take the medication because by that time the pain has already "caught" you and the medication is less effective. This worked well for me. Well... once again... if you have any questions, please let me know.

I took off two weeks from work. Had my tonsils out on a Tuesday and lost my voice a few days later. Probably really didn't feel like functioning on a normal level until day 8. Otherwise I'd drag myself out of bed, try to eat something, take a shower, watch an hour of tv and nap. Pretty much napped on and off all day long 'cuz at night I'd wake up about every 2-4 hours. I was pretty much in a daze. So depending on what type of work you do, may want to play it by ear.

brandon, let us know how it turns out....good luck :)

Wow Im not sure if you could get back to work that soon or not. I know someone who had theirs out on a friday and the next day was shopping and eatting at the mall and went back to school that monday. Unfortunatly for me It took about to weeks to even feel like getting off the couch. I will return to work on the 6th after being off for about 3 weeks, but everyone is diffrent so you might be able to just don't take motrion or anything along with your pain pills because that thins the blood and you are more likely to bleed and if you bleed then they may have to go back in and reseal it and that will delay recovery by a week. (That happened to a lady who had her tonsils out right after me).

Thanks for all your advice about taking time off. I usually can't sit still for too long. I think I would go crazy if I couldn't just act some what normal, even in pain. I know I will feel like crap afterwards. With two boys 12 & 10 and a husband who thinks I am at their beck and call, I don't know how much rest I will get anyway. They will be in school but all hell breaks loose when they get home. Work is a vacation from home for me. I don't get stressed there and nobody demands my attention the way my family does. You guys are lucky to be able to worry about just yourselves. You see that is why I don't think it would matter how crappy I feel, I still have to keep up with my responsibilities. My parents are in Florida and my husband's are in NY. I definately don't want them all here. That is too stressful. I will keep you all posted. My doctor laughed at me last month when I told him I tolerated pain well. I gave birth to the two monsters without any pain meds during and after their births. I even went back to work 3 days after getting out of hospital after the second kid. Neither time did I have anyone come help me. Life went on as usual. Like giving birth out in the rice paddies (spell) and back to work. Maybe I am unusual. I just wanted to try and be more realistic about my decision to when to have this done. I am driven to do it ASAP so that I can lose at least 15 pounds before I go to Hawaii. It's my motivation to finally do the surgery. I am thinking about joining Weight Watchers next week to help lose 10-15 before surgery. I wish I could count on a 25 pound loss like alleycat. How old are you alleycat? Did you need to lose that much weight to begin with? Sorry for the rude personal questions. Just trying to figure out what I could expect.

No problem I am 18 yrs old. And it didn't hurt to take off a few pounds but once I started eating I did gain about 5lbs back but I've been able to keep most off. My ENT said I may keep it off I may not but I am determined to keep it off. Im acctually considering writting a book about tonsillectomies do you think I should???

I was just checking in to see how alleycat and Shayna were feeling today? Did you guys have a good New Year? I hope you were able to celebrate it without pain?

I took two weeks off work and wouldn't have minded just one extra week. I thought i tolerated pain exceedingly well, but nothing could have prepared me for the post operative effects!! I was fairly ok whilst in hospital, but the doctor thought i looked too healthy so released me from hospital a day earlier. I was meant to be in hospital for three days.

Once i got home, not meaning to scare you, but i soon ditched the pain releif medication my doctor gave me and got something stronger from the chemist. My husband would grind the tablets down and mix them with orange juice and he was giving me double dosage of what the packaging stated. I also found that eating/drinking cold things made me feel the pain even more. Lets say it took me one good week to get over the worst of it. I had mine done just prior to my 29th birthday, but it was the best decision of my life. I don't get sick anywhere near as much as when i had my tonsils.

The best advice is like one of the previous posters mentioned......Take your pain relief med's before the pain sets in, otherwise it takes forever to get the pain down. The other pain contributor for me was the fact that after the surgery, the edge of my tongue ended up wedge between my upper and lower teeth so i ended up with major bruising of my tongue!!!!! Good luck and i'm positive you will be glad you went through with it.

baseballmom I am feeling better each day. New Years was ok see we have a tradition to eat a bit of pork and saurkrat and drink sparkiling cider at Midnight and I still have a bit of trouble with spicy food so it hurt a little. Also I can't drink juice yet eaither because for me it still burns but I am so glad I had the surgery. I had to get it done because it was causing sleep apnea (I would quite breathing at night) and I could never breath out my nose so they also did a turbent reduction. I feel alot better I am still kinda slugish but the doc said it could be another month till I feel like the old me. I am returning to work monday. Since they gave me the week of my surgery off to prepare I have been off about a month. My doctor told me he was writting me off for at least 3 weeks since their is a greatter risk of infection and hemorraging. Heres my tip for taking pain pills take them with a bite of jello they slide right down. If you disolve them than you have to drink most of your drink to get the full effect and it makes your drink taste nasty (at least thats the way it was with mine I had percocet at first and then viccodin)

Hi bbmom-I just had my deviated septum fixed and my T & A's out on Tuesday of last (12/30) week-and you will need more time then 4 days to get back to work. I tolerate pain well, but it was just the sheer exhaustion my body couldn't take-I was falling alseep flipping through channels on the TV. The pain stinks, but as long as you aren't swallowing you can function normally, just drink lots of water and make sure you take the pain meds on time, like clockwork.
My husband even took off a few days to help me out, and thank goodness, because I needed it. I'm on my 6th day today and besides the pain in swallowing, I'm just plain bored-so I would give yourself at lesat 6 full days to recover. I know the extra two days doesn't seem like much-but it is.
New England Clam Chowder was my staple, as long as it was watery-the clams slide down and the potatoes were either tossed aside or chewed really well. Appelsauce, ice chips, mashed potatoes and broth also helped. I couldn't eat anything sweet, it made my stomach hurt and really cold stuff is starting to bother me. My throat does hurt worse today, but I'm more awake then I have been.
Make your house have a role reversal for a week and let the kids and husband take care of you for once. This is major surgery, so don't push yourself too much or too fast. Good luck and hope to hear from you in the future.
Thanks to everyone else here too-it helped knowing others were having the same symptoms as me.

I took off two weeks from work. Had my tonsils out on a Tuesday and lost my voice a few days later. Probably really didn't feel like functioning on a normal level until day 8. Otherwise I'd drag myself out of bed, try to eat something, take a shower, watch an hour of tv and nap. Pretty much napped on and off all day long 'cuz at night I'd wake up about every 2-4 hours. I was pretty much in a daze. So depending on what type of work you do, may want to play it by ear.


I would stay out two weeks. I hung out on my couch for two weeks I was so tired I coudln't get get out of bed to go to the bathroom.


Brittney

Krista444, why did you have your adenoids out too? I had my son's taken out when he was 6 to help with ear infections. I was wondering if I should have them out too while I was there. I don't snore when I sleep. I do always wake up with a stuffy right nostril and practically live on decongestants. Do you think I should get them out as well?

baseballmom77 usually they will only take your adenoids if they are swollen too. I asked my ent about taking mine he said they werent swollen so he just did a turbinate reduction.

Krista444, why did you have your adenoids out too? I had my son's taken out when he was 6 to help with ear infections. I was wondering if I should have them out too while I was there. I don't snore when I sleep. I do always wake up with a stuffy right nostril and practically live on decongestants. Do you think I should get them out as well?

My ENT said he would take them out if they looked infected also. He didn't know which way to go, until he saw them. The adenoids affect the sinuses also-if I were you and were having one done, why not get the other also. The surgery was originally just for my deviated septum (I broke my nose boogie boarding 2 years ago). I can not use my left nostril too well and I have post nasal drip. I also informed the ENT about my constant sore throats, tonsil stones and pointed out that my tonsils were huge abd cryptic anyway (they sometimes swelled and touched-gross). So he decided that we would do both surgeries together. The adnoids were really a last minute choice on his part-I told him to use his medical judgement. I'm glad he did, because the pathology report on them came back with all kinds of infection. I did have some problems with my sinuses, but I don't think it was too abnormal-I am just happy he took everything out so I don't have to go through this again. Did your ENT say he wasn't taking them out specifically? Mine just never mentioned them until I brought it up right before surgery-he said that what he does is pretty standard, because I wasn't having any symptoms so why take them out unless they looked abnormal or had infection in them when he went in.

My ENT said he would take them out if they looked infected also. He didn't know which way to go, until he saw them. The adenoids affect the sinuses also-if I were you and were having one done, why not get the other also. The surgery was originally just for my deviated septum (I broke my nose boogie boarding 2 years ago). I can not use my left nostril too well and I have post nasal drip. I also informed the ENT about my constant sore throats, tonsil stones and pointed out that my tonsils were huge abd cryptic anyway (they sometimes swelled and touched-gross). So he decided that we would do both surgeries together. The adnoids were really a last minute choice on his part-I told him to use his medical judgement. I'm glad he did, because the pathology report on them came back with all kinds of infection. I did have some problems with my sinuses, but I don't think it was too abnormal-I am just happy he took everything out so I don't have to go through this again. Did your ENT say he wasn't taking them out specifically? Mine just never mentioned them until I brought it up right before surgery-he said that what he does is pretty standard, because I wasn't having any symptoms so why take them out unless they looked abnormal or had infection in them when he went in.

When I went to the ENT he didn't really want to go into it except to say he doesn't do it by laser (only because I asked) and they definately had to come out. I was changing insurance plans and he was booked until the end of the year and was going on vacation and wouldn't be back until 1/12/04. My insurance goes into effect on the 13th. So I took as a sign that I should stick with him. Hopefully my insurance won't view this as a pre-existing illness since I saw him last month on my other plan. But he couldn't do it then anyway. It was an HMO plan and there weren't too many other ones I wanted to see let alone get an appointment. Believe me I would have rather of had it done at Christmas and I would be on the far road to recovering instead of waiting to get it done.

My right nostril is always clogged when I get up in the morning and it bleeds. I hope my adenoids are the cause and we can just fix it while I am in there. My ears are always crackling too when I swallow. I wonder if that is attributed to the tonsils.

bbmom-Well I hope he does just take everything out for at once-it'll be better that way. My guess, not that it's worth anything, is that he will take them out also. Good luck with your surgery and let me know if you need any advice. Today is my 10th day, so I have 10 days of experience so far. It's stinks, but it wasn't as bad as some people were saying. Maybe because everyone told me it was going to be bad, I expected the worst and was prepared for it? I probably could go back to work tomorrow if I had too-but I'm glad I don't (I took three weeks off, so I don't go back until the 19th). I would be drained at work, but I could do it (as long as I still had some pain med because I still need it, especially when I want to eat). Today was the first day I ate something other then a watery substance-I can now eat soft noodles (YEAH) so I think that I finally am getting my strength back.
Let me know if you have anymore questions I can try to help you with.
Talk to you later,
Krista