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go_troops
04-20-2004, 07:26 PM
I found many posts regarding tonsillectomy and decided I would start my own thread. Just by visiting this site I have realized that the surgery is much more common in adults than I had thought! That is helpful to know -- takes the anxiety level down just a notch!

I am scheduled to have my tonsils and adenoids removed a little under one week from now on Monday 26 April 2004. I have been very afraid as I dont know what to expect and especially because of the location of the surgery. You use your throat for a lot of things -- its scary to imagine what could happen.

Before I tell you more about my story let me give you my background. Im a 20 year old female from Washington state. For the last 3 years or so I have had Chronic Tonsillitis. I finally went to an ENT -- Jeffery Adams at the Everett Clinic -- hes a GREAT doctor and I highly recommend him! Well my first visit with him was almost a month ago and thats when I also scheduled my appointment. My grandma is a nurse and has been pushing me to get this done so I am finally doing it, having faith that I will feel unimaginably better after its all done with!

About five days ago I started having extreme pain in my lower left jaw. I knew it was because my wisdom tooth was trying to come in. My wisdom teeth are impacted and I have been told for a few years that I need to get them out because they are coming in sideways and pushing on my other teeth. Well the pain was severe and over the weekend is was more than I could take anymore. My cheek and the tissue around the tooth were swollen and painful and I had had it. I finally was able to get into my dentist on Monday morning (yesterday) and he told me it was slightly infected. He advised that I have my wisdom teeth removed as soon as I possibly could -- he wanted to get me in this week! When I informed him I am scheduled for my tonsils to be removed one week from now he changed his mind pretty quickly! He told me to contact my surgeon because the infection could complicate things and he put me on antibiotics.

I called Dr. Adams' nurse and she told me she would talk with the doctor about it but chances didnt look good that I would be going in for surgery next monday. She told me to call her on Thursday and let her know how it was going and than we would decide. A few hours later she called back, said she talked with the doctor and he advised against surgery at this time, just in case the infection happened to spread to my surgery site.

As of now I am on the antibiotics and yesterday I slept alot and just felt plain aweful. Today I woke up quite late but found I was feeling a bit better so I went to work. At work I felt fairly fine and I feel like my infection is starting to go away. The pain is hardly noticable anymore and the swelling has gone down considerably. I will find out for sure by the end of the week if I will be having my surgery next Monday or not. Ive prepared myself for it and Ive already taken the time off work as well has my fiancee. But I dont want to risk anything happening.

As far as the surgery in general, I am quite nervous about it. I just keep telling myself that once its all over and done with I will feel so much better. Having my tonsils infected all the time is just a drag. I feel so tired and just blah most of the time. Its not a fun way to live. I know its going to be a long road to recovery and its going to be a difficult one at that, but I have a wonderful support system and I know I will be very well taken care of, especially by my extra special kitty cat, Milo ;) . I will keep you all informed about whats going on for me.

Let me know about your experiences as well -- this is a serious thing for adults and it can be scary too. As much information as we can share with each other, the better. Good luck to anyone else facing this too!!
:angel:

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Mario21
04-27-2004, 04:58 PM
how did your surgery go? i am having the same surgery one week from thursday. i'm 21, so i had the same questions like i'm sure you were having. argh, i really don't want it, lol. but i think the same way you do, that the loss of 5 tonsil infections a year will be soooo much better. i am forcing myself to have it, just cuz i know that in 2 months, i'll look back and be real glad i had it done. well lemme know how it went.

go_troops
04-27-2004, 06:22 PM
Well, I checked back with my surgeons nurse and she said the Dr. doesnt want to risk the surgery at this time. Being that the surgery and the tooth infection I had will be so close together, they want to make sure I am completely healed before they go about risking anything. So my surgery has been rescheduled for NEXT Monday -- the 3rd of May. I am glad it wasnt yesterday, but at the same time, I still have to go thru all this nervousness and anxiety for another week. Im very afraid of what its going to be like -- Ive never done anything like this. But I have faith that they know what they are doing and just like everyone else, I will feel so much better when its all said and done.

Mario -- Im sorry to hear you have to go thru the surgery too! I hear its rough! But we will be doing this pretty much together. I will only be a few days ahead of you. I will let you know how it goes as soon as I am able to get up and get back on the computer! Im hopeing for a quick recovery! The infections are really no fun, I feel your pain, seriously! I think it will all work out great tho.

I spoke with the VP of my company yesterday -- he had heard I was having the surgery. He said his wife had her tonsils out last year. Said it was a quick procedure, she was awake, in a dentist type chair and they just used lasers to remove the tonsils. He said she "smoked like a dragon!" during it but there was no pain or anything. He even took her to dinner that night -- she was fine! Now I want THAT type of surgery!! Im looking for a doctor who will do it by laser -- if I can find one before Monday I might just cancel the other one. I would much rather not have all the pain for two weeks! Anyone else had it done by laser? I'd love to know more!

Jessica :angel:

Mario21
04-27-2004, 09:21 PM
LASERS!!! wow, thats awesome i want lasers now!! haha. trouble is, i'm still having a deviated septum fixed and polups removed and holes punched in my sinuses. so i can't avoid that, but the Dr said thats nothing. if i can get some good laser surgery on my tonsils, i will be a lot happier, lol. i need to start lookin too! we only got about a week! lets hit those yellow pages, haha. keep me posted and i'll do the same. we can be tonsillectomy partners, lol. :bouncing:

go_troops
04-29-2004, 09:10 PM
Hey Mario --

I know -- I really want laser as well!! But my surgery is in 4 days and I dont know if I will be able to find a different doctor by than! I actually just got of the phone with the surgery nurse and she really helped calm my nerves. She said to imagine the WORST sore throat Ive ever had and thats about how bad it will be after surgery. And you know what, I survived my worst sore throat pretty well and it was a pretty bad sore throat! My tonsils even started bleeding! I know, I know -- yucky!! But thats how it tends to go for us.... So I think I am going to just have the surgery. I have searched high and low for a doctor in this area who will do it by laser but havent found one. I am pretty confidant, tho, that all will go well. Heck, I get two weeks off work, get to eat popsicles, will most likely shed some pounds, and I get to have my fiancee pamper me and watch as many movies as I want! So Im actually going to make myself stop panicking and just look forward to the good stuff thats going to come of it -- like no more snoreing, no more sore throats, no more just feeling blucky all the time!!! I cant wait!!!

I wish you all the luck in the world with yours as well, Mario! And everyone else going thru this!! Mario, We have to stay in touch and help each other thru this! I will keep you posted on how mine is going as well!! Good luck! I will try to post more later!

Jessica :angel:

Mario21
04-29-2004, 09:43 PM
alright sounds good. i am going to call my surgeon tomorrow and see which devices he plans on using for the surgery. if i can't get laser, i would at least like harmonic scaple (sp?) i'm tryin to think back to my worst sore throat. hmph, i couldn't even swallow good. mine have never started bleeding, but man do they hurt. i had a larinoscopy (sp again) the other day, and the ENT said my tonsils were swollen all around, even down my throat, so yeah, get em outta there. keep me posted and good luck :)

devzin98
05-01-2004, 02:48 AM
Hey! I'm 26, and had my tonsils removed last July. I did not have it done with lasers, but from what you say, I wish I had. The first two or three days, I was REALLY sore. It hurt like hell...I'm not going to lie. Lots of ice chips and ice cream. To make matters worse, I was given Codein for the pain, but ended up vomiting because of it. You can imagine how much pain I was in because of that! It was impossible to swallow without grimacing, let alone throwing up. However, I still say it's the best thing I've ever done. I was up and around by the 4th day, and speaking too. Just ate softer foods for about a week or so after that. I've only had very minor sore throats since then. I was getting tonsilitis every couple weeks before that. It's a great thing if you're going through what I was. I'm curious to know how the laser treatment differs from the traditional way. If you ever have it done, let us know!

go_troops
05-05-2004, 04:11 PM
hello everyone and thanks for keeping me in your thoughts! I had my tonsils and adenoids removed this last monday, the 3rd. my goodness, was i nervous. I had to check in at 7:15 in the morning. They made me change than gave me a bed. they put in a IV and gave me something to help with swelling. My surgery wasnt until 8:15. I walked into the OR and had to lay on the table. The ANSTGST told me to think about where Id like to go on vacation. I didnt even have the chance to think about it, the next thing I knew I was awake and drooling all over!! I was in a bit of pain -- my ears really hurt and so did my throat. They nurse gave me 20mg liquid vicadin right than -- I told him my pain was about a 7. Within 10 minutes I was down to about a 4 in pain. I got moved to the Phase 2 recovery and was about to sleep and sorta visit with my mom and fiancee for two hours that seemed like about 20 minutes. The next thing I knew i was suppose to get dressed and go home and I was thinking to myself how am I going to do that, i cant even wake up!! but i went home and i was pretty much ok. I ate a little bit of a muffin and it went down fine. The first day i just slept alot. my uveula was so swollen it made me want to gag, but i wasnt sick to my stomach at all. yesterday was about the same, some nausea, but way less than i had expected. im use to be nausus all the time anyway, and that was hardly anything yesterday. it usually went away if i burped! I hate to admit it - but i had a whole lot of gas afterwards and im not sure why!! just a warning -- dont know if thats happened to anyone else. could be the penicillion im on. today is day three and i am up and doing pretty well considering. they kept warning me that the first two days would be pretty easy and by day 3 i would probably feel horrible again. but last night i went to bed without taking any vicadin and didnt have any at all thru the night. i took a half dose this morning cause it did really hurt. but other than that im doing pretty good!! I just keep nibbling on crackers and i have had a million popsicles!! they are really easy to eat when mushed up in a cup with a dash of sprite in it. its just like a slurpee, but you dont feel the carbonation. thats the worst! dont drink soda!! but the popsicles really have done a wonder for me! My doctor said my tonsils were HUGE. I have these deep holes now in the back of my throat. Its every unreal that they are gone now! I am so glad its over!!! I was so nervous -- ive never had any kind of surgery before! But it went really well and im very shocked at how well im recovering. Ive heard some BAD things from people about how they did. I have to say, im very relieved so far that mine has been so easy! my adenoids dont cause me any pain at all. i just cant wait til the swelling goes down. it has quite a bit. i took a before picture of my throat, and ive meant to take an after but it hurts to open my mouth very far, so i am waiting. anyway, just thought id let you all know how it went. im hangin in there and im so thankful its over! well, feelin a bit weak -- this is the most ive really done since! but i will check back soon! good luck mario -- i know u will do GREAT! its really a breeze!

Jessica :angel:

Mario21
05-05-2004, 05:04 PM
glad your doing so well. i feel better about having mine out, but unfortunatly, my insurance company pulled some crap and can't gaurantee they will pay, or help pay for the surgery, so i had to reschedual for june 3rd, so the insurance company can go over it, and let me know if they are gonna pay. i can't afford 10g in surgery right now, so, we'll see. but keep us updated on how your doing!

go_troops
05-09-2004, 07:43 PM
hey guys --

thanks for continuing to keep me in your thoughts!

well, the other day i think i spoke too soon..... i was doing really well on the first second and third day. my doctor warned me that days 3-5 would probably be the worst. since i felt so good on day three i thought maybe i was going to be lucky.....boy was i wrong.... day 4 came like a ton of bricks falling on me!! i felt terrible!!!! my throat was so sore i couldnt swollen without wanting to DIE! let alone take my pain meds. but my fiancee helped me thru it and was able to get the meds down. a trick i learned really helped -- the doctor gave me liquid vicatin. well, its not the best tasting but you cant taste it that much if you hold it under your tounge. so i would hold some under my tounge for about 30 seconds or so -- that way it got to my blood stream a whole lot faster. than it was a LITTLE easier to swallow the rest.... so day four was tough.... but i slept thru most of it and that helped. by the end of that day i had become quite nauseas. i was sweating really bad and felt like i had a fever, but i didnt. finally i just had to go to bed and that did help. eating soda crackers did too. i guess i just didnt eat enough with my meds -- its hard when it hurts so bad tho.

i expected day 5 to be easier. instead, it was even worse than day 4. and this time no one was there with me. everyone thought i would be ok by than. i was in so much pain!!!! the pain made me cry, and crying really really really hurt which made me cry even harder!!! it was not good! but i was able to calm down and felt a bit better. i hated being nauseas so i didnt want to eat anything. so i suffered most of the day. finally that evening i ate and i felt much better. my mom came and tried to help me as much as she could. that night she painted my toes and got me some comfy pj's so i would feel better. :) . It did help!

Day 6 was much better. i finally felt like i was turning around. my mom, still trying to help me feel better, did my hair and make-up and that also made me feel like a new person. it was still terribly painful to swallow, but i tried to eat. the horrible thing was that liquid hurt so much more than anything else. and i was soooo thirsty because, honestly, i havent been drinking as much as i should cause of the pain. so yesterday i tried to drink more, and slowly i was able to get some fluids down.

so, today is day 7. and it feels like its about day 57! seriously, im very glad that today is today! i dont know if i could have survived another day like days 4 and 5! today i woke up with quite a sore throat, but with not nearly as much pain in my ears. that was whats been bothering me the most. yesterday there was tons of pain in my ears and on the right side of my throat. today most of the ear pain is gone, and most of the pain i do have is on my left side. it hurts to swallow but im still doing it and trying hard not to make faces like before!!

today i finally got dressed and went outside for a short walk! i was starting to slowly feel like myself again. than, the best thing thats happened to me this whole time did! I stepped on the scale and saw that ive lost 10 pounds!!!!!!! in ONE WEEK!!! I have always wanted to lose some weight -- ive never lost more than 1 pound before!! i was so excited i forgot about my pain! i know it will come back if im not careful, but i think this is the jump ive been needing in the right direction! ive been trying and trying and when i finally gave up it just came off!! that makes it all worth it to me!!

I dont want to scare anyone out of getting your tonsils out. I havent had a single bit of pain from my adenoids. the first few days my uvuala and back of my nose were really swollow so i felt like i was choking. but it went away pretty quick. yes, i will admit, the pain is as bad as they say its going to be. the good news, as long as i dont swollow, it really doesnt hurt!! yeah, yeah, you gotta swallow! but it COULD be worse......

My biggest fear was throwing up -- i never did even tho i wanted to sometimes!! i lived thru the pain -- sleeping can REALLY help pass the time. I have been gettimg up at 12 pm on average! that is VERY unlike me, but in this case, it has really helped the days go faster and the recovery to be easier.

Thru it all, Im very glad Ive done the surgery. Ive had a sinus headache in my left eyebrow for a little over a year, which has also caused my left eye to be kinda blurry. I told my doctor about it and he said it COULD go away with the surgery. IT HAS!!! i havent had it at ALL since!! That is VERY much worth it! also, the first day I snored SOOO loud, but thats because my nose and throat were swollen. Ever since, I have been able to breathe so much easier, my nose has just felt more clear, when i sleep i breathe thru my nose, i havent been snoreing!!! its amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cant recommend it enough! i know, i know, it HURTS! it really really really does and i would never ever ever want to go thru something like this again! but honestly, its worth it. i feel like a new person. like i have a second chance! im still recovering and i already feel better than i did before!!!!

I will continue to keep you all informed of how im doing. but i seriously feel like ive turned the bend! i actually feel like shopping -- me, not feeling like shopping, somethings wrong!! and i have that desire back!!!!

thank you for your support! If i can do it, anyone can!!!!

God Bless

Jessica :angel:

Mario21
05-09-2004, 10:51 PM
wow i want this surgery even more now! i snore a lot, and breath through my mouth when i sleep, and more than likely wake up with a morning sore throat. at my tonsillectomy, i'm also having a deviated septum fixed, and my sinuses drained, so i think i will be pretty excited on day 10 when i feel great. i'll live with the pain. glad your feeling better!

go_troops
05-10-2004, 07:21 PM
Mario --

I never thought of having sinusus drained!! I wish they did that for me. but i guess they would have if they thought i needed it.... who knows. i KNOW you will feel SOOOO much better after all of it!!

and guess what!

Ive now lost 11 pounds!! Im so excited! I hope I lose another by tomorrow!

Today I woke up with a little sore throat -- very little compared to before! It was ok but got a little worse. i told myself -- NO NARCOTICS TODAY! ONLY TYLONAL! well, i DID end up taking a vicadin just because it was starting to hurt in my ears again. I think it was because i had been talking on the phone, tho, and talking tends to make it hurt. So I took the pill and it really really helped. had almost NO pain after that -- thats a first!!

Im very happy at how im recovering and im so excited its almost over! I cant wait to get out and about again! Id love to go somewhere today but my fiancee has my car!! im stuck!!! but the point is -- i have the energy to want to go out and about!

well i will continue to let u know how it goes. good luck as your surgery gets closer everyday. i promise you wont regret it!

Jessica
:angel:

go_troops
05-10-2004, 07:23 PM
oh, i meant to add -- thats what it felt like this morning -- just your typical morning dry sore throat. it really wasnt all that bad. there can sometimes be pressure if i lay on my side. i spent most of the week sleeping half sitting up just because it felt better. the sore throat i have now is like that -- like just a typical really bad sore throat. nothing to call home about.... im glad!!!!!!

Jessica
:angel:

Mario21
05-14-2004, 05:49 PM
sooooo, any update? i just got the "OK" from my insurance company to go anhead and have the surgery. so i'm planning on may 27th. man i can't wait, haha. i don't care how much pain i'm in for the first week. as long as i don't hafta deal with tonsils for the rest of my life! :bouncing:

go_troops
05-16-2004, 03:55 PM
Today is day 13 and Im back at work!!

I kinda feel like I needed a little bit more time but im doing pretty good. im just really tired. probably mostly because i just got a new kitten and she is very hyper in the night!!

a few days back i finally sneezed for the first time since my surgery. I really really didnt want to because i wasnt sure what would happen but i really needed to so i thought, heck its been 11 days, i think i should be fine. so i sneezed and all seemed well.

than i blew my nose. i was bleeding!!! a lot!! i was so scared, i actually almost passed out. i mean, everything went black and got all muffled and i felt like i was about to faint -- and i was sitting down!!

ive never had my nose bleed before, and i was so scared because of the circumstances. and my doctor had warned me if i do bleed and it doesnt stop right away to go to the emergency room, so thats all i was thinking about!!

my fiancee tried to calm me down. i was spitting blood and that scared me even more. now that i can think rationally i realize it was because it was running down my throat and thats why it came out in my saliva, but i was so freaked out at the time i thought i was dying!!

i put ice on my nose and sat for a while and pretty soon it stopped bleeding. i was pretty darn freaked out for a while tho! later i saw all the kleenex in the garbage and realized it wasnt as much blood as i thought it was. but it was still enough to freak me out!

after that i vowed to never ever sneeze again!

than on Friday night my nose started bleeding again. i hadnt done anything. it was only a tiny bit and it came out only when i blew my nose, so i figured i was fine. than yesterday (Saturday) morning it happened some more. and this is where the really gross part happened (warning -- this is really really disgusting so if you gag easily, i wouldnt read on!!):

I felt like i really needed to sneeze so I finally just let myself because I wanted to see what would happen. i had worked my courage up. so i sneezed. i didnt bleed! but i really felt like i needed to blow my nose, so i did. when i blew my nose a big piece of black stuff came out! it was just this black glob -- not slimy or anything, just like a piece of burned tissue or something, i assume. there were specks of black stuff as well and all around it was yellow liquid. it was VERY strange. but it didnt hurt or anything and i didnt bleed.... well i still felt like i had stuff in my nose but it wouldnt come out by blowing. so I had to snort it out! I know, its so sick! ive never done that before, but I needed to really bad! so i did that and when i spit the stuff out (after gaging for a minute!) it was this really mucousy brown stuff with alot of blood in it. that was a bit scary, but nothing else came out after that. the same thing happened again this morning.

i was scared so i called me mom and she thinks im just healing. i guess so, but i am concerned about the blood. my worried that im not healing like i should, and i have reason to be. i didnt take my antibiotics like i should have during the last two weeks. every time i took them it made me feel sick and really really hot and my face would get really red. i felt like i might be allergic. so i could have a little bit of an infection. after all, my tonsils were full of toxins.

im really not sure whats going on, but i have a doctors appointment on wednesday. so if i survive thru the next three days i should be fine! im just worried about going to the doctor. since i had my adenoids out he might stick the camera thing down my nose again! he numbs me, but i can still feel everything!!! and than he puts this tube with a camera on the end of it down my nose. its really uncomfortable. but i guess its better to know whats going on.

i still feel like i just need to sleep and sleep and sleep. im so sleepy!! i really dont have very much energy. i felt like i should by now. im wanting to start working out again but im not sure if i can -- i want to get my doctors ok first.

i can finally eat solid things like chips and such -- stuff that i couldnt even imagine having before! and i can finally drink more than a little sip. ive been able to get at least three big swallows at once!! its great -- before i could barely drink anything and it was torture, i was so thirsty! now im even drinking soda!!!

my throat still hurts. but just a little bit. my left ear is what causes me the most discomfort. im hopeing i dont have an ear infection. i will find this all out in a few days, tho. right this minute my throat is pretty much fine. just a little tight. it gets worse tho when i eat or talk alot. i am a singer and ive had to stop this whole time. on Friday i sang for the first time since all of this. it went pretty well, but my throat did hurt a bit afterwards. i tried singing yesterday and i had to stop, it was just not feeling that great and i felt like i was straining my throat. i have to stop pushing myself so much. my body will fully recover when its good and ready.

mario -- im glad to hear your insurance said yes to the procedure! it will be a great relief! i am SOOOO thankful i did it! it was really hard to handle for a few days, but looking back i cant believe i waited so long and im soooo excited now when i think that its over with!! i never have to worry about those darn things ever ever ever again! and it makes me so happy! they wont hurt, they wont get swollen, they wont bleed, they wont gag me, ever ever ever!!! i dont regret a moment of it! one or two weeks of pain is nothing compared to a lifetime of living without them!

i will continue to let you know how things go and tell you what my doctor says on wednesday. hopefully everything is good!! good luck on your surgery, mario. dont stress too much before hand. its coming quick, but thats a good thing! you wont regret it!

Jessica
:angel:

Mario21
05-17-2004, 05:14 AM
thanx so much for the reply. your helpin me get comfortable for the surgery. i'm also a singer, and was worried this might have some bad affect on my voice. i was curious....did you notice after singing a lot, that your tonsils would be swollen? sometimes when i talk a lot, or sing for a while, my throat would bother me, and it seemed like my tonsils would be hurting. somehow i don't think my recovery will be as good as yours. i am having the tonsils and adenoids taken out, nasal polyps removed, holes poked in my sinuses, and a deviated septum corrected. so i'm gonna be crappy! but, better to get it over with than let it make me horrible forever. i just sold my car, which means everything to me, so i won't be wanting to go out for a while anyway, lol.

treneka
05-25-2004, 03:13 AM
Hey guys. Im a 20yr old female. I had my tonsillectomy last monday. Today is day 9. I am still in so much pain. I thought I was alone because the only information I could find said things like "your child should be up and chasing butterflies after 3 days." I am so gald I found this board because now I feel like I am healing normally, even though I just want the pain to end. Every day, i just want it to rush by hoping that the next day will be better. The Lortab elixer that I am on helps, but it makes me extremely nauseated, its a chore and a blessing to take it. I felt fine on day 1 and 2, but since then, its been awful. Can anybody relate?

Mario21
05-25-2004, 07:57 AM
key word in your post is "child" children have a much easier time with this surgery than us adults. they have smaller blood vessels and smaller tonsils, hence less scabbing, less bleeding, quicker healing. i think the going rate for healing, chasing butterflies for an adult is around 10-14 days. correct me if i'm wrong, i'm going on what i've heard, my surgery isn't until june 3rd.

go_troops
05-25-2004, 08:47 PM
Hi guys!

Just updating ya'll about how Im doing. Its been 21 days since my surgery and I cant believe how fast its gone! Exactly 3 weeks ago I was so nervous I coulda died! Now I cant believe how far Ive come. I went back to work last week and it was a bit tough but I made it. By Thursday tho, I was feeling pretty aweful again and I stayed home. Not so much because of the tonsils and all but mostly because I ended up getting a cold bug type thing and it was just draining. Im still trying to get my voice all the way back. Im about done sounded like a man!

Im STILL dealing with a little bit of bleeding from my nose here and there! I went to my doctor last wednesday and he said I looked like i was healing much better than he expected. great, but when i mentioned that my nose had bled a few times he said "hmmm, thats interesting...." like he'd never heard that before!! a little unnerving...

but it isnt BLEEDING bleeding anymore, i just get a bunch of mucous that is bloody. Everyone thinks its just healing... i guess if it happens much more i will go back to the doc...

anyway, i have pictures of my healing process if anyone is remotely interested in seeing them. I know some people find it interesting.

anyway, God bless and have a beautiful day!

Jessica
:angel:


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Casalett
05-30-2004, 01:40 PM
Treneka-- I can absolutely relate! I am 25 year old female. It's Day 7 for me and today has been the worst day yet. While my throat pain isn't the worst I've ever had, my ears and tongue are in excruciating pain and since Day 4, it's gotten worse each day. I cannot talk at all and can only drink liquids, still. Every day I hope that day will be the peak and it will start to lessen; hasn't happened yet, but one day it's going to HAVE to. Ugh. I know I won't feel this way in a couple of months, but I'm at the point right now where I regret even having it done. No strep or tonsillitis I've ever had was this bad. Well, no use in dwelling on that now, I suppose. But Tuesday if this is still the case, I'm going back to the doctor, because he's going to have to put me on something stonger. At this point the pain is the same with and without the medicine and it's getting unbearable. I don't know how it is for anyone else, but to me, there is nothing in the world worse than bad ear pain and this is just ridiculous. I certainly hope that none of you have to go through this. I wish you lots of luck if you've not had your surgery yet. :)

Mario21
06-02-2004, 03:22 AM
well, i have my surgery in 2 days. june 3rd i get my tonsils from hell removed. man i'm nervous, but i know by my birthday on the 27th, i'll be all better and not worrying about these dang things anymore. hmm....time to go shopping for popcicles, and pudding and stuff. wish me luck :)

cassie531
07-14-2004, 11:10 AM
I am a 34 year old female and I had my tonsils out yesterday! I was terrified! I had read and heard many horror stories and even my doctor said it would be miserable.
After the surgery the doctor told my husband and my mom that he had a hard time doing the surgery because my tonsils were so imflamed and infected, they could hardly intubate me because my tonsils were in the way! The doctor said they were "Nasty"!
I must tell you that I have had a very easy time! I have taken the liquid Vicodin every 4 hours and have drank almost constantly, except when I am sleeping. I have slept on and off for 3 hours at the most. I'm scared to sleep because I'm afraid it might get worse if I am not drinking something. I ate donuts and a Crystal burger yesterday!!!! It hurts when I swallow but that is my only complaint.
I hope any of you waiting to have this procedure will find comfort in my story. I was expecting the worse but so far so good!
Praise God! Prayer Works!

Ratatosk
07-14-2004, 01:19 PM
Had mine out the same age as you about 4 years ago. You must have been given better drugs. I was given liquid codeine -- big bottle of orange stuff. I basically slept sitting up with a glass of water on the night stand. Chewed on ice chips and drank water constantly when I was awake and when I'd wake up in the middle of the night -- about every 2-3 hours I'd make myself drink to keep my throat moist. Around the 3rd or 4th day I lost my voice, which was a little frustrating. But basically I spent two weeks lounging around the house, sleeping, reading and watching tv. I was really tired and my throat felt very very raw mostof the time.

skyspinner
07-25-2004, 12:16 AM
I just had my right lingual tonsil out about a month ago, and it was miserable. Pain for three weeks, still have a lump in my throat, and my surgeon says this is what to expect. He's good, so I believe him. Hope I never have to do that again!

strangecookie
07-29-2004, 09:28 PM
i am very happy to find this board. I'm 31 and after a year long bout of antibiotics/gargling/ikcyness my doc just said i should get my tonsils taken out. There are some questions i have still which i'd love feedback on.
1. do you think i'll feel better after tonsillectomy? I've had a chronic sore throat since last november, have taken 4 rounds of antibiotics - i don't have a fever most of the time, but i feel unwell. My left tonsil is particularly big, with on and off white pus on them. Sore throats have been a problem my whole life. Yet, somehow it feel overly dramatic to have this major surgery.
2. i would love to hear what people's conditions are before their tonsillectomies.

Thanks!
Ariel

Broadwaygirl03
07-29-2004, 11:11 PM
Does anyone relate to whats going on with me? I'm 8 days from my tonsil and adnoid surgery. Whenever I drink anything, even water, my ears burn like someone is sticking needles in them and my jaw line, especially chin becomes numb and painful. What's really irritating is I can't sleep on my side like I normally do, I have to sleep on my back because my ears go crazy when I put pressure on them. I know my scabs are coming off because I spit one out this morning, but I'm going insane. I'm so thirsty but I'm in terribly pain whenever I drink anything, I'm living on ice chips at the moment.

Jessgirl01
07-30-2004, 02:50 PM
Hello all! I just found this site and am very thankful. I'm a 21 year old female who is scheduled for a tonsillectomy, nasal endoscopy, and adenoidectomy next Thursday(August 5th) I'm very nervous :rolleyes: I just went for my pre-op bloodwork today and it's becoming more realistic.( I started my 10 day course of antibiotics on Tues) I was told in May that I needed my tonsils out by my new physician. After going to the same pediatrician for nearly 21 years, he never told me I needed to have my tonsils out. My new Dr. though, says my tonsils are very bad- as does my ENT. I feel very secure with my ENT since he was the one who put tubes in my ears when i was 18 months old.

I had strep throat last month and am guessing the tonsillectomy will be very similiar to the severe case I had. I also suffer from recurring tonsillitis and frequent sinus infections(which is why I have to lose the adenoids) I'm a [ removed - Please carefully review the posting rules about naming your profession. Thank you. ] so I've been carefully reviewing all the risks and precautions that are neccessary. Please, if anyone has any advice or survival skills for me, please don't hesitate to share. Thanks so much. I will be back and look forward to updating you all about my progress. :eek:

Broadwaygirl03
07-30-2004, 03:50 PM
You know, that's an interesting way to put it. For the first few days until the scabs started to form, it did just feel like a horrible case of strep. My ENT and doctor told me I had had so much strep that it was so deeply infected in the tonsils they couldn't fully treat it unless I had them out. I'm 19 and working on a degree in Early Childhood education so I was also catching anything the kids I work with have... and they brought in some interesting stuff! My worst fear was that second when I woke up and realized the pain, but it wasn't bad. For a second I was thinking that I'd better get myself to the doctor for some more anti-biotics. My scabs are coming off painfully, but really, I'm only in pain for a few days and that's much better then strep every other week, which was my situation.

Here's a little bit of my survival skils- Get more than one flavor of ice cream! I honestly don't think I can look at another dish of cookies and cream for a long time. I've also lived on ice chips. I can't drink very well and the ice chips go down nicely. They've kept me hydrated. Also, eat and drink as much and anything you can. My sister didn't eat anything for like three days and she had really bad bleeds because her scabs were bad. I actually had a few potato chips the night I came home, have been drinking as much as I can, even if its like two ice chips. The scabs still hurt, but I've minimal bleeding.

It's been a week and a day and the sharp pain is gone, but it feels like someone punched me in the jaw. I'm off of the pain meds, except for sometimes at night. I hope your surgery goes well, I'm just glad mines over.

Jessgirl01
07-31-2004, 12:08 AM
Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it. Yes, I've also heard that if you get dehydrated it makes the pain much worse. I'm going to try my best and drink and eat things like jello, broth, etc and of course ice cream! :) :) :) I go Tuesday for my pre-op appt. with my ENT. I'll be so glad to get it over and done with. Ice sounds like it'll be my best friend. I just hope he gives me some good stuff for pain :)

Mario21
07-31-2004, 12:48 AM
i'm goin on day 5, and lemme tell ya, drink as much as you can. i have been drinking constantly, going to the bathroom almost 5 times an hour, but no joke, i've had strep thats hurt more than this surgery so far. popcicles are amazing. i'd give ice cream a day or so before eating that cuz it does make the mucus a lil thick, and your uvula might be swollen.

Jessgirl01
08-02-2004, 02:08 PM
Ahhh!! I'm still nervous. I go to the ENT tomorrow for my final appt before the surgery. Hopefully he will put any fears I have to rest. I am dreading this so much, but I know that the outcome will be far greater than spending half my life on antibiotics to clear up strep/tonsillitis/sinus infections. I'm going to be ok. At least Sonic is close by so I can have some good slushes- I usually live on them when I have strep :-/ No cherry though, because it'll look like I'm bleeding. Hopefully Thursday will come and go so that this will all just be a memory. Thanks everyone for all your support. I will keep you updated and keep those tips coming before Thursday. Also, any what to expects painwise would be appreciated. Anything would be great! Thanks again!

:) Jess

mfratella
08-02-2004, 03:29 PM
I had the tonsillectomy on Thursday afternoon at a very good hospital in the area. I was surprised, however, that I was barely in the recovery room for 15 minutes, not even fully awake, and they were rushing me out. I don't know if that was standard protocol for this surgery (try to get you on your feet ASAP) or if they just wanted to get out of there (it was about 6pm).

Anyway, I woke up in the post-op room and couldn't breathe through my nose. The breathing tube had caused everything to swell up and I panicked. I soon realized that breathing throught my mouth was more comfortable. They asked what pain level I was at...I told them about a 9...a few seconds later...a little more IV painkiller and oral painkiller and I was down to a 4.

Eventually I went home and that night wasn't too bad. The next day was horrible. I was given tylenol w/codeine (elixir)...that didn't do much, so they bumped me up to hyrdocodone suspension. I don't know if it alleviated the pain much better, but it did knock me out. However, taking it every 4 hours for 3 days straight really upset my stomach so I stopped taking it last night.

I'm now 4 days out from the surgery and in the most pain I've been in. The only difference between the pain now and 2 days out is that now it seems as though the rest of my body feels bad too. My doctor said that my tonsils were some of the deepest and largest he had ever seen. I took a look back at my throat as best I could and boy oh boy....everything is white. It looks like a mess.

I haven't been able to eat anything, or even drink much for that matter. That, I'm sure, is contributing to my upset stomach. I literally have not eaten anything (other than a popsicle) since the day before my surgery. I have a horrible taste in my mouth. I have a fever (I haven't taken my temp, but am pretty sure from the constant awakening with sweat). I'm dizzy (again, a reesult probably from not eating). And if I see another Ashlee Simpson show episode on MTV, I'm going to go nuts:)

It's good to read that days 4 and 5 are often bad as well. I have had 4 other surgeries in my life and this is by far the worst. I'm sure it's well worth it come cold season when I won't get my usual 3 or 4 sinus infections, but right now, it's hard to look beyond the pain.

I'm 26 and consider myself to have a pretty high pain threshhold...but I seriously have cried during this ordeal. Thank God my mom has been around to help me out with Jello and popsicles:) Moms are the best:)

jaddz
08-04-2004, 12:45 AM
You're scaring me! I need to have my tonsils out, but have been putting it off for the very reasons you are describing. Did you have a problem with your uvula giving you a choking sensation when you swallow? If so, how long did it last? I hope you feel better soon!!

Mario21
08-04-2004, 01:41 AM
i think the uvual should be the least of your worries. i hear its more of a problem in adults than children. it wasn't anything that i look back on and regret having the surgery because of. i just had to sleep on the couch, propped up for the first week. but it wasn't scary where i was afraid i would swallow it. as long as your sitting up, you barely notice its swollen, besides the fact it hurts. but if your worried about it sliding down your throat, and that kinda feeling, its not that bad.

Jessgirl01
08-05-2004, 01:26 AM
Ahhh!! Tomorrow's the day. I am so nervous. I feel better after I talked to my ENT surgeon yesterday and he gave me some liquid Lortab(hydrocodone) which hopefully will work wonders. He also said I could alternate between that and Tylenol every 3-4 hours, so yayness! LOL

I go in at 8:30 and he said I'd be in a mouth gag for about 45 mins to an hour. He isn't totally sure if he's going to take my adenoids or not, but he's going to do the nasal endoscopy anway. Ummm, I bought some popsicles, push ups and ice cream today. I also bought some noodle soup and will be drinking lots of water(room temperature) Ok, I am off to TRY and get some sleep. I am just so nervous, I could scream. Keep the tips coming for me, I appreciate them!

I will update you when I can!

Mario21
08-05-2004, 01:37 AM
thats how mine went. he said he might take the adenoids. unfortunatly, he left them. i'm kinda upset about that, i would liked all that junk just gone. but i guess if they aren't giving me any problems, then i guess leave em. good luck. i'm goin on day 10 and its still pretty crappy. mostly cuz of boredom and hunger. pain has never been above a 1 or 2, until i added salt to my baby food. haha, big mistake. good luck and keep us updated. and keep that chicken soup cool, nothing hot. :) bye bye

mfratella
08-05-2004, 02:50 PM
I ended up having to go into the ER on Tuesday evening (5 days after) for profuse bleeding. I felt like something was running into the back of my throat...thought maybe mucous. I went to spit it out and the blood started flowing like water from a tap.

Got to the ER and the ER docs really had no way of seeing anything, nor did they know how far the tonsils went down my throat. They called in my ENT. In the meantime, I was coughing up HUGE clots of blood. That was the scariest thing ever.

The ER doc thought she would try to shove a gauze soaked in some kind of iron solution toward the back of my throat to help clotting. It had to have been the worst tasting thing I've ever experienced. I told her to just stop it and wait till the ENT got there. I'd rather go into the OR than have that again.

He finally got there and was great. He explained what happened and how he was going to fix it. We went into the OR...he double-souchered and waited about 15 minutes to make sure it wouldn't bleed again. I had lost about 150cc of blood in the whole ordeal. And at one point, the pain was so bad, I almost passed out.

I'm on morphine elixir now and have been told by everyone (ward nurses, ENTs, PAs,) to drink, drink, drink. It is so hard to swallow, but staying hydrated is the best way to avoid prolonged pain and swelling back there.

Another thing my ENT told me to do is to make sure to get up out of bed and not just lie around...open my jaw so scar tissue doesn't form to a closed jaw, and even chew some gum.

I have to take another week off work now because this latest surgery sets me back to day 1 on the recovery scale. This has been the most painful operation I've ever encountered. If you're considering getting it done, please think about it long and hard and do it only if you and your ENT think the benefits will outweigh the pain. I am very tolerant to pain...but I have cried many times during this past week. I can only hope it's worth it come the cold/flu season.

Mario21
08-05-2004, 03:18 PM
well i'm sorry to hear about your ordeal. i had bleeding like that on day....i think 7 or 8 and it was scary. i didn't need to go to the OR, by the time i got to the ER, it had stopped. but i know the feeling of your blood gushing into your throat. god i hated that feeling. were you eating solid food at all? there is such a small chance of bleeding if you follow directions, that i don't wanna scare people. i've had nearly no pain the entire 10 days, and bleeding once because i broke down and ate pizza, haha. i think its a very personal surgery. you say its the worst pain ever, and i say i've had strep that hurt more than this. so there really isn't a way to tell what its gonna be like till you go through with it. but, i have a feeling that in a month, you'll be happy you did it. i know i will be. good luck with your recovery though. hope all goes well. few pointers. yes, of course, drink tons of water. try using a humidifyer. i also noticed the one day i turned mine off, is the day i was in the ER bleeding. its all about the moisture, lol. good luck :)

mfratella
08-06-2004, 10:12 AM
No solid foods for me. My doc did say that my tonsils were some of the biggest and deepest he'd ever seen. He had to go down my throat a few centimeters as well to remove them. That's where the bleeding came from.

I agree with you...it all depends on how deep your tonsils are as to how much pain you're going to get and recovery time.

Jessgirl01
08-06-2004, 01:07 PM
Here I am sitting at the computer desk. I just woke up from a nap and am drinking a strawberry milkshake. My mom is the best. :)

Yesterday, I arrived at the hospital at 8:30 am the time they told me to arrive and got called back around 8:40. I changed into my hospital gown and they came and took my temp and my blood pressure. Then they started prepping for me surgery by starting that IV of sugar water(there`s a fancy name for it- I`ll just make keep to simple terms lol) They gave me some lidocaine. A few minutes later, they allowed mom and Bryan to come back and visit. Then, Bry had to go to work so my mom`s best friend and mom were back there with me before I left for surgery. I also had to drink this nasty cocktail of crap to relax me and use nose spray as my nurse said "To clear out all the snot" They took me about 10:30 am and rolled me into surgery. When I got into the OR it was FREEZING cold, so the OR nurse gave me 3 nice, warm blankets.

My ENT was reassuring me everything would be ok while the "The Sandman" lol was filling my IV with fabulous drugs to make me sleep. I woke up about 10:30 in the recovery room and had a tube in my nose so I could get some oxygen. I guess my pulse oxygen level had dropped into the 80s and it`s not supposed to be lower than in the 90s. So I finally realized I`d be much better off if I could breathe through my mouth. The nurse asked if I was having any pain and I told her it was about a 6, so she gave me some morphine and something else. I was way too out of it to remember what else, but the morphine made me itch so badly.

After about 30 mins I was sent back to Outpatient where my mom told me what my ENT told her. He told her that I had THE LARGEST tonsils he had ever seen and that he didn`t know how I managed to breathe. There were pockets of infection, they were embedded(which required much more work), and he also said that most tonsils are sort of firm, but he said that mine jiggled like Jell-O(TMI, sorry)

I asked the nurse for some Ginger Ale and boy did that taste good. She also brought me some crushed ice and A lemon Italian Ice. Yum! About 1:30 they discharged me and before I even left the hospital parking lot I was getting sick to my stomach. We got home about 1:45 and from that point until about 9:30 I was sick to my stomach at least 10 more times. The ENT called to check on me and told my mom I had probably swallowed some blood during surgery and then my mom had to call the on call ENT so I could get something to make me stop vomiting. They weren`t worried I was dehydrated because I could keep ice chips down and they would be down, but if I ate a popsicle or something it would come right back up.

I had to make it ALL day yesterday when I got home without any pain meds, whew! I`m just glad it`s over. I`m very sore today. My tongue and uvula are bruised and I have two HUGE gouges in my throat. Yeah, this is the worst sore throat I`ve ever had, but I haven`t cried- YET. Ok, just wanted to let you all know I was ok, just in quite a bit of pain(which is better right now thanks to Lortab and Tylenol) I have heard days 3-5 will be my worst, but I guess we`ll see. I`m off to rest right now. Thanks for your support.

Mario21
08-06-2004, 01:15 PM
hey, good to hear your doin ok, lol, if i could say that much. sounds like the ENTs tell everyone thye have the biggest tonsils ever, haha. when i saw pics, it looked like they were just chillin back there, but when i look at my throat, i have these huge empty pockets back there. yuk, so gross. use a humidifyer, they help a lot. the one day i didn't use mine, that night i broke opened and started bleeding very badly. not saying you hafta sit next to one for 2 weeks, cuz i go downstairs for most of the day and leave it in my room. but it does help to use one while sleeping. i heard days 3-5, 4-6, were supposed to be the worst, but i think mine would hafta be 8-10, lol. i'm on day 11 and still have my scabs, still can't eat anything solid, and i'm still taking pain meds. man when will this be over. I NEED FOOD! hahaha, good luck with your recovery.

Jessgirl01
08-06-2004, 05:21 PM
LOL, I think you're right about the whole ENT thing. I've been drinking tons of water, eating ice chips, drinking milkshakes, today I even ate a bit of chicken broth with a few tiny noodles so I could take my Lortab. I've also had two frozen coffees from the coffeeshop right up the road. After I finished vomiting last night, I feel much better. I'm still very tired, but luckily I can update from bed and surf the net,etc. Once I get the Lortab in my system it works pretty fast and I'm a much more pleasant person to be around. My scabs haven't started forming yet- when I look in my mouth it's just white and pus- like. Yuck.

My ENT did tell my mom he had to go far back into my throat to get my tonsils out, he said they had pockets of infection in them and that usually they have a "firm" feeling but that mine were squishy. Yuck. Of course I don't remember anything. LOL. Maybe this is a good thing. I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone in what I'm feeling. Thanks so much for taking time to reply to this. I hope everyone has a speedy recovery(myself included) :) I'll write more maybe tomorrow and give you an update. :)

Mario21
08-06-2004, 06:37 PM
the white gross looking stuff is your scab. i'm on day 11 and i still have the white scabs. they won't change much, but those white patches are the scabs :) when i was in the ER the other night, i stole a bunch of those wooden tongue compressors, hahaaha. so i've been lookin around, and i noticed that my scab goes like, way down my throat. further down than i thought my tonsils went. very interesting. i know the Dr mentioned to my mom that mine were really bad, but i can't wait till my post op visit to actually ask him about them. should be interesting. i'm sure you know, but make sure that you don't make the broth real warm. keep it room temp or slightly warmed.

mfratella
08-06-2004, 08:11 PM
Yeah...the part of the tonsil you see is only the tip of the iceberg. There are vessels (blood and lymph) that act as roots that also have to be removed...so that's why you see it going down your throat too.

Jesse, I'm glad they kept you in recovery for an extended period of time. They rushed me out before I was even awake...just so they could get off their shift on time. I'm also glad you seem to be doing so well.

Yeah, keep the broth warm, but not hot. And watch out for any salt in the broth too...it'll burn like hell. Slurpees work well too. The key is just not to get dehydrated.

Mario, day 11 and you're still hurting? Did you have any additional bleeding?

Mario21
08-06-2004, 08:24 PM
i was bleeding for about 10 min on day 8, but by the time i got to the ER, it was done. thats about it. right now, if i look in my throat, i see the full scabs, red around them, and some little pink patches in the scabs. god, i am really needing some food, haha. i hope these dang things fall off soon. i'm pushin 2 weeks with no solid food.

Jessgirl01
08-06-2004, 09:59 PM
I don't think the scab has actually started to form yet, but I can see it starting to. Yeah, I've been eating my broth at room temperature like letting it cool for about 20 mins before I'll even put it in my mouth. I have to eat something before I take my Lortab. I was sick at my stomach all day yesterday from the anesthesia, so I had to go ALL day without pain meds. It was hard, but we just ended up calling my ENT and he called me in something to pharmacy to stop vomiting. I've been living on ice chips and my ENT actually told me ice cream would help to coat my throat- and it has. Makes it feel much, much better. I think I was in the recovery for about an hour since my pulse ox was in the 80s(they don't like it to get below 90) Another thing my fiance told me was that they wouldn't allow me to eat red because it would look like I'm bleeding, he did say I could but I haven't yet, I'm trying to be cautious. After being sick last night and so sore today in my stomach and abdomen, I don't even want to think I'm seeing blood after that ordeal :) Again, thanks for all your advice.

Mario21
08-07-2004, 12:25 AM
the white things...............................are your scabs...............................

mfratella
08-07-2004, 09:46 AM
Just hang in there. It could be 14 days+ before you're close to normal.

Try to sit up a little as well...keep your head elevated...you don't want everything collecting in the back of your throat...at least if you're up a little, things tend to get washed down a little more easily.

How old are you?

Jessgirl01
08-07-2004, 11:40 AM
So far, today is a bit worse than yesterday. When I woke up, I drank half of the chocolate shake my mom made me so I could take my pain meds. Luckily, the Lortab kicks in pretty fast. I know I'm sore because of my scabs and because the tissue in the back of the throat is so delicate :) I cannot tell you all how thankful I am that this board is here. It makes me feel so at ease to know that other people are going through the same thing I am. Mario- Which baby food do you find easiest to eat? I read back that you had tried putting salt into your baby food- LOL-- sounds like something I would do. I don't like bland things, but my ENT says no spices or anything. :( Bummer. Ok. More later BTW, I'm 21 will and will be 22 in a few months. :)

icekween01
08-09-2004, 01:03 AM
Today is day 12 for me. Yesterday I had an emotional breakdown, so my boyfriend found this list for me. I was very grateful because I was beginning to think, all kinds of horrible thoughts. Like, maybe my ENT had butchered me and I was never going to be normal again, etc. I just didn't realize it was going to take so long to recover. I'm so glad that he found this list...now at least I know that what is going on is not unusual. I still can't eat solid foods. I'm still in terrible pain and still need the pain meds. Every evening I think...I've got to feel better tomorrow and every morning I feel like I've had a set back. I've already been back to work and all that jive but yesterday we tried to get out "out" since we haven't been able to really do anything fun since the procedure. We were going to go to dinner and a movie. Since I still can't eat, I ordered some mashed potatoes as I have found that, although I have to flush them down with tons of water, they are one of the things I can eat. if you call chasing them with water to be able to swallow them eating. well, I took a bite not realizing the 'inside' of the bite was too hot....it got stuck in my throat....couldn't get it down, couldn't spit it back out. It was burning the crap out of my already sore and tender throat. I started crying. It hurt so bad. That's what prompted the emotional breakdown. once I started crying I couldn't stop. I just want to be able to eat something! I just want the pain to go away. I just want this to be OVER!!!!!!!!
I'm almost going to start crying again just typing this. This procedure by far has been the worst thing I have ever been through in my life. I'm 35 years old. I've been through a lot, including child birth. Given a choice, I'd take child birth over this any day. This has been the most painful, most miserable experience and if I had a chance to go back and do over, I would have told my ENT to go screw himself. I know many people on the board don't regret it, but to me, the problems I was having before the procedure were not bad enough to warrant having it. I could easily have lived the rest of my life without this...at least that's what I believe. Of course my ENT would say differently but I don't agree with him. So, at day 12, I'm still wondering...when am I going to be able to eat something besides jello, soup, pudding or shakes? When will I be able to take a drink without half the fluid going up my nose? When will the pain go away? I'm seriously to the point where I just can't take it anymore. I'm pretty tough and feel that I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. I have 7 tatoos for crying out loud! I'm not a wuss. I supose I'm not a very good person to be posting here because right now I'm so down I have nothing positive at all to say. actually I probably need to stop posting as I feel the tears coming back. When is it going to end?????

Jessgirl01
08-09-2004, 02:43 PM
Today is Day 5 and owww my ears hurt when I woke up this morning!!!! I ate some baby food oatmeal with banana flavor, then I immediately took my pain medicine!!! I'm getting nervous because I only have like 2 days left of pain medicine but I guess I can always call my ENT and he'll call more in for me. I have to take Tylenol in between times for my pain medicine sometimes :( I hate this pain that I have first thing in the morning. Today I did eat some diced meat for lunch with some peaches and a small piece of broken up/mushed up chocolate cake which I ate like 2 mushed up bites of.

So far, I've been sleeping about 10 or so hours a night on top of the naps I take daily. Ice chips and water are my best friend. Ok, it's time to take some more meds soon! Hang in there everybody, one day we'll all be glad we had this done.

JTodd
08-09-2004, 09:13 PM
Hi, my name is jen. I just had my first visit to the ENT today. He suggested a tonsillectomy. I am debating whether or not to go through with it. I've read through all the posts here, good and bad, and my question is would you do it again? I am 30 years old with two small children. I teach school and end up with strep throat at least 5 times a year and tonsillitis in between times. I just want to know if you'd do it again.

Thanks.

Jessgirl01
08-09-2004, 11:33 PM
Well umm maybe ask me that question in a few weeks lol :D Umm I'm on Day 5, almost 6 and I'm still in a considerable amount of pain. But, yeah I'd probably do it again just to be able to breathe and not have tonsillitis every other month. Today hasn't been terribly bad, I mean it COULD be worse. Gosh, I just hope I didn't jinx myself :-/ Umm, I'm really ready for some real food already. It's been quite a long haul, plus I was sick at my stomach all day the day I had my surgery which made the pain worse. Tylenol and Lortab(liquid) have been my best friends. The main key is to stay hydrated which I've done by keeping ice chips beside me and drinking water, even though that makes me go to the bathroom like 5 times an hour.

Your ENT should have told you that the pain is worse the older you get for some odd reason although my guess is that your tissues are constantly changing along with the nerves and nerve supplies,etc. Today I discovered chewing gum is great, too. I have that nasty taste out of my mouth now. Sorry for the book, it's just nice to be able to discuss it.

JTodd
08-10-2004, 08:36 AM
My ent did tell me the pain is worse with age. He compared it to childbirth and I've had two kids! :) I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better. It must be hard not being able to eat solid stuff though. Do you feel super hungry? The only part of this whole thing that I'm looking forward to, besides no more tonsilitis, is the fact that my ent told me that I would probably lose between 8 and 12 pounds. YIPEE! Not that that's a reason to get them out, but it is definately a benefit. :) My ent recommeded gum chewing the day after surgery. He said it really helps. Glad to hear it has helped you.

Are you bored just sitting at home? Because I teach school, the only time I have to get these suckers out is on Christmas vacation. It would be like on the 15th of December so I'm hoping by Christmas eve I'll actually feel a little human again. I'm not expecting to eat Christmas dinner or anything though! :)

Feel free to post to talk today if you're bored. I'll check back throughout the day. I like hearing about your recovery. It makes me think I may be able to do it! :)

Jen

Jessgirl01
08-10-2004, 02:33 PM
Today is Day 6 and so far *knock on wood* I've only had to take my Tylenol once. I have some ear pain today, the throat pain is better than what it has been, but it should be because I keep pushing water down there everytime I think about it. I had a frozen coffee drink this am, and for lunch I had some diced up hot dog and strawberry ice cream.I just got out of the shower because that's my remedy when I'm sick and I always think I feel dirty lol, so I end up taking about 2-3 showers a day when I'm sick.

Jen, what grade do you teach? My mom is a teacher and she teaches 2nd grade. I'm going into the Medical field, no teaching for me lol. I think you can do the surgery, I mean I've tried my best to stay positive and fast forward to fall/winter when I usually get tonsillitis and strep,etc. The main thing is to stay hydrated and rest, rest, rest. Days 1-4 I did nothing BUT rest, today I'm up a little more but still get tired, etc. Rent some movies (some good chick flicks) I don't know how large your tonsils are but mine were embedded, so he had to go deeper, but if I can do it, you can. I don't have a great pain threshold, and I haven't cried once not even the first day when I was vomiting every 30 mins from the anesthesia and not being able to take pain meds at ALL or even keep water down. I have faith in you. If you have any more questions,feel free to ask :D

laura30
08-10-2004, 03:38 PM
I have been following this message board for a few days now and have been very grateful for the info. I am currently coming to the end of day 6. I had a right tonsillectomy on Wednesday 4th August. I am 30 years old. The reason i only had the right one taken out is that i had them both removed when i was 5 years old but the right one grew back. Anyway, i thought that because i was only having one side done that the pain would be half. How wrong was i. It has been a living hell. I would quite happily go through childbirth again instead of this operation! I have to admit that i am feeling brighter today but my throat and ear is still very sore. The main problem that i'm having now is the 'white stuff' covering the right hand side of my throat. Some of it is starting to fall off, which i'm hoping is a good sign. I just don't want it to return because at first it tastes foul and makes me feel sick. Is anyone else experiencing this? :confused: By the way, i am from 'sunny' England.

JTodd
08-10-2004, 06:12 PM
Jessgirl-
Sorry to hear about your ear pain, but I wanted to post a tip for you. My ent gave me a pamphlet about what to expect. Here's what he says for ear pain. "considerable relief can be obtained by filling the ear canal with warmed oil, such as mineral, baby, or sweet oil. Using an eye dropper the ear canal should be completely filled. A piece of cotton is placed into the opening of the ear to keep the oil from running out of the ear canal. It is the heat which is providing the beneficial effects, and in order to maintain it, it is advisable to lie on a hot water bottle."

Try it. Maybe it will help.

Jessgirl01
08-10-2004, 07:38 PM
I'm glad you're doing well Laura. I had my tonsillectomy on August 5 so it's nice to know that someone has had the same experience. Jen, I have been using a warm cloth and that does seem to help somewhat. I've also been chewing gum. I've only had to take the Tylenol twice so far today and I've managed to eat some diced hot dog and some mac and cheese spirals. It's still quite uncomfortable to swallow, but I'm trying my best. I've lost about 7 1/2 pounds just since Thursday. Unreal. I've seen so much TV and layed around so much, it's a wonder the ice cream and slushes don't go straight to my hips :D Laura, the white stuff is your scab and I can already see some pink in the back of my throat, there are a few tiny places where fresh skin is starting to "peer" through.

I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere now. I feel like I'm progressing some, which is great to feel that!! My post op is August 24, so I have a while still. I still have a lot of popsicles to eat lol. I miss real food. :)

mfratella
08-10-2004, 08:45 PM
Laura, I had the same taste and bad breath after my initial surgery. After my emergency surgery, my ENT noticed how bad it smelled and prescribed a very rigorous antibiotic protocol. Are you on Zithromax right now?

Yeah, the white stuff is the scab. What happens sometimes is that pain will occur when they start to fall off because they're exposing "fresh" skin.

Cori18
08-10-2004, 09:06 PM
Hello everyone, My name is Cori (from Nebraska) and I just found out today that I was going to need to get a tonsillectomy on Monday or Tuesday. I am an 18 year old female and all that I keep hearing about is how hard to deal with the pain because of what age I am receiving this procedure. I have been reading through all of these message boards and they are making me feel a little better to know that someone else has gone through what I am going to. I am really nervous about the whole process pretty much. I have never had surgery, but I think that I am ready to get rid of these tonsils, I have had tonsillitis 6 times in the past 8 months and they wont stop flaring up. Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone has any advise for me while I am going through this and Im sure that I will be back to talk to you guys. But I have a couple of questions too..... Does everyone loose weight? What are some good ideas for things to eat or drink? And what did you guys do the whole time while recovering??? Im paranoid, sorry. lol.... thanks...
Cori

Jessgirl01
08-10-2004, 09:43 PM
Hi Cori-
Well, your Dr. is right about the age. The pain increases with age unfortunately. Mostly on Days 1-4 you're going to want to sleep,watch tv, movies,etc. (I know I have) It will vary wth what you can eat. I bought those Minute Maid juice bars and about three different kinds of ice cream because I was afraid I'd get tired of one kind. Another important thing is to push your fluid intake that helps to keep your throat moist. Also the bleeding they warn everybody about usually happens on your 7-11 day so be sure not to eat anything hard or anything like that. I guess it just varies from person to person :) For me I've been able to eat diced meat and things of that sort :) Good luck and if you have any questions just ask. I've lost 7 1/2 pounds btw

Cori18
08-10-2004, 10:24 PM
Thanks for the info, I havent had anyone close to me have to go through it so its nice to have someone to ask questions to. How much time would you say would be reasonable to take off of work? My doctor said about one week, but Im not real good about pain so I dont know what to expect. Maybe I am worrying about it way too much, but I thought that the doctor was just going to put me on another anitbiotic, so this whole surgery came to me as a big suprise. I am so tired of being sick, I just want to get this over with....
Cori
BTW jess, what day is it for you now??
One more question (I am full of questions), are you not supposed to do any physical activities afterwards?, and for how long? Sorry if my questions are stupid, im nervous....
Ill take advice from anyone..... : :p

mgeiger
08-10-2004, 11:56 PM
Hi Everyone,
I am hoping desperately to get some feedback from anyone that has had a tonsillectomy recently in the past few months. I had mine July 1, 2004. Of course, just like you all it was awful, but now I am somewhat back to normal, other than I can still not swallow any food. I can only swallow food if I have a glass of water sitting next to me. It will be 6 weeks on Thursday since my surgery and I still can't swallow without food getting stuck in my throat. I am also waking up quite frequently now gasping for air. Almost like the sensation you get when you hold your breath and then let it out. I am not experiencing any pain just a very tight and constrictive feeling in my throat. My ENT told me to chew gum and keep drinking, so I have, and I don't notice it getting any better at all. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this and if so what was done to correct it. I am a 33 year old mother of 2 little boys. So this has been quite an ordeal for me. I hope you all are doing well and healing fast. Thanks for any replies. I appreciate it.

Mario21
08-11-2004, 12:22 AM
geeze, 6 weeks? thats crazy. i've never heard of going 6 weeks after a tonsillectomy and not being able to eat anything. i am on 2 weeks to the day today, and i am able to get soup, pasta, and things like that down. but my scabs are still kinda there. if i were you, i would wake up nice and early tomorrow and go find a new ENT. i don't see any reason why after 6 weeks, you are still not fully back to normal. go to another ENT, tell him your situation, and get rid of your current ENT. thats just what i would do. it may be nothing, but if after almost 2 months, hes still saying "keep drinking" i would want a second opinion. my mom recovered from a full hysterectomy faster than that. second opinion, thats my advice. good luck and please keep us updated. i can only imagine what your going through. i'm on 2 weeks and i'm goin nuts, haha.

alleycat
08-11-2004, 12:35 AM
Hi Everyone,
I am hoping desperately to get some feedback from anyone that has had a tonsillectomy recently in the past few months. I had mine July 1, 2004. Of course, just like you all it was awful, but now I am somewhat back to normal, other than I can still not swallow any food. I can only swallow food if I have a glass of water sitting next to me. It will be 6 weeks on Thursday since my surgery and I still can't swallow without food getting stuck in my throat. I am also waking up quite frequently now gasping for air. Almost like the sensation you get when you hold your breath and then let it out. I am not experiencing any pain just a very tight and constrictive feeling in my throat. My ENT told me to chew gum and keep drinking, so I have, and I don't notice it getting any better at all. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this and if so what was done to correct it. I am a 33 year old mother of 2 little boys. So this has been quite an ordeal for me. I hope you all are doing well and healing fast. Thanks for any replies. I appreciate it.
When I had my tonsils out it took me about 2 and 1/2 weeks before I could eat anything. After that I was fine except bread and spicy foods. Spicy food irratated my throat and bread felt like it was stuck. Your uvula could still be slightly swollen try cutting everything finely.

Jessgirl01
08-11-2004, 12:37 AM
Cori- Tomorrow will be actually 6 days, but day 7 on the recovery time. That's how my ENT told me to count it :) Dr. S, my ENT, told me I would be on 3 weeks of no activity since after the first week there's a major risk of bleeding. Don't worry, I don't mind answering any questions you have. I was SO nervous before my surgery and this board helped ease my fears tremendously. Like you, I had frequent bouts with tonsillitis and I was SO tired of it. Finally my regular Dr. told me I had no choice but to get them out. Dr. S. said they had pockets of infection and were embedded and HUGE. I'm not good with pain either, but I can honestly say I haven't cried once. If I were going to cry I would've cried on the first day while I was sick ALL day from the anesthesia and could hold NOTHING on my stomach, it was horrible. I would definitely talk to your ENT and ask him which instrument he plans to use. Supposedly, a hamonic scaple is supposed to cut your healing time in half. My Dr. used a bovie and then cauterized my throat after to stop/prevent any additional bleeding. To be totally honest, the ear pain has been worse for me than the throat pain. I've been able to sleep at least 10 hours at night. Today I did take my pain medicine once (just a few mins ago) to assure I will sleep well, etc.

The main key is to rest because you don't want to increase your risk of bleeding, and PUSH the fluids, seriously. I even keep water by my bed at night in case I wake up during the night. Sure going to pee every 5 mins is annoying, but so worth it. Ok, sorry for my book. I'm so glad I can(hopefully) help. If you have any more questions feel free to ask. :) Everyone on this board is so nice.:)

Oh and to the lady who is still having pain, I agree w/ Mario, you should definitely get a second opionion b/c something doesn't sound right at all. Best wishes, I really hope you get the help you deserve.

mgeiger
08-11-2004, 02:08 AM
Thanks for the responses. I am not having any pain at all, just can't swallow anything without having to use water to wash it down. The waking up feeling like I can't breathe thing is a little irritating too. I do have an appt. with my ENT for a follow up check up on this Friday. Hopefully, he has some answers for me.

laura30
08-11-2004, 06:30 AM
mfratella, i am currently taking penicillin vk(antibiotic) which i finish tomorrow. i find the taste is worse in the mornings and gradually gets better throuout the day. chewing gum definately helps. i think some more of it fell off last night anyway. i'm so glad its day 7 and i can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel! i'm feeling much better in myself aswell. its just my throat and ear that is still quite sore. its amazing all the things you miss when you can't have or do them. i managed to only wake up once last night aswell, so i got more sleep than usual. :D

Meg24
08-11-2004, 11:31 AM
Hello Everyone!

I just found this message board yesterday. I am a 24 year old who had her tonsils and adnoids removed August 6th. I guess if you are counting the day of surgery it has been 6 days. I am still in so so so much pain, I put ear plugs in my ear to help the ear pain, but other than that i do not feel like the pain medicene is working as well as it should. It is hard to swallow water, I can't imagine real food. I can not eat ice cream it coats my throat way to much, I have been ablt to eat Ramen noodle soup, which i swore I would never eat again after college.
I can relate to everything you all are saying. I do have a few questions though. I started spit out my scabs, is this normal? I guess they wouldn't come out unless they are ready, but I guess I want to the the process some of you went through, how long after the scabs starting falling off did you feel better. The doctor told me that I had to eat and had to talk to make my throat stronger. I don't think he understands how much it hurts.
I really enjoyed the message board, it helps knowing that I am not alone. I will appreciate any tips, comments, and suggestions.

In so much pain,
Megan

Jessgirl01
08-11-2004, 11:40 AM
Well, this is day 7 and I still woke up to lovely ear pain :( I am so ready for the ear pain to GO AWAY. :yawn: Grrrrrrrrr. Megan, it's nice to hear from somebody who had their surgery very close to me. I had my surgery August 5. My scabs are starting to dissolve. I'm just ready for this to be over!!!! Grrrr. I'm gonna go take a bath- more later :)

Meg24
08-11-2004, 11:45 AM
Jessgirl01

What type of Tylenol are you using? I am using the maximum stregth sore throat, is that the right one? The doctor has me alternating the tylenol every six hours with demerol every six hours. I was just wondering what your trick was to be feeling so good.

Thanks
Megan

Jessgirl01
08-11-2004, 12:35 PM
Hey Megan,
I'm using the Extra Strength Tylenol for Adults(liquid). I think the trick is to drink, drink,drink. I've been drinking and chewing gum since the day I had surgery. Tomorrow will be a week. The ear pain is still getting me some, so I have to take the Tylenol a couple of times during the day. I was put on hydrocodone(Lortab) but I haven't had to take it since last night before bed- just so my ears wouldn't hurt as bad when I woke up. I will be so glad when this is all just a memory, I really wish I were able to eat real food. You sound like you're hanging in there though, so that's something to be proud of. :)

I_Love_My_Dad
08-11-2004, 01:23 PM
Hi. I had my tonsills removed when I was 28 and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made! You will be sooooo happy you did it. I was in some pain for about a week or so, but in my experience, it wasn't as much pain as I would have when I would get tonsillitis and be sick for over a week, missing work, etc... I waited too long to have them removed. I didn't have any problems at all as a child. It all started in my 20s and got worse each year. I can't tell you how many antibiotics I took over the years before the surgery!

I would get so very sick - like having the flu, but worse. It was awful. I finally went to a new doc that referred me to a specialist. My specialist said if you get tonsilitis more than 6 or times a year, you should have your tonsills removed - I was getting it more than that. It's sad, but my other Primary Care Phys. kept telling me I didn't need surgery and that sometimes you still get sore throats, etc... He was making so much money off of me having to come in all the time! He was a quack, AND - I haven't had ANY problems AT ALL. No sore throats except the usual ones that come along with a cold or allergies.
I am now 34, and am still so grateful that those nasty things are out of me. You will be too, I promise!!! :wave:
Just drink water through a straw - lots of it. Not too cold. Warm soup helped me and popsicles, yogurt bars - eaten very slowly.

Mario21
08-11-2004, 02:29 PM
um, thats nice, but every ENT, and hospital worker i've spoke to, said to NEVER drink out of a straw after this surgery, because it will alter the preasure in your mouth, and rip a scab and cause severe bleeding. NO STRAWS. i'm on day 15, still can only eat soft pasta with butter, soup, and junk like that. no pain, just discomfort in my throat and left ear. follow up visit tomorrow. hope i'll be able to eat soon.

Jessgirl01
08-11-2004, 03:01 PM
Yup, I've been drinking water without a straw. Well today is day 7, grr. I'm ready for this to be over. I am going to leave the house tonight(FINALLY) to go see a movie. Drinking is definitely the key, my scabs are starting to dissolve a lot, I mean I looked at my throat and was amazed. You can still see quite a bit of white back there, but it's thinned out some.

JTodd
08-11-2004, 06:10 PM
Ok, I think I'm conviced. Even though it's scary and the pain is terrifying me, I think I'm going to go ahead with plans to have these things out. I have to verify my work schedule when I get back next week, but if all works out I'll be having surgery dec 15. Seems like a long time from now, but it's the only way I can do it with my school schedule. I hope you all have a speedy recovery and I'll be checking back in on your progress. I hope someone's around in December! :D

Cori18
08-11-2004, 06:19 PM
Hey guys, Im still waiting for my doctor to call me and tell me whether im going on Monday or Tuesday, but I would probably be saying no to it if I hadn't found this site, I am so happy that I have people to ask questions to. I am still worried about missing too much work, but I guess I can deal with it. Im still nervous though... :)....

Meg24
08-11-2004, 06:37 PM
Questions to all,

I am having a really hard time today keeping pain medicene down. Yall say drink a lot but crap it hurts. S :( orry can't help the yall I from Texas. I am afraid of taking more medicene, becuase vomiting was worse than the pain. So drink no matter the discomfort?

PS day 6 for me and feel very gloommy

Megan

Cori18
08-11-2004, 07:06 PM
Wow Meg,
That sounds horrible, Do you think that it is the meds that are making you sick or is it just the pain of swallowing them?

Meg24
08-11-2004, 07:46 PM
Cori,

I think it is because I have nothing in my system. All I have eaten is ice and more ice. I am going to try to eat some soup for dinner and then take the demoral for the pain and hopefully I can sleep through the night! Thanks for caring!

Meg

Mario21
08-11-2004, 08:08 PM
yeah, no matter how bad the pain, you need to drink. if you get dehydrated, you'll be worse than you are now. i remember when i first started eating solid food, i would get sick too. so i think its just the pain meds going into an empty tummy, lol. good luck

Jessgirl01
08-11-2004, 08:49 PM
Yeah, he's right. If you get dehydrated, you are going to hurt more, I can promise you. Today I had a meltdown. I finally got to leave the house and I was so excited and then my ears started hurting and I started bawling about how tired I was of all this crap, etc. I'm ok now lol. Women and their breakdowns :rolleyes: Hahaha. Drink lots and lots of room temperature water- not too hot or cold b/c you don't want it to hurt your throat. Meg, I feel your pain b/c I vomited litereally ALL day after my surgery until late that night when I got something to help me stop. The more moisture you give your throat, the better it's going to feel!! Hang in there! :)

Meg24
08-11-2004, 11:55 PM
Hey,

Sorry to hear about the movie Jess, I was going to try to see one on Friday afternoon but will see. Well today has totally been the worst day ever. I finally got some demoral down at 9pm. That is 8 hrs without pain medication. I constantly eat ice, but when the pain medicene is working I will start chugging water. Please keep updating me on everyones progress. I look forward to these chats, it gets my mind off the pain and will hopefully see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am going to try to eat something and drink some water before I go to bed. Thanks for everyones help!!!! :D

Megan

Stargrl09
08-12-2004, 12:20 AM
Hello My Tonsillectomy Friends,

I just got my tonsils out on Monday, so I'm in the same crowd as you. So far the pain has been bearable as long as I keep up with my pain medication.

My surgery only took about 15 mins. The doctor said that when he took my tonsils out, pus cam out of them (sorry for the image). I just think it's amazing to think that I've been trying to fight off that infection for the past 4 years, and I never knew I was (besides when I got sick)! My tonsils were constantly huge, even when I wasn't sick. How crazy is that. I'm glad they are out.

You guys seem to give a ton of support to one another! Which is great for a lonely, boring time like this! At least we have each other.

Just wanted to introduce myself. I hope everyone has a speedy recovery....

Much love,
Stargrl

laura30
08-12-2004, 06:43 AM
Hello
Its Day 8 for me now and time seems to be passing quicker these days. I'm managing to get a bit more sleep at night. Its still very painful to swallow but i'm eating cos i have to. The white in my throat is starting to disappear now, which is a relief. I think i may have overdid it yesterday though, cos i ended up just feeling exhausted by the end of the day. I feel a bit like a hypocrite saying this, cos i thought it would never get better, but it does. All those people who are in the early stages and feel so depressed (i did) and think it will never end, think positive because you do turn a corner and realise you are getting better. I'm starting to feel like i want to do things now aswell. I would never put myself back in that position again, but if you have to have it done you don't have any choice. It will be great not to have any more tonsillitis. :wave:

Meg24
08-12-2004, 07:15 AM
Hi guys,

Not doing to good it is 5 in the morning and I am up with the pain again. Please tell me some of you wake up in the morning without pain?Tommorrowill be a week. Well it doesn't look like I will be going back to work on Monday. Just wanted to talk@

Thanks for listening,
Meg

laura30
08-12-2004, 07:21 AM
Meg24,
I wake up every night with pain. I usually sleep for 2-3 hours at a time. I just have a drink and eventually go back to sleep. I don't take any pain med in the night though. It does start to get less painful with time.

Stargrl09
08-12-2004, 10:03 AM
Hey Meg,

I also wake up at least 2-4 times a night. Sometimes I'm in pain, others I'm not. I think it depends how long its been since I've drank anything. My best remedy for pain is frozen smoothies. They've helped alot. I do take my pain medication during the night because I don't think I've reached the point where I can't take it without feeling miserable. Are you still taking yours? I hope you get rested up some today.

Jessgirl01
08-12-2004, 12:26 PM
Hey Guys,
Well today is Day 8, I've been tonsil free for a week now. After my little meltdown last night, I ate some cheese breadsticks.(just mainly the cheese and soft part of the bread) I've been able to sleep really well besides waking up having to pee around 4 am and then I go straight back to sleep. I'm sorry you're still having a bunch of pain- mainly my pain is in my ears and today it's much better than it was yesterday. I'm going to go eat at Chic-Fil-A in a few minutes with my grandmother. I'm going to cut the nuggets up though, and maybe eat the inside of some fries :)

It's been a rather long week, but I can really see the progress I've been making and I'm glad to say that I think the worst part is over. (Finally) I still have to be careful so that I don't bleed, but all in all I'm getting somewhere. I can't say it enough, but this board is AWESOME and everyone on here has helped to give me the encouragement that I need and I am so grateful for that! I'll be back later to check in w/ you guys!!

Stargrl09
08-12-2004, 04:35 PM
Ya Jess, you are giving me encouragement that I will finally be able to eat real foods soon (slowly and carefully of course). I'm glad that your worst is over. I think I've had a good recovery so far. I've had worst pain when I was sick with my tonsils. It's weird how everyone recovers differently.

I'm just exhausted now. I'm on day 4 and I find myself falling asleep every chance I get. I need to get out of this habit. Ha, has anyone else experienced that?

Jessgirl01
08-12-2004, 05:21 PM
Stargrl09, That's good you're getting lots of rest. That's your body's way of telling you to take it easy. You've already come a long way- Day 4&5 were my worst days, after that it's much more of a smooth sail. Just think, as much as you're sleeping, the day goes by even faster! Yay!!! :D Just drink, drink, drink :) I started eating those meat stick things toddlers eat by Day 3 I think cuz you can dice em up and they're soft, but still tasted good to me! Mac and cheese is pretty easy for me to eat and so is fettucine alfredo(which I'm going to have for dinner) and spaghetti :)

Hope everyone is doing ok. Somebody write, I'm bored. LOL

Meg24
08-12-2004, 05:39 PM
Hey,

I am glad to report that I am doing much better today. I hope that this is the light at the end of the tunnel. I have been chewing gum most of the afternoon and the most exciting news was that I ate a cheese sandwhich today. I have barely had anything to eat all week. I am working on my second bottled water, I told myself that I needed to drink 5 bottles before I go to bed tonight. My problem is that I wait to long to take medicene and the pain gets out of control. I am not taking Tylenol anymore just demoral every 5 hours. I think I am still going to take it through the night since I am still waking up with horrible throat pains. I am happy to hear that everyone is feeling ok? Jess have all of your scabs fallen off? Just wondering because a few of mine are stil back there and they are bothering me!

Meg

Jessgirl01
08-12-2004, 07:34 PM
Meg, I still have some scabs back there. They've been dissolving and they taste nasty, blech. They are about to drive me nuts. I've only taken Tylenol once today and that was this morning b/c my ears hurt. I ate some chicken for lunch(cut really thin) and then some fettucine alfredo for dinner. That glides down really easily! You sound better today, I'm so glad. :)

Greg21
08-13-2004, 02:58 AM
Hey everyone I am 21 years old and i just had my tonsils removed this morning, as well as, having the cartilige in my nose realigned b/c it kept making me receive sinus infections. This forum has been a great help to me so I want to thank you all. But the one thing that scares me is the fact that some people have said that it gets worse. Right now i feel ok and the doctor said i should be a lot better in 3-4 days. But it seems like everyone's worse days are 3-5. So i am just wondering if that is the consensus and if everyone gets worse before feeling better. thanks

Greg

laura30
08-13-2004, 05:39 AM
Hi
This is day 9 for me now and i can't believe i've been home from hospital for a week. It goes so slow at first but the past few days have flew by. Greg, i'm sorry but it does get worse before it gets better. But it does get better, i feel 100 times better than i did 4 days ago. I still have pain in my throat and tongue but the pain in my ear is going. For me, i think the worst time is the middle of the night and mornings. Everyday i've been looking in my throat to see any progress and there's even less white in there today. I think the reason why it feels so tender is because now that the white is going its all fresh new skin underneath. I am starting to get really hungry now aswell but i don't want to start eating proper food yet until my throat feels nearly right. I've been going for a little walk each day aswell to build my strength up and to get some fresh air. It helps. :wave:

W.VgirlinIOWA
08-13-2004, 06:21 AM
Hi there ..just curious of how long you are kept at the hospital for this surgery ? Thanks in advance !!

I_Love_My_Dad
08-13-2004, 12:27 PM
I went home the same day - just a few hours later. I don't think they usually admit you for a tonsillectomy.

Stargrl09
08-13-2004, 01:17 PM
Hello everyone. Greg, I'm on day five and I think it's the most painful day I've had. It's just because my scabs are starting to wear down and the new skin is starting to show through. This pain is very tolerable though. At least for me. My surgery was very quick (10-15 mins). I haven't experienced any ear pain either. Also, my worst times are in the morning just because I need my pain medication and some water. I think others can say the same.

Overall, my experience hasn't been to bad. On a scale from 1-10, my most pain has been a 5, which is reduced right after I take my meds.

To answer the recovery question, I was only in recovery for about 25 mins. They just want to make sure all your vitals look good, and the pain is minimal. I did feel nauseous in recovery, but I never threw up.

Laura, have you been walking everyday? That's awesome. I wish I could do that. I just don't want to push my luck!

Talk to everyone later!

jlgkabjab
08-13-2004, 01:25 PM
I just found out on Thursday 8-12-2004 that they want me to have a tonsillectomy done on Monday 8-16-2004. That is only four days to prepare and I have a two year old girl. I just turned 21 on Tuesday and I am starting back to school the week after surgery. I was wondering if I can do anything to make this recovery go any faster than I have heard it to go. Any help would be great.
:wave:

JTodd
08-13-2004, 02:46 PM
I'm scheduled to have a tonsillectomy in December over Christmas vacation. My doctor told me that I would spend 8 hours at the hospital in recovery. He said he likes to keep you that long to make sure there's no complications. Just wondering after reading 25 minute recoveries, how long everyone else was there. Personally, with 2 kids at home, I was hoping he'd keep me overnight or a couple days!! ;)

laura30
08-13-2004, 03:10 PM
I was in hospital for 2 days (i am in England). Over here they usually keep you in overnight to make sure everythings ok. If you don't feel well enough to go home, you stay in a bit longer. I have a 6 year old daughter and knew that i felt too ill to go home after one night.

Meg24
08-13-2004, 07:38 PM
Hi there ..just curious of how long you are kept at the hospital for this surgery ? Thanks in advance !!


I was in the hospital for 24 hours after my surgery.

Jenna04
08-14-2004, 01:40 PM
Hey guys - I'm 18 and just had my tonsils out Aug 6th so its day 8 now and I'm like swalloqing parts of my scab bc i can feel it going down my throat and I spit up a lot, does that happen to anyone here? I still cant eat anything besides ice cream and popsciles and of course water. I still cant talk that well. I could talk a lot better on day 7 but now today I cant talk well, i'm guessing its bc of the scabs falling off and stuff? Anyways, I was reading some of the posts from earlier and you guys are all wicked nice. I came here bc I didnt know if I was the only one going through all this. Well thanks guys bbye!

Cori18
08-15-2004, 12:39 AM
Hey everyone,
Sounds like lots of new people are on here from the last time that I looked, lol. The doctor moved my surgery to the 31st so Im still waitin to get them OUT, they are the most annoying things.... Anyway, just thought that I would write and say hi, I had a question for everyone, you all say to drink water that is about room temp... does it hurt to eat ice cream or stuff like that? And one more question, is it hard to eat soup with noodles or whatever during the first few days? Thanks for answering my questions, Its helping me feel a lot better about it....I'll talk to you all later, I have to go out, the weather is AWESOME here!! BYE...

Stargrl09
08-15-2004, 01:05 PM
Hey guys! My scabs haven't started falling off yet, so I'm not sure about the spitting up. I would think so though. My scabs just started forming and I am talking alot weirder! Plus, its sick to feel them back there. Yuck!

Cori, eating cold things did not hurt me. My best friend during recovery is smoothies....no dairy or seeds in it. The cold felt very refreshing to me. As far as noodles, I started eating Chicken Noodle soup on day 3. I had to cut the pieces up pretty small though. It still tasted good though becuase it was different from my other foods! It's a good thing to have. Just try it out and see if it works for you. Another thing that worked for me was scrambled eggs cut up into REALLY small pieces. It gives you a little protein to work with too!

Well I'm on day 7 and very bored. I'm excited to start eating normal. I want a BIG CHEESEBURGER! hahah have a good one!

Dalania
08-15-2004, 03:39 PM
Hey everyone! I'm 35 and just had my tonsils out on Friday...day 3 for me and it totally sucks! I threw up this morning for no apparent reason and now I am so lethargic I'm having a hard time getting out of bed. How much are you guys drinking to keep from becoming dehydrated? I'm trying to force myself to drink but I am having such a hard time with it!!! I have totally lost my appetite now and I keep coughing...I need another nap!!!!!

laura30
08-15-2004, 04:02 PM
You need to drink constantly. Luke warm water is the best thing. You're probably being sick because of all the medication. Have you managed to eat anything yet? Its difficult, but it does stop you from being sick. I'm just coming to the end of day 11 now. I think my last scab is in the process of falling off. My throat is still sore but 100 times better than it was. I feel so much better in myself aswell. I'm still tired but i can cope with that. Time seems to pass much faster now aswell because i am actually doing things. I'm hoping as soon as i hit day 14 it will all be over, only 2 more days to go. I can't wait to be able to eat all the things i've been dreaming of for the past 2 weeks!

Dalania
08-15-2004, 05:01 PM
I haven't eaten very much at all...It's so weird because the first two days I ate just fine and now I can't stand the smell of food at all...my Uvula is HUGE...it is so hard to swallow and the water I'm trying to drink just sits there! I'm going to keep trying though!!!! :rolleyes:

Stargrl09
08-15-2004, 05:08 PM
AHHH Dalania. I'm so sorry that you feel horrible. It's good that your sleeping alot...that means less time being awake and feeling horrible! Laura is right, you must drink something. I always dreaded the first couple sips of the day or from waking up from a nap, but you must do it! It will become easier the more you drink. Plus, it will make your recovery time speed up a little. You have a good attitude though! Keep trying!

Laura, sounds like you are doing great. HAve you tried anymore advanced foods? or are you still with soft foods?

laura30
08-15-2004, 05:58 PM
I'm eating mainly soft food still only because i don't want to cause any bleeding. My diet has consisted mainly of bread, mashed potatoes and pasta. I've started to eat chicken again aswell. I'm gonna start eating properly in the next day or so because i've lost so much weight. The main reason why i'm still tired is because of the lack of good food. I want to be able to eat a spicy curry next weekend! And have some wine with it aswell! Thats my focus. :wave:

Dalania
08-15-2004, 06:55 PM
Thanks you guys! I'm going to go see how much water I cn force down! Good luck to you!

Jessgirl01
08-15-2004, 10:40 PM
Well guys, today is Day 10 and I feel so good. My scabs are almost ALL gone and I'm eating pretty normally now. That best news is that now, my ear pain is almost completely gone. I've been totally pain medicine free for 3 days :D :D :D :D :D:D:D:D:D:D I'm a bit excited about that! HEHEHE! I'm still trying to be careful though. My post op appointment is in a little over a week(a week from Tuesday). I'm still forcing water down and making sure I don't over do it!

Jenna04
08-15-2004, 11:12 PM
hey everyone - well im at the end of my day 9 and i actually ate scarmbled eggs this morning and the broth and some noodles of chicken soup...now my throat hurts the most it has in the past couple of days but nothing like it was before..i had a tiny tiny tiny tiny amount of blood in my saliva tonight..is that an okay thing if its just a little? im thinking maybe i pushed too hard with the noodles and thats why..but i dont know..well my appointment is in 4 more days so hopefully i will be back to normal then ..thanks guys bbyee!

Dalania
08-16-2004, 02:24 PM
Well...I'm on day four. My apetite is pretty much gone but I'm still forcing down the water! I threw up yesterday and I'm starting to feel that way again but i'm trying to ride the wave, ya know? How long have you guys had to take pain medication? I'm on Percocet and I think that is part of the reason that I'm so sick...switching to Lortab when I run out. I haven't noticed any scabs? Should I know when I'm losing them or is it too early? :confused:

Jessgirl01
08-16-2004, 06:35 PM
I took my medicine for about 6 days. (til I was completely off it) I've been completely off anything for 4 days. I was on Lortab though and that rocked my socks :bouncing: My post op instructions told me to eat before I took my meds b/c pain meds and empty stomach = yuckiness. My scabs were there by the second day, but now they're almost completely gone. YAY!!! I'm so glad I'm here and I promise you there'll be a time where you can look back and say YAY, look where I am! I DID IT! :D :D :D :D

:wave: Jess

Stargrl09
08-16-2004, 07:13 PM
Hey guys...sounds like everyone is doing ok. I'm on day 8 and I'm 75% feeling back to my normal self. Still a little pain when I swallow though. Its still very tender.

I had my post-op appointment today and the doc said everything looks good. He said my scabs allready fell off, but I never noticed it. I thought they were still back there.

I stopped using my pain medication on day 6. I now just take extra strength Tylenol. It seems to be doing to job.

Dalania
08-16-2004, 07:17 PM
I just lost a scab!!!!!!!! Yippee!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, what a difference a scab makes! I feel like a new person....except I'm super weak and tired but losing that scab...wow! It is all worth it now! :bouncing:

Cori18
08-16-2004, 10:32 PM
Hello everyone, it sounds like everyone is getting a little better, makes me feel more at ease with the whole thing. I am so upset that I am not going to be able to eat my fav foods for a while, I eat A LOT, it might take some getting used to.... My mom is really worried about me loosing weight though, she thinks im too small anyway, but I think otherwise.... lol.... how much weight did everyone lose?

Jessgirl01
08-16-2004, 10:58 PM
I lost about 9 pounds. I've probably put them all back on though LOL. I loves me some food!

Cori18
08-17-2004, 12:43 AM
LOL!!!! Me too....thats what I told my mom, I said no matter how much I loose, the way that I eat, I will gain it back in like 2 days...haha :rolleyes:

Stargrl09
08-17-2004, 02:09 AM
In one week I've lost 5 pounds. It would be nice to keep if off if I could, but I just don't think its possible once I start eating real foods....hahahah. Plus, I think I drank and ate a little more during recovery just because I'd force myself too. Still, the weight loss is nice! hahaha

Actually, I was wondering if anyone has heard of loosing weight after totally recovering from the surgery. I've put on 20 pounds since I've started getting tonsilitis. It was in direct correlation to my sickness. Now their gone, and I don't have that SICK bacteria in my system constently! Hopefully, the weight will come off now! hahaha

Dalania
08-17-2004, 04:36 AM
Well, I was all excited because one of my scabs came off and I could breathe so much better...finally got to feel what it must be like to not have tonsils back there taking up all that room for 25 + years. But now I have some serious pain...I'm having a super hard time swallowing and my ears hurt pretty bad too...what did I do wrong??? I'm back to taking 2 Percocets every 4 hours and sleeping alot!!! HELP!

laura30
08-17-2004, 05:33 AM
Hi
I'm now starting day 13 and i don't feel too bad. I've still got pain in my throat. I had my first 'real' meal last night. I thought i would struggle to eat it but i didn't. It was lovely. I'm gonna try and start to eat properly from now on. When my first scab fell off, my throat hurt more because its exposing new skin underneath which is still quite raw. This is when you have to be careful that you don't cause any bleeding. Make sure your food is very soft and won't scratch. I'm still quite tired and not sleeping too well at night, buts thats just because of my throat. When you've slept your throat dries up which makes it quite tender. :wave:

jlgkabjab
08-17-2004, 03:36 PM
Hello all glad to see everyone is in someway helping everyone else.
:angel:
I juat turned 21 last tuesday and know I am on day 2 after surgery. I was really scared the night before my surgury because I thought is was going to hurt so bad I still had a two year old to take care of. I don’t know about anyone else but they intubated me and I did not know it, so when I woke up as they were taking the tube out I was fighting with them. I did not mean to it was just a reaction. So far everything has been good the surgery took 20 min, I was in recovery 1 for about 30-40 min, then recovery 2 for 2 ½ hours. Was as the Hospital at 5:30, surgery at 7:30, and was on my way at 11:00. It was a little hard to start the eatting and drinking after the surgury but I tell you that is was the best thing to do. I did not get sick to my stomake at all. I would have someone or my alarm wake me up every half an hour to drink something it keep’s everything so much easier. The only thing that I have been eatting is Cream Savers Pudding the orange one because it is the only thing that tastes like it should and it seams to do the trick, takes me a half hour to eat it but it still works. I have been trying to stay up during the day as much as I can my daughter is usually a normal 2 year old running and screaming but since I saw her after the surgery all she has been wanting to do is lay with me (she even passed up grandma and Daddy to lay with me, that has never happened before.) I am still scared about days 3-5 because I heard they hit you like a ton of bricks. Sorry if this does not make much sence my medication is kicking in and is making everything spin. Oh I had another question my doctor gave me two perscriptions a liquid and a pill, the pill is percocet and the liquid is Lortab I have been taking the pill it helps but not that much I was wondering If anyone has had either or that helped them.
:jester:
Thank you for any responces!
:wave:

Stargrl09
08-17-2004, 03:49 PM
Sounds like you are doing everything very well! You seem in good spirits for just getting those suckers out! Day 4-6 were my worst days and it was only because my throat was more tender. It really had to do with those darn scabs going away, and the new skin coming out! The days were much worse than the others, but a little more! You'll be fine. Keep drinking all that fluid....sounds like you have that down.

I took liquid hydrocodone. I haven't heard anyone else on this board that also took it. It seemed to do fairly well for me, even though it tasted horrible.

You're doing great.....cheers!

jlgkabjab
08-17-2004, 04:07 PM
Thank You for getting back so quickly, did the back of you throat turn white or is that because I am eatting pudding (dairy?)

Dalania
08-17-2004, 04:21 PM
I was taking Percocet until today...I guess you can't have your DR just call that in for you. You have to actually have the perscription and take it to the pharmacy yourself...I'm not driving so I switched to Lortab. The Percocet makes me super sick to my stomach, which I have just been living with...I'm hoping the Lortab isn't going to make me sick. My bro is a doctor and he told me to have the DR call in something for the sick feeling but I haven't done it...don't feel like talking! I have actually been swallowing the pills just fine...for the first couple of days I crushed them up between two spoons but they tasted so bad that I decided to try swallowing them and I had no problem. Good luck with those! They make you sleepy, so get ready to be out of it for a few days! :)

Stargrl09
08-17-2004, 05:53 PM
HA the white spots are normal. It just means things are healing back there! I still have white spots!

jlgkabjab
08-17-2004, 10:50 PM
So everything is normal. When did everyone go back and see there doctor after the surgery, and I have to start back to school on Monday, how does everyone feel around day 7-8?

:bouncing:

jaddz
08-17-2004, 11:10 PM
I am going to have my tonsils out shortly and I was wondering if any of you had the "coblation" method done as opposed to having the tonsils cut out? Thanks!

paul1970
08-18-2004, 12:17 AM
:wave: Hi everyone.

What a great messageboard. I am 34 years old from Melbourne, Australia and am having my tonsils out on the 26th August. After reading through a lot of these posts I am a little aprehensive but it will be so good not to have tonsilitis again. Short term pain for long term gain as they say!

I'd love to share my experience with all of you and would love to hear about yours if you are having to experience the same procedure at around the same time. I've heard that I should avoid Slurpee's, which is a worry as these are part of my staple diet. Anyone had any experience with slurpees? I see my anethetist tomorrow night so once I get that out of the way...the countdown begins.

I hope after the procedure I will be well enough to read and do a bit of study or I will be bored to death for however many days. Might have to bring the XBOX into the bedroom although the kids might object!!!!! I'm also a bit concerned about bleeding etc. as I have heard so many stories from people who have had the procedure done. Don't know if they are adding a bit of spice to the truth or not.

Anyway, I will stay in touch and look forward to sending and receiving support from others who are at a similar stage to me.

Paul

Stargrl09
08-18-2004, 03:11 AM
Hey Guys,

I saw my surgeon 1 week after my surgery and he said everything looked good! By day 8, I was feeling a tooooooooooon better! My throat is still scratchy and dry, and hurts some. It's still white back there, so I'm definately not totally healed! But my body is telling me to start getting back to normal.

And sorry Jaddz, but I had mine cut out.....sorry I can't help you with that!

Paul, I was a little freaked out (ok, very freaked out) after reading some of the posts on this message board. However, after having the surgery, it wasn't half as bad (for me, everyone is different) as I thought it was going to be. Don't get me wrong, it's painful, but I've had tonsilltis cases that were FAR more painful. Since people recover differently, it's hard to know how you'll turn out. I think the worst case scenario is throwing up, and not being able to get any type of liquid or food down....which there has been a couple people on this board like that (my heart goes out to them for going through that).

I think the main thing that got to me was boredom. The xbox will help you with that, but you'll probably be sleeping ALOT those first couple of days.

There are some cases where people experience bleeding. If I ever did bleed, I never noticed it. I didn't even know that my scabs were gone. I think it's a small percentage of people that bleed (at least enough blood to call your doctor). My doc told me that if I did start to bleed, it should stop within 5-10 mins. If not, I was to call him.

And for the Slurpee debate, I drank smoothies for 6 days straight. I don't know if there is much difference between the two. It was a blessing because they helped me keep my throat moist and get the medicine down. Plus, they have some nutrients to keep me somewhat healthy! I say, try a Slurpee and see how it goes down. If it doesn't bother you and feels good, then drink away! STAY HYDRATED! I did notice that around day 7 I couldn't drink my smoothies anymore because of the citric acid. It didn't bother me until my new skin was showing through. I stopped drinking those because it got more painful. So stay away with anything that is citricy.

Hope I helped a little. You will be fine, and just think, soon those darn tonsils won't be there anymore to make you more sick! THEY ARE THE ENEMY!

Jenna04
08-18-2004, 01:05 PM
hey guys - well heres a little bit of a horror story...i was on day 11 and all of sudden i woke up at 830 am (very unregular for me) and i was spitting up blood, a lot of it...so i called my doctor and me and my mom went tothe hospital and it sucked...the doctor cauterized it right there and stuffed all this junk down my throat, i kept pushing his hand out and gagging ...but he finally cauterized it while i was awake and it hurt a little but it was tolerable..the worst part for me was all the stuff he was putting down my throat, the pressure on tender skin, and gagging...so thenhe put me into the hospital for overnight for observation in case it started to bleed again...i just got releases today at like 11 and i pray to God that it doesnt bleed again, bc it was scary and a little painful...i was doing so well on day 9 and 10..i even drove to get ice cream at night with my friend...then day 11 it hit me and yuck, i dont wanna go through it again. the doctor said my scab must have fallen completely offand thats why it bled...only one of the sides bled, so now im scared that the other side will bleed when that scab falls off..do u think it will or is it getting more time healing? thanks guys...this prob wont happen to many ppl, im like one of the cases where someone bleeds enough for the hospital...it seems like u guys are all doing so well!! keep it up and good luck, take it easy until u are completely healed!!! thanks guys!

jlgkabjab
08-18-2004, 01:34 PM
Hey everyone your story's help past the time and make me feel a lot better.

I am on day 3 and everything is ok besides my ears they hurt really bad. I wish there was something that I could eat that is not dairy, I have tryed soup, apple sauce, pudding, and popsicles. I have not been sick yet and I really don't want to be. Any advice on your diet would be great. Oh by the way I have been drinking V8 Splash smoothies and I am having no problem so you should be ok with slurpies. Oh and anything warm would be great too I do better with warm food than cold.

Dalania
08-18-2004, 01:39 PM
The first few days after my surgery I had to have cold stuff...water with ice, popsicles, ice cream, etc...now I am on my 5th day and the cold stuff kills me!!!!! So everything is lukewarm now...and the smell of soup gags me so I am on a cracker and water diet now! But I did have a piece of salmon last night for dinner and it went down just fine! Things are looking up...I just really miss my popsicles! :wave:

Jessgirl01
08-19-2004, 12:30 AM
Well guys, today is Day 13 for me. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks to the day!!! I must say that I have little to no pain now! I am so happy !!! :bouncing: I can totally relate about the lukewarm stuff- I DO NOT miss the ear pain phase of the surgery.(a.k.a. the referred pain) Blech. I ate pizza tonight(with a soft crust of course) and it felt SO good. I'm still super thirsty though. Tuesday I go for my post op exam, so I'll let you guys know how it goes. :D

:angel: Jess

laura30
08-19-2004, 06:54 AM
Hi
Day 15 for me today. I feel 90% (just 10% pain). I'm so relieved to be nearing the end of all this. I had my first good nights sleep last night aswell. I'm gradually going back to eating normally but i don't want to rush it. I think i might go out today for a while, cos i feel as if i've got some energy now. It's now just a process of waiting to be 100%, which shouldn't be too much longer. Now that i've got to this stage, i think i might leave this board as i won't have much more to tell anybody. Thanks to everyone for their help and support over the past 2 very long weeks. Good luck to everyone and i wish you all a speedy recovery.
Bye
Laura :wave: :)

Brooke1122
08-19-2004, 12:25 PM
Hi everyone. I am so happy I found this site. Reading everyone’s experiences has helped. I am on day 6. I had my tonsils out due to their size. They were restricting my airway. Which was making my asthma and allergies worse. I also had my adenoids removed. So far I do feel more air when I am breathing and my nose is clearer, but I guess I won’t really appreciate it until I have completely recovered.
My biggest concern at this point is the morning. Does anyone feel the worst in the morning? The pain I feel in my throat and ear when I wake up in the morning is worse then the day I got the surgery! I start to feel better throughout the day though. My boyfriend actually said that last night I was snoring louder then I normally do, and had to leave the room. I guess my mouth is just drying out when I sleep because I am a mouth breather and that’s why it hurts more and I’m snoring louder. I hope I can breathe through my nose with time.
I was able to eat mashed potatoes with gravy yesterday but still had some trouble swallowing, and I had cream of wheat this morning. I can’t wait to be able to eat again. So far I lost 6 lbs, that’s what I keep thinking of when I’m in pain to make myself feel better. It’s best to think about the positives during recovery. Good luck to everyone.

Brooke

jlgkabjab
08-19-2004, 01:38 PM
WoW sound's like everyone is doing good, so there is an end in sight!

I 'm on day 4 and I still have ear pain, I called my doctor and he told me to take my percocet and half the dose of Lortab. It helps with the ear pain but also makes me feel like I am driving 90 down a highway while I am sitting down on my sofa. Good luck to all I see my doctor on friday, hope all goes well I start back to school on monday.

When did everyone stop taking there medication?

paul1970
08-19-2004, 06:27 PM
Hi there again.

Had my appointment with the Anethethist last night and booked into the Hospital for the 26th of this month. It's full steam ahead now.
Still hoping I will be able to drink Slurpees. Anyone had any experience with them?
Anyway...just keeping you updated as to what stage I am up to.

Paul :)

Jessgirl01
08-19-2004, 10:41 PM
Hey guys,
I was able to drink slushes(which are like slurpees) & I also took liquid hydrocodone(Lortab) and it was a miracle drug. Day 14 is good, and I'm looking forward to my post op on Tuesday :) Feel free to ask any questions. :) :wave: Jess

Dalania
08-19-2004, 11:04 PM
I'm on day 6 and have to go for my post op tomorrow...just wondering if you guys work, how long has your doctor given you before you return? I'm supposed to go back on Monday and the way I feel now I don't think there is any way I can go!!!!!!!!!!! It is gradually getting better...I've moved past my jello and ice cream days to mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC and watermelon. Oh and brownies too! Those are good during times like these!!!!! :bouncing:

Jenna04
08-20-2004, 11:23 AM
hey guys - im on day 14 and i hope its nearing the end..i feel like about 80% ..just the other 20% is my voice is still a little weird, i cant eat certain stuff, and theres a little pain...spaghettios and easy mac are very good in times like these...and fudgesicles are also a nice retreat back to cold stuff...i havent had anything to drink besides water for the past 2 weeks and ive lost 13 lbs (i miss pepsi one and my tea!!)...oh well i just wanted to say hi and hope everyone is doing good...i know we have to put up with a lot of stuff, but there is an end in sight and everything will be back to normal soon...bbye!! stay positive.. :p

jlgkabjab
08-20-2004, 05:43 PM
I am on day 5 and I saw my doctor for my post op. He said everything looks good. I came home and felt a lot better when I found out that my parents sent me flowers and candles.

Jenna-

I started drinking tea today I just went out and bought a jug of green tea. It does not bother me any, and I found something that might help the first couple of day people who really can't eat anything (Dunkin Sticks) in milk or juice they just disolve when they touch liquid.

Any questions feel free to ask
5 down 9 to go

Dalaina-


I start back to school on Monday and I don't think I will be able to go, don't push yourself, if you feel like you can go than go, I went to the grocery store and to the doctor, was gone maybe 2 hours came home cralwed into bed took an hour nap. If you are going to go back to work make it so you are starting out slow take half days!

Cori18
08-20-2004, 05:52 PM
Did everyone here have to get a Pre Op Physical? I go Tuesday, I was hoping someone would tell me what they do or look for?
Thanks- Cori

jlgkabjab
08-20-2004, 08:10 PM
Yeah I did, all they did was listen to my breathing ask if you were swelling and press on you stomake to make sure everything is ok. Nothing big I was in and out in 20 min.

Brooke1122
08-20-2004, 10:24 PM
Hey
I stopped taking my pain killers on day 5. I was taking Lortab also but it was making me sick because I had no food in my stomach. I am on day 7 now and taking tylenol. My throat is still sore but by ears are bothering me more. I haven't had any slurpees yet but I've been drinking iced lattes from Starbucks. They are so good. I can't wait eat to be able to eat a full meal. I go back to work tomorrow, luckily it is a short shift so I should be ok. Plus I need to get out of the house! Good luck to everyone.
Brooke

Dalania
08-21-2004, 12:14 AM
I had my post op today and all they did was look down my throat and say that everything looked normal...it took less than 5 minutes! I tried to have my first meal tonight...I was living on the edge and went for pizza! Bad idea! I just threw it up!!! I'm going to give it another try tomorrow...maybe something a little lighter this time!!!! :bouncing:

paul1970
08-21-2004, 07:56 AM
Cory, my pre op consisted of the doctor listening to my chest for normal breathing and a blood pressure test. Must have taken 4-5 minutes and I got charged approx. $50 for it. Less than 5 days to go now. Hope the post op time goes as quick as the pre op!!!!!

Paul :)

jlgkabjab
08-21-2004, 06:48 PM
Ok I am on day 6 and i was looking back at some of the other posts and I don't feel like I am where I need or should be. I still have a lot of pain in my throat and ears (my throat I can tolerate my ears I can't). I am still on my pain med's every four hours even at night. I tryed to go through the night last night without them but I ended up waking up crying because it hurt so bad. I have one more day to rest before school I don't know what to do I still need my pain medication to even make it through the day. What should I do am I on the right track? Need help, starting to panic!

Jenna04
08-21-2004, 10:15 PM
hey - to the last post...dont worry about anything...everyone takes their own time to heal... i was the same way kinda, i took my pain meds until like day 8 or 9 i think and i didnt eat anything except for popsciles and pudding until day 9..so everyone goes at their own pace...if u are really really nervous (which u no have any reason to be) then call ur doctor so they can reassure u, but im sure everything ok...it usually takes even sometimes 2 weeks for the pain to go away completely..i still have some pain and im on day 15..you'll be okay and you'll be stronger as a result of all this u know..so hang in there and know that in a few days it will only get better! then, soon enough, u will be 100% back to normal!! soon!!
Jenna :jester:

jlgkabjab
08-22-2004, 10:51 AM
Thank You Jenna I really needed that!

Jessgirl01
08-23-2004, 12:30 PM
Not too long ago, I remember being on Day 6. The same day I had a meltdown wondering when I'd ever be able to eat real food again :) By Day 7, I started feeling like a totally different person. That was also the same day I stopped taking my Lortab. So that's been 10 days ago. I go tomorrow for my post op. I know right now it seems so hard, but I can assure you that you will reach a point where you will say, WOW! I did this!!! I promise you it DOES get better. ::hugs:: :angel: Jess

bakennedy
08-23-2004, 03:49 PM
Should I be worried? - I had my tonsils out on Tuesday the 17th and today being day 6 afterwards am feeling great. I went out for pasta on Friday, Saturday I had a girlfriend bring me over soft foods (I ate corn, green beans, mac n cheese, potatoes, gravey, and sherbert with no problems), Sunday we did Bob Evans. I even had meatloaf yesterday. I just feel like there is something wrong. I called the doctors office today and they freaked out when I told them what I ate yesterday for dinner. They seemed very alarmed that I was able to eat meat loaf. I mean, it isn't like I am eating a scratchy BLT sandwich on a toasted bun. It's ground beef, not toast. I wasn't given an diet instructions by the hospital which struck me as odd and the nurses at the doctors office swear they gave me something.

I am drinking well. Koolaid, water, and anything not carbonated sits okay with me. I am just taking regular tylenol every four hours. The doctor gave me tylenol with codeine, but the stuff made me sick. I don't think I have taken the tylenol with codeine since Thursday. I have found that staying hydrated in my number one goal.

Help!!! Am I normal eating Meatloaf on day 5??? Has anyone else recovered this well?

I just feel so well. I can't wait to get back to normal activities and back to resuming a normal schedule. I am really am surprised at how I feel when I expected this to be worse than childbirth.

bakennedy
08-23-2004, 04:12 PM
Hi Paul1970 :wave: - In response to your slurpies... I think you will be alright after day 2 or 3. I was able to have one on day 2. Just one word of caution, avoid the straw. Use a spoon. Do not slurp with a straw. I have found that straws are the Devil. I am not exacty sure why this is, but if you decide to try one take it easy, go slow, and use a spoon. Good luck with your upcoming surgery. I hope everything goes as smoothly for you as it did for me. :)

-BK

caribbea
08-24-2004, 07:44 PM
Hi everyone....

Just wanted to jump in with my own story, because I remember how terrified I was last summer before I got my tonsils out! I had my surgery Aug 14, 2003 (at age 24).... mostly because I had sore throats at least 2-3 times a month, and occasionally my tonsils would swell up until they were touching, which made breathing a little bit difficult!

Right after my surgery I felt a lot better than expected, but days 4-5 were pretty rough.... and days 8-10 got bad again too. I was taking oxycontin and tylenol w/codeine, which was a great combination... and drinking tons and tons of iced tea... for some reason it went down so much easier than water. Overall, it took about 3 weeks til I felt nearly back to normal.

But at this point, it has been a whole year since my surgery.... and I have not had ONE single sore throat since then!! I can't tell you how glad I am that I chose to have it done... definitely the right decision. Just be prepared... I think the worst part about the pain is that it feels never-ending... every morning you wake up hoping it will be better, and when it's not, you just feel really frustrated and depressed. But stay on top of the medicine... I set an alarm to remember to take my codeine every 3.5 hrs... and stay hydrated as best as you can... and remind yourself that it WILL end eventually. The only annoying thing is that nobody understands how much pain it is unless they've gone through it themselves... so don't expect to get as much sympathy as you deserve! Good luck!!!

paul1970
08-25-2004, 09:50 AM
Hi everyone

It's just under 11 hours till my surgery, I'm about to go to bed and in the morning I will go under the knife. Thanks heaps for all the advice. I figure if I can get over the first week, it will be all downhill from there.
Next post will be post op, when I feel up to it!!!!

Paul1970 :rolleyes:

bakennedy
08-25-2004, 02:37 PM
Good Luck Paul1970 with your surgery!

I am on day 8 now and feeling pretty good. I still can't eat anything too heavy, but I think I am doing pretty good. I had grilled chicken last night w/corn & rolls. Just a little concerned about the scabs and them falling off. Is there anyone out there who recently went through this that can clue me in on what to expect once they come off? Do they fall off in your sleep? While drinking? Etc. I am scared once they fall off I'll be back to my soup broth and runny mashed potatoe diet and back to the routine of the tylenol w/codeine. Any insight would be great.

-BK

dar's mom
08-25-2004, 02:39 PM
I have a question for all the post-op people: My daughter (23 yrs.) had her tonsils and adenoids removed on Monday. She's done pretty well, considering everything I've read on the message boards, but has been suffering with terrible headaches and today the swelling inside her throat is the worst it's been. Has anyone else heard of bad headaches being a post-op problem? And has anyone else had the throat swelling get pretty bad two days after the surgery? Any feedback would be very much appreciated.

bakennedy
08-25-2004, 02:50 PM
dar's mom - Has she been staying hydrated?? My fiance really encouraged me to drink and eat the ice chips. Anytime I shifted on the couch he was right there next to me with something wet & cold to drink. I know this helped me tremendously with the pain in my throat and the swelling.

As far as the headaches go. I had one on Monday that was horrible. I went to the chiropractor and he adjusted me which took away some of the pain. He said that the headaches aren't uncommon, just like the ear pain. I guess it has something to do with the sinuses and the pressure around that area. I know when my ears hurt that a headache usually isn't too far behind.

I hope this helps... by no means am I an expert. Just a 26 yr. old going through this whole process at the time being... :jester:

dar's mom
08-26-2004, 01:09 AM
Dear Ms. Kennedy, Thanks so much for the advice. I'll take it and make sure that I'm encouraging the hydration vs. assuming she's drinking enough on her own. I have a feeling that's definitely exacerbating the discomfort because I know that when I'm sick, I don't drink enough myself (i.e., I need someone handing me the cup.) You were wonderful to give me advice so quickly too. BTW, this message board has been a godsend--I've been reading and learning for the past couple of weeks and I was so glad I was prepared as well as I was because of all that's been shared!
~Pauline (dar's mom)

jlgkabjab
08-26-2004, 08:19 PM
Hi everyone is have been a couple of days since I have posted, I went back to school on day 8 it was hard but well worth it, I am on day 12 and my throat does not hurt anymore I still have ear pain and it hurts really bad when I yawn. I still can't eat a lot of normal food's yet but working on it. I found the best way to heal and quickly is to drink a lot. To the people worried about dehidration, softly pinch your skin on your hand, if your skin falls after letting go you are fine, if your skin slowley falls back into shape you might want to start drinking more. Good Luck to all on recovery and surgery.

shutterbug711
08-26-2004, 10:28 PM
Hi everyone!
I went to see the ENT today after years of suffering because of my humongous tonsils and adenoids. I have asthma, no sense of smell, barely any ability to taste, I snore, my speech is unintelligible, and I've never even been able to blow my nose in all my life! We're planning for surgery about 6 weeks from now. I'm so freakin scared!! I keep reading about all of this pain and it makes me wonder if I can handle it. I made it through childbirth drug-free, but I don't know if i can handle a week of horrible pain. My biggest concern is my 3 yo daughter. I've never spent a night without her and I don't know if I can even handle her being around me while I'm recovering. Its really hard to sit by and watch someone else parent her, lol. this whole thing is so tricky to plan out when you have a family to take care of too. My husband can't even cook!! Any other parents that can help me out and assuage my fears?! :confused:

Cori18
08-27-2004, 12:33 AM
Hey everyone, just thought I would write and say hi, im getting nervous, surgery is on Tuesday..... But Im not as nervous because of all of your guys experiences... thanks again... ill write ya later.
Cori :wave:

paul1970
08-27-2004, 04:28 AM
Hi everyone.

I've had surgery and am on day 2 now (I assume surgery is day 1!!!). They had trouble putting the needle in to send me to sleep so that was quite painful.
Now I feel all of your pain. It is just like having a bout of tonsilitis but the trouble is that tonsilitis usually clears up after a couple of days.
I brushed my teeth this morning and then smelled my breath. Yuck!!!! The throat stinks. Anyone else noticed that?
I recommend anyone who is about to have the operation to buy up big on icypoles. They work better than codene.
I am now headed like a freight train toward day five pain and running out of codine tablets. The back of my throat is turning white also. The hospital was fantastic, giving me icypoles and they refused to allow me to leave until I ate 2 pieces of toast.
I received 2 morphene injections in hospital but they didn't do much. I think I'll try a slurpee tomorrow. :p
Anyway I had better go before I write a book. Good luck to those about to enter surgery. I'll keep you posted as they say.

Paul

jlgkabjab
08-27-2004, 12:23 PM
shutterbug-

Don't worry everything will work out, I am a 21 year old mother of a 2 year old and today I am on day 13. Believe me hunny if you can make it through a natural child birth with no pain medication I give you so much credit, if you can make it through that you can make it through this. Yes it is painful at times and believe me I went through a panic stage. The week after surgery was hard, but know sice it is coming to an end I see how much is was worth it. If I could help you babysit I would, I have watched my niece and nephew and my daughter all at the same time after surgery. As long as you can get a break from your daughter, put in a movie, have her lay down with you and take a nap, believe me my daughter knew i was in pain and she would ask me all the time mommy ok. Don't worry about your husband cooking, if you can make some dinners before hand for him and your daughter and just freeze them, you on the other hand will have to stick to food's that wiggle for a while. Any other help I can give just let me know. Good Luck to all!

bakennedy
08-27-2004, 01:04 PM
Paul1970 - Yes... I too noticed the breath... It will go away once the scabs are gone... At least I hope. I still have my scabs. My doctor told me to chew gum. Something about chewing gum is supposed to help loosen you up? and give you fresh breath. I would avoid anything that is very strong at first. I tried Dentyne Ice - Artic Chill at first and that bothered me. Unfortunentally I had a root canal 4 days before surgery so I really can't chew gum. Not until the permanent filling is in place. Gargling with salt water helped me too.

Shutterbug - I am not a mom, but an aunt of three so I hope any advice I have can help you some. I honestly have only cooked 3 times since my surgery on 8/17. My girlfriend has been my savior during this process. She stopped one night and picked my fiance and I up food from Boston Market. She bought so much I got several meals out of it. Also my friends and family have been such a big help. See if you can line up some assistance ahead of time. My mother made dinner for several nights and my fiance made a few meals too. (It wasn't hard to teach him how to make scrambled eggs and Mac N Cheese.) By day 5 I needed to get out. I have been taking advantage of any opportuntiy to get out to go get food. That can get expensive, but it keeps you out of the kitchen. :-) Movies have been my saving grace. I had to watch my niece one day. Although she is only 3 she understand completely that I was not my usual self. We watch movie and colored. I promised her that once I was 100% we would play outside and make the trip for ice cream. Hope this helps and I hope you will be feeling your usual self as soon as possible after surgery.

jlgkabjab
08-27-2004, 03:08 PM
Another thing that can help with bad breath is that I went to a local grocery store (kroger) and baught and all natural mouth wash. It does not hurt and I just rinsed out my mouth to make me feel like I could actually talk when someone was in the room. Good Luck to all!

Jessgirl01
08-27-2004, 04:18 PM
It's been a while since my last update :) As you all know, I had my surgery on 8/5 and today is Day 22 :bouncing: I feel great!!!! I went to the ENT on Tuesday for my post op visit and he said that things looked to be about 90% better. He told me that my tonsils were so bad, they had to be sent to the pathologist to be checked out :eek: Kind of scary. I haven't had any pain for nearly 2 weeks now. He was very surprised things went so well once I got past the vomiting on the first day. Gross. I must say that I'm really glad I had this done this summer. I can finally look forward to a winter without being sick every other week with tonsillitis. I don't know that I'd do it again if I had to, but I'm still glad it's over and done with :) Good luck to those of you who have just had surgery. It'll be over and done with before you know it :) I'll be checking in with you guys :)

:wave: Jess

paul1970
08-28-2004, 12:51 AM
Hi everyone.

Day 3 has finally clicked over and I am bored to tears. I don't feel well enough to read a book, so I have to watch the Olympics. If I hear another story about Jana Pittman I think I will kill myself.
I've eaten about 30 icypoles so far (we just ran out) since I got home and can only sleep at night for about 3 hours straight before I have to pop more codene. The pain is horrible and if it's true that it only gets worse until day five then I am not looling forward to the next few days.
I found that icecream seems to stick in the back of my throat and I need to cough it up. No more icecream for me (ouch). Anyway I must go as I have to swallow my daily piece of toast :confused:
Good luck everyone,

Paul

shutterbug711
08-28-2004, 01:10 AM
poor Paul, too bad you had your surgery during the olympics, and not during a normal TV season!
I've been obsessively reading up on tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies (also called T&A, teehee). I came across a fairly new way to remove them called the PITA technique or INTRACAPSULAR T&A. From what I read, it involves less recovery time and pain. Have any of you had this procedure? I've also been obsessively trying to dig up any dirt on my surgeon. He's seems pretty clean, lol. I'm paranoid that he'll turn into Dr. Nick from the Simpsons. I'm also stockpiling pop-ice popcicles in my pantry, removing all of the grape ones. ok, one more question...anyone's voice change after an adenoidectomy?

Cheryl Imel
08-28-2004, 02:39 AM
I am a 37 year old female. I have an appt. with the ENT on Tuesday but I am pretty sure that he is going to recommend a tonsillectomy. My doctor that referred me to him is pretty sure of it also. I don't suffer from the sore throats and tonsillitis and strep but I believe my condition is called Chronic Cryptic Tonsillitis. Has anyone heard of this? I think I have read all of the forums and I didn't see anyone mention this. I am really afraid to go under the knife (especially after reading the forums). I think my biggest fear is the post-op bleeding that I have heard of. I have never had any surgery of any kind and have never been put to sleep. I am TERRIFIED!!!!!!!!!!! If anyone has any advise or comforting words, I would greatly appreciate it. My doctor acts like it is no big deal and that it isn't any worse for adults than children. And he had me convinced that it was true...until I read these forums. Somebody please help. I am scared to death (for so many reasons) to have this done...but yet, I want to do it.

shutterbug711
08-28-2004, 10:36 AM
Wow, Cheryl, you sound like me! lol. I've never had any surgeries before and I don't even know how my body will react to anesthesia. A nurse from the ENT's office was so comforting and told me as long as I stay hydrated, its not that bad. And she had just returned from her own tonsillectomy, so I felt way better. I've heard of chronic cryptic tonsilitis. I was told my tonsils were full of holes also but I guess everyone has some degree of that. As for the adult vs. child thing, I think its just a stigma that its worse in adults since so fewer adults have the surgery than kids. Maybe we also have a higher tolerance to the pain medications than a kid would too.

Cheryl Imel
08-28-2004, 12:11 PM
You guys will probably hear a lot from me until my ordeal is over. I need to talk to people who can relate. Has anyone out there that is near my age (38) had this procedure done? Also, has anyone out there been able to go through recovery without pain meds except Tylenol? I don't know if I can take prescription pain medicine without getting sick. I have only taken it one time (after a root canal) and I got really sick. I can't remember what kind it was though. Like I said, I am so scared and my suffering hasn't been near as bad as most of you have went through. I don't know if it would be worth it to me. I am not in pain, just a lot of irritation. I have been like this for 8 or 9 years. I kept thinking something was wrong with my sinuses but I had a sinus CT and they are fine. My main problem is I ALWAYS feel like something is stuck in my throat (like between the soft palate and the very top of my nostrils. I always feel like I need to get something up and I can't. But, if I do manage to get something up, the sensation still doesn't go away. It is always there. My left tonsil is way larger than my right one...but, I think it has always been like that. I also always feel like there is something stuck in my tonsil. You know, kinda like the feeling you have when you get a popcorn kernel stuck in your throat? I also can sometimes taste a puss like taste and I sometimes will have a small chunk of puss release from my tonsil. I know this sounds pretty disgusting and it is really embarassing to talk about but that is the best way I can describe it. Does this make sense to anyone? Has anyone out there experienced this type of symptoms?

shutterbug711
08-28-2004, 02:01 PM
Sorry, I'm 23, but i still get the reaction of being too old for a tonsillectomy.
I can totally relate to you weighing the pros and cons. I know I don't want to spend the rest of my life feeling like I have a constant cold. But I'm such a titty baby when it comes to pain, lol. I think I'm blowing this all up in my head to be much worse than it is. Maybe if my mom could be around with me afterwards, it would be better.

delrae4753
08-28-2004, 03:48 PM
I had a T/A when i was 21 im now 51 and I will tell you I am so glad I did I have not had any problems since I didnt take anything other than extra strength tylenol after the procedurealso the afterward when you can have icecream its better with popsicles sherbet or itilan icee im telling you these itens do not coat the throat like the icecream . good luch have it done its better than having the poision from those infected tonsil going into your system

dar's mom
08-28-2004, 05:07 PM
My daughter is still in her first week post-op and it's been pretty bad. I got some good advice last time I wrote about her headaches (probably from dehydration) and now I am wondering about the ear pain. She has a liquid pain medicine which says on the bottle she should wait four hours (!) between doses but that doesn't seem to be enough. Has anyone gotten different instructions? It's called "Lortab" and is a liquid version of Vicodin (I think) and I want to give it to her every two hours (and I know you all aren't doctors and I may have to call the emergency number) but I am wondering if anyone has been told by the doctor that they can take it more often than every four hours. Just wondering what other people's instructions have been, if you don't mind sharing that info.

jlgkabjab
08-28-2004, 05:19 PM
dar's mom
I am at the two week mark and I still have a little ear pain. I called my doctor about the ear pain after my surgery and he told me to take both. Well I did and pardon my french but it knocked my *** through a loop. So decided that I would take my Percucet every four hours and half the dosage of Loratab every four hours. So an example would be I took my full dosage of percucet at 12:00 then half a dosage of Lortab at 2:00 then percucet at 4:00 then a half dosage of Lortab at 6:00. It helped me through the ear pain. If you want to and it is hard for dar to take the pill switch to a full dose of lortab and half a pill of percucet. It is kind of an experiment you got to work at it till you can get it right.

Good Luck to all!

Jenni

dar's mom
08-28-2004, 05:54 PM
Jenni et al., thanks so much for the quick reply. Dar has a capsule (generic for Tylox) which I gave her yesterday and last night she was in such pain I gave her the maximum dose (two capsules--but we spill the powder into a spoon with liquid) and it caused her such bad side effects (rapid pulse, nausea, she couldn't fall asleep, etc. etc.) that she's afraid to take it again so we went back to the liquid which seems to work okay but, as I said, isn't strong enough to last four hours. I'm really relieved to see your doctor said to take BOTH (and your french is pardoned since I can imagine it DID knock your derriere for a loop!) because I already thought the dose of liquid was mild enough to give more often than every four hours. But I might still call the dr. and ask about that medicine you're taking. Is percucet a capsule? If not and if he prescribes it, I suppose I could mash it up so she could get it down her poor swollen throat. One more question: Does anyone else's ear pain come upon them very suddenly? It's like, one minute it's tolerable and a minute later she feels it coming back and literally second later it's full-blown agony. Very upsetting for both of us, but I'd love to know if anyone else has experienced that.
Thanks again for replies!
~Pauline

Cori18
08-28-2004, 10:02 PM
something is wrong with my computer... i have to start a new message

Jessgirl01
08-29-2004, 12:51 AM
Dar's mom- I was on Lortab and took it about every 5 hours, but in between the 5 hours, I alternated with Extra Strength Tylenol(liquid) for Adults and that got me from pain medicine dosage to pain medicine dosage. I wouldn't recommend the Lortab every two hours because it can cause liver damage if it's taken too much. Also, make sure she's drinking. I know it's hard, but drink, drink, drink. The moister the throat, the less pain she's going to have. If you get dehydrated, it's going to hurt twice as bad. Has she tried a blended fresh fruit smoothie? Those are great and helped me tremendously to numb the pain. Also, I ate ice chips from Sonic religiously. Please don't get discouraged- everyone just recovers at different intervals of time. Days 3-5 are the worst(they were for me) but I have heard from others that Days 5-7 are pretty bad. You are so sweet to be taking such good care of her. I was so thankful for my mom's care during my ordeal(which was 3 weeks ago) :angel: ~ Jessica

Cheryl Imel
08-29-2004, 01:23 AM
Hey Jessica,
I had read your messages and it sounds like you had a tough time. How do you feel now? Are you glad you did it or are you still debating? Do you feel that, after 3 weeks, you are completely recovered? I still need to go to the ENT on Tuesday but, like I said, I am pretty sure that surgery will be his recommendation. I am SCARED TO DEATH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have 4 children, ages 14, 11, 3 and almost 2. My 2 year old is quite a handful too. Do you think that I will need someone here 24/7 to help me out? And if so, for how long? I don't have a support group at all so I really need to get this lined up in advance. I really need some good advice from you guys. Like I said, I am 37 years old and PETRIFIED. I don't know if I am too old for this or not. Is there anyone out there my age who can give me some comments?

Thanks in advance,
Cheryl

dar's mom
08-29-2004, 01:39 AM
Jessica, Thanks bunches for the advice and the kudos but I'm just being a mom and it's like being praised for breathing (and also very sweet of you to say.) I actually went out before I got your post and bought some extra strength adult Tylenol syrup and supplemented her last does of Lortab and it DOES seem to have helped, so your advice was right on target. And it makes so much sense that dehydration worsens things a lot. Moist tissue would cushion stuff and make it easier to swallow. Which brings me to my advice to Cheryl: Yes, you will need someone to help. You won't be able to pay close enough attention to the two year old. And since I'm having to practically hold a cup to Dar's lips to make sure she gets enough fluid, I think you might need someone around to help you do the same. Jessica's right: everyone is going to recover at their own rate and you should have an in-home support system, if possible.

paul1970
08-29-2004, 05:47 AM
Hi again everyone.

Well I am at day 4 now and I got more than 2 hours continual sleep last night. The codeine is lasting longer I think which is good. When can I expect the scabs to start coming off. My doctor said I would probably experience ear pain around day 5 but I have had it continually since the operation. Luckily the drugs get rid of it completely for a few hours.
All I can say to anyone about to have this procedure dont is to drink, drink, drink!!!! I've had well over 50 push up icypoles as well as water and standard icypoles. A good way to see of you are hydrated is to weigh yourself every day. A big drop in weight from one day to the next is a sure sign that you need to top up on fluids. I thought I was drinking heaps yet my urine was still yellow so I tried drinking more and it became clearer and I also felt better.
Today I suffered from what seemed to be a fever. Cold hot cold hot. Is this normal?
What are the major signs that I am turning the corner when it comes to the healing process?

Good luck everyone

Paul

jlgkabjab
08-29-2004, 12:35 PM
Dar's mom,

Did you read the information that came with the medication? You might want to call the number on the back or your insurance card and ask them about the medication and what else might work if you can't get a hold of her doctor. On the information I got with my medication it said that don't waite till the pain is really bad becuase it will not work as well to take the pain down to a confortable level. Yes the percucet is a pill and is small enough to swallow, I know it is hard but every 3 1/2 hours I would get a pudding cup (cream savers orange is what I ate) and eat it, it would take me a half hour to eat but I was never sick to my stomake when I took my medication. And Yes the ear pain would come really fast, I still have some, it really hurts when I yawn.

Any other questions I can help with let me know.
Good Luck and Fast recovery to all!

laura30
08-29-2004, 04:23 PM
Paul1970,
It is perfectly normal to be feeling hot and cold. I felt like that for about a week or so, it is one of the side effects of surgery. I would suggest if you still feel like that after about a week, to go and see your doctor just incase you have a small infection. I wouldn't worry though, its quite normal. For the first week and a half i thought i would never be back to normal again, it seemed to take so long for any change. But when your body gets to a stage where the healing increases, you start to feel 10 times better. It takes a lot longer for your throat but mentally and physically you start to feel as if you want to start doing things again. I started going for little 10 minute walks every day to build my energy levels up. You'll notice the difference the most when your throat doesn't taste as bad, you see the white starting to disappear and obviously the pain decreasing. This all happened to me at about 2 weeks.
I'm now coming to the end of day 25 and i feel really good. I still have a little bit of pain in my throat but i am eating normally again. I think i've already put my weight back on! It still hurts to yawn as my jaw is still sore. I didn't think it would take this long but i suppose everyone is different. I'm now looking forward to a winter without tonsillitis.

Jessgirl01
08-29-2004, 09:52 PM
Hello everyone-
Paul, it's perfectly normal to have those feelings of hot and cold. However, I'd call your doctor if the fever gets above 101 degrees because there could be an infection going on. Dar's mom- I'm glad the Tylenol seemed to help, it was my lifesaver. I quit taking my hydrocodone at about Day 6 and was on the Tylenol exclusively for about 2 more days after that. It's been 24 days today and I feel great. Cheryl- It's rough, I'm not going to lie to you. I recommend chewing gum, drinking LOTS of water, getting plenty of rest. Yes, I'd recommend someone there at least for the first couple of days. You will be exhausted and won't feel like your children being in your face LOL. Your 14 year old will be a big help I'm assuming. If you guys have any more questions, feel free to ask! I'll be glad to give any advice I can to help you all prepare for a smooth operation :) I promise somewhere down the road you'll be glad you had this done. You'll look forward to days without tonsillitis!

:wave: Jessica

Cori18
08-30-2004, 12:58 AM
Hello again....
I am starting to get really nervous about tuesday, I just have a couple of questions.... what would you recommend to eat if you are supposed to take pain medications with some sort of food? And also, is it really hard to talk after surgery, and if so, for how long is it hard to talk. Thanks for answering my qestions, ill check back later.
Cori

paul1970
08-30-2004, 01:10 AM
Hi everyone.

It's day 5 and I must admit I am feeling better. I have been out of bed a bit today. My mouth feels so dry yet I have been keeping the fluids up. Is this part of the healing process?
I really feel I am on the improve which is exciting as it is still only day 5. I still have throat and ear pain however the drugs prescribed reduce the pain considerably and I am getting my energy back.
All I have eaten since the op is one slice of toast per day. I tried ice cream but wouldn't recommend it as it sticks in the throat and you just want to continually cough it up.
When can I expect my appetite to return? I keep looking at all the yummy stuff in the fridge and wonder why I am not really interested.

Good luck Cori, and keep those fluids up!!!!

Paul :)

jlgkabjab
08-30-2004, 10:38 AM
Paul,

Sounds like you are doing good, all i could get was pudding and jello down, I am at two weeks and I just know can eat just about everything that I could before. When I was in the healing process I would have someone wake me up as often as possable just to make me take a brink of water or tea. It helped a lot I think, the only time my throat was really dry was when I would first wake up but other than that It was never really dry feeling.

Good Luck All!

Jenni

paul1970
08-31-2004, 04:45 AM
Hi all

Day 6 now and the time fells like it is going quite quickly now! Much more with it today and was well enough to have two visitors which was great.
The throat is still very sore and so are the ears but being more mentally alert seems a good indicator that I am on the improve. Can't wait to get through a day without drugs. The nights are the worst when you wake up and have no drugs in your system. The pain is really bad!
When can I expect the scabs to start falling off? I was able to eat some fried rice today which was better than 1 slice of toast per day. From here on I think I will resume my normal diet, being careful of food with sharp edges.
Anyhow I just thought I would encourage anyone who is preparing for the op that it is certainly worth the pain. No more tonsilitis for me!!!!!!!


Paul

sumerit
08-31-2004, 02:46 PM
Hey, all. I just found this board today and read the whole thing this morning. I had my surgery the same day as Paul1970, but I don't think I'm fairing as well.

On the night of Day 3, I started bleeding so bad I had to go to the ER. My medical system is a little different than all of you, because I'm in the military. Luckily, I haven't experienced any of the terrible stories you hear about the military medical system.

Anyway, I think my debacle on day 3 set me back a lot. I still have a LOT of pain - I'm going to pick up a refill of my pain meds in a few hours (maybe the military just hands out smaller bottles to save the govt a buck, and I'm only using a normal amount).

When I wake up, the pain is absolutely unbearable. I have a routine worked out now that seems to help. First off, I slam down my Oxycodone as soon as I can, chased with a freezing cold glass of water. My old drinking days really prepared me for this. I can feel things stretching as I drink, but it's the ONLY way I've found that works. After I drink the water, I grab an Ice pack from my freezer and a dishrag from the counter. I apply the icepack to the underside of my chin/neck, and use the dishrag to bite on as I scream/swear for a few minutes of pain until the cold kicks in and gets supported by the drugs. After that, it's all roses until next medicine time.

I guess that's a little different than what you all have been doing. I've been alone through this whole thing, and haven't found anything like this board until this morning. My family is all so far away, as I'm station on the Coast, but I'm from the Midwest. I've just been making due with what I've got available and trying to figure out what works. The pain is still bad, though.

Maybe someone else is in a similar situation to me out there, and can back me up. I think the worst part of this is being lonely. I've got a ton of service buddies that are "taking care of me" - basically the guys that live upstairs come down before they go to work and once when they get back to make sure I'm alive. I can also reach them by cellphone for emergencies.

It's rough because we're a bunch of bachelor sailors living in a big house (I live in the basement), and we all expect each other to be tough. None of the other guys have been through this, and I can't give "pain" as a reason for anything. They all tend to avoid me, since they have their own stuff to do. I hate to sound this way, but I don't blame them - If the situation was reversed, I'd propbably treat them the same way.

Anyway, kudos to those of you with support - enjoy it. Also, try my ice-pack thing. The cold tends to help a lot until the pain-killers kick in.

shutterbug711
08-31-2004, 06:45 PM
hey Sumerit,
I'm a military wife getting ready for my surgery. I know EXACTLY what you mean about being alone! My husband will get a few days leave to care for me, but i won't have any family on stand by to help out. I'm also afraid that Tricare will screw me over somehow too. First off, I slam down my Oxycodone as soon as I can, chased with a freezing cold glass of water. My old drinking days really prepared me for this. I laughed so hard when i read this because my husband is the same way when it comes to medicine (and drinking).

sumerit
08-31-2004, 06:58 PM
Well, I'm glad I gave someone a laugh, then :)

I feel for military dependents. It's hard enough for me to get myself taken care of, and I'm active duty. I don't have to touch Tri-care really, and I'm glad I don't! It's so bloated and hard to deal with.

I just got back from picking up my refills. I got some antibiotics this time. Did anyone else take them? Why, just general protection from infection? I noticed that there were lots of different pain meds prescribed, but none of you mention antibiotics...

Rochelle551
08-31-2004, 07:35 PM
Well, I have been reading all your posts since I found this website yesterday and I am glad I did so I know that I am progressing about the same as everyone else. I had my surgery last Tuesday so I guess this is day 8 for me. I am losing my scabs so I have had very bad ear pain and not able to eat much the last couple of days. I do have a question. I think I have developed a cold. I tried to call the doctor but they haven't called me back. Does anyone know what I can do to get rid of this cold? I am feeling so much worse now. I didn't sleep much last night because my throat had a constant tickle that made me cough and I had to keep fighting off sneezes yesterday and today I feel very achy and my nose has run all day. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

paul1970
09-01-2004, 09:17 AM
Hi everyone. :wave:

Day 7 and I went 14 hrs today without drugs. As it got to evening the pain increased to the point that I had to have them. I'm not saying that there was no pain today, however it was tolerable...just.
Is it normal to have your tongue covered in muck. This is going to sound discusting but I scraped it all off with a teaspoon!!! It's a white/ very light green color. Does this indicate infection?
I am now ready for this to be all over. I am supposed to go on holidays in a couple of weeks however I have my doubts whether I will be ready as it is a long trip in the car (1700kms each way).
Hope you are all getting better. Looking forward to seeing the end of these scabs too. Shouldn't they start to fall off about now?

Paul

mazinn
09-02-2004, 12:42 AM
i am going into day 7 of my recovery, too. lost one scab today....no blood that time!! so, are there any tricks to keeping these scabs from bleeding? also, "icypoles" is cute. i've never heard it said that way before.

donut74
09-02-2004, 06:52 AM
hi there ,

i am all new to this board , but have been havign really problems with my ears feelign blocked and stuffy nose for 4 years . Steroid spray has had little effect and after 4 sets i have had permament ear tues put in. They did do endoscope of my nose and throat and said the area around my adenoids was enlarged , but bioposies showed this was HEALTHY tissue, and as ther was quite a bit of bleeding they didnt take it all out. This was 3 yrs ago and i am stil ahving problems , i am thinking of askign them to take another look and possible remove y adenoids if that would help with ear symptoms and stuffy nose. Anyone had similar experience?

Thnaks
Nathan

kvandver
09-02-2004, 10:47 AM
Hello everyone. I just found this board and it is what I have been looking for! I am 27 years old and my doctor is sending me to a specialist (ENT) because she thinks I need my tonsils taken out. I have had mixed stories about it from EVERYONE. The first question I want to ask is what can I expect at the ENT doctor? If he decides to do the surgery, how long would I have to wait from the time of my visit until the surgery? How long does it usually take to recover?

I have serious sinus, ear and throat problems every single month. My doctor originally thought that my throat and ears was because of my sinuses. Then they ran a bunch of tests, and now say my sinuses and ears are because of my tonsils.

With this however, I miss a lot of work; something I cannot do. Why? Not just because of the money, which is nice, but because I am a College Professor and there just isn't anyone else to take my place. They have to get me in to see the doctor and have the surgery completed before September 20, and it is already September 2. If they don't, I can't do it again until Christmas break, which the doctor will probably be on too. Then it will have to wait until March. The reason is because I am also the head of the Computer Business department, and we are incorporating a new program on the 20th. I have to be here. Is this a possible situation, or am I looking at March? Thank you for reading.

shutterbug711
09-02-2004, 11:58 AM
Nathan, I'm having my adenoids removed for the same reasons. Iconstantly feel congested in my head and my ears are always 'waxy'. I want to blow my nose some time in my life! The adenoids are so big I can't push any air through at all. I kid you not, that when I attempt to blow through my nose, I feel the air push out through my eyes instead!

mazinn
09-03-2004, 02:09 AM
:( about this surgery i would say this....if it's necessary to improve your quality of life, then do it. mine was elective, and i made a bad decision. i had one swollen tonsil, had my ent look at it, said he didnt think it was cancer and that i should NOT get it removed...but there was only ONE way to be sure....so i elected to have it removed against my ent's advice. i hardly ever had sore throats, and it never really bothered me sitting back there doin nothin, but i had to know..... well, now i know. it was just an inflammed ole tonsilith.....my recovery seems so slow, and i cry alot........i am now in the ear pain phase of healing, and for the first time in 41 years, i know what an earache feels like. alot of you people out there are having real problems with your tonsils, missing alot of work, missing out on alot of "living" from being sick...then for you, this surgery is worth this transient pain. me, i am just not holding up so well, i know this is a healing pain,i know it will end, and each day in minutely better than the one before it... but i cant get it out of my head that if i'd just left it alone, this last week i'd have felt my usual health self......

mazinn
09-03-2004, 02:16 AM
for kvandyver..(.i know i didnt get that right) i had to wait two weeks for my surgery....and they say the average recovery time is ten to 14 days .... i wouldnt plan on talkin much for at least a week, i mean, you can talk, but it isnt pleasant. i am a homeschooling mom, and my son has had an easy week of it academically....... :rolleyes:

Cheryl Imel
09-03-2004, 08:56 AM
mazinn
I am assuming by reading your post that you are 41 years old. Is that correct? I am a 37 year old female and I am trying to make the decision whether or not to have my tonsils removed. I think your situation is closer to mine than anyone else's on here. I also have one larger tonsil. But I rarely have sore throats or strep. I had a lot of it as a child but not as an adult. I do have, what my doctor called, tonsil stones. Which are like small white pebbles that form in your tonsils from trapped food and debris. Well, they are somewhat bothersome because when they are flared up I have a bad taste in my mouth and when they do come out they are really fowl smelling. Do you have anything like this? My doctor says surgery is not necessary and it is totally up to me but surgery is the only way to totally get rid of them. And, he says he does recommend it. Please let me know how you are doing and how your recovery is progressing. I really don't know what to do. I want to have it done but I am scared. I haven't found anyone near my age who has had it done. I don't tolerate pain medicine well. I was hoping if I had it done to get by on just tylenol. But, after reading everyone's posts, I don't know if that would be possible. Please keep me updated.
Thanks,
Cheryl

paul1970
09-03-2004, 09:24 AM
Hi all

Well I'm now at the end of day 9 and I have to say, "I thought I was getting better!!!!" The ear pain this past few days has been awful and so has the sore throats!! I can only sleep if I take codeine and wake up every 2 hours to take more. How much longer????? I know it will be all worth it!?!
Mazinn, I feel your pain. Hopefully it won't be much longer.
Is it normal to not be able to taste food????

Paul

jlgkabjab
09-03-2004, 11:45 AM
kvandyver,

I am a college student so I know what you mean that you can not miss class. I went to the ENT on a Thursday 12th and they scedualed my surgery 4 days later on Monday 16th. I started school the 23rd so I only had a week. I don't know how your schedual goes at school but I have 3 hour blocked classes. The day after surgery I had to take my duaghter to the school daycare for orientation, I had to do other things throughout the week but if you can get your rest you should be fine. I'm sure if you tell your students what is going on and ask them if you give then assignments if they could work together to help each other it might work out that you could get it done anytime through the school year. See I am in graphics and photography so 5 of my classes are in the computer lab.

Any help I can give just let me know, Good luck all and fast recovery!

Jenni

Ratatosk
09-03-2004, 01:03 PM
Cheryl,

I had my tonsils out 4 years ago at the age of 34 and like you I had tonsil stones that drove me nuts. I was worried I had nasty breath. Plus I always seemed to get horrible sinus headaches and a day or so later my tonsils would be worst than ever -- full of that nasty stuff. Finally I went to the ENT and said I wanted them out.

Sure it was major surgery -- I was given a big bottle of tylenol with codeine -- orange liquid. My ENT told me my tonsils were enlarged, heavily scarred and FULL of that stuff and it went very very deep -- told me they were full of infection. Anyway -- I basically slept off on and on for two weeks at 2-4 hour intervals. The pain was like a really really raw feeling throat and if I didn't keep up with my drinking lots of water and chewing on ice -- my ears would ache -- that was probably the worst. However, the surgery was the BEST thing I ever did and I wish now I'd had it done a lot sooner. I rarely have sinus headaches anymore and assume that my headaches were actually caused by my tonsils.

If you're afraid of the pain. Just remember it will go away. It's not going to last forever.

anolith
09-03-2004, 01:21 PM
Hey everyone! I'm 22 years old and it has been 7 days since the tonsillectomy I'm just wondering if anyone else here had an enormous uvula. Mine swelled to epic proportions following the operation, but it seems to be getting back to normal now. I'm worrying about one thing right now . . . I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing or had experienced the same thing. Whenever I tip my head back all the way, I am unable to breath out through my nose, I can breath in, but I can't breath out, but I can breath out through my mouth just fine. Just wondering if this should be a cause for alarm, or if this is probably due to some swelling and will probably go away.

Ratatosk
09-03-2004, 01:35 PM
I assume mine was swollen; however, I never ever dared look 'cuz my ENT said -- don't look because of the cauterization it's going to look really really horrible and you're going to think that you're dying. I looked after a couple weeks and my knees got weak. The white scabs were still there and I was really grossed out.

I did have a weird floppy feeling in my throat when I moved my head certain ways and I felt like I was choking on something back there. I usually slept sitting up/propped up so I could breathe for the first 2-3 weeks.

jlgkabjab
09-03-2004, 02:29 PM
anolith

Yeah mine was swollen it was sitting on my tonge for the first week, I had a hard time breathing to but it is nothing to get alarmed about. For the first two weeks that really helped me were sleeping with two pillows under my head and I had one of the ice hot patches on my throat. It helped me it might work for you. Of course I am no doctor and if you feel like something is wrong then call your doctor, my doctor was really nice he gave me his cell phone and his pager number in case I needed him.


Good Luck and safe recovery!

Jenni

Ratatosk
09-03-2004, 03:23 PM
Oh yeah, I did put an ice pack on my throat, too. Made me feel a little better

anolith
09-03-2004, 03:41 PM
Thanks a lot guys, I was really starting to worry that I had a complication or something wasn't right. I know I shouldn't be expecting to be all better by day 7 anyway. Still got a few more weeks to go!

sumerit
09-03-2004, 05:29 PM
Wow! What a sudden improvement. I have been through a week and a half of hell, but all of a sudden, it's all better.

Last night, one of my roommates made some spaghetti. I new it would hurt, but I forced myself to eat a big plate of it. I tooke my pain meds before I ate, but it still hurt BAD. I guess I got mad or something, but I finished the whole plate, punching the floor in pain after every bite.

Anyway, I don't know what it did, but I feel like a million bucks today. I think the food scraped a bunch of that crap out of my throat, but didn't make me bleed. I don't know if getting that out is what makes me feel better, or maybe just getting some nutrition in me.

I only took a half-dose of medication this morning, and that's all I've needed. I had a CHEESEBURGER for lunch today with a SODA STRAIGHT FROM THE CAN! It didn't hurt at all!

I was starting to get frustrated that I had been in so much pain for so long with no sign of improvement. I was expecting a gradual decrease in pain, but it's ALL gone now. I feel normal. It's probably not normal, but that's what happened.

Anyway, just thought I'd share a positive story, since my last post was so negative. I'm really glad now that I got the surgery. Good luck, everyone!

TheRanger
09-03-2004, 06:15 PM
Hi Everyone!

I'm a new poster in this thread, and I'd just like to mention that I had my tonsils removed yesterday at 7:45 in the morning. The operation went fine. No complications, no problems. On my first day back, I felt pretty good to be honest. I felt none of the pain mentioned in quite a few of the horror stories of this thread, and hoped I would feel this way (or better) for the duration of the healing process. I was wrong! I felt much worse upon waking up the next day, and still feel a great deal of pain while swallowing. This is, however, completely fine with me. I have wanted these guys out for quite a while, so needless to say I don't mind the pain at all.

I have been eating jello and drinking water ever since I came home from the operation. I am so horribly hungry, but I know that eating solid foods will be quite painful, and could cause a lot of bleeding. I'll stick to the liquids for a few more days! I am taking 2 tylenol 3's every 4 hours, or replacing those with two percocets. I feel I'd rather take the percocets before I sleep, as it makes me feel kind of "out there".

Anyhow that is my first update from me.. I just took a couple pills so I think I will take a nice nap for a few. I'll come back later and certainly report on my progress!

Ranger

Cheryl Imel
09-03-2004, 09:49 PM
Ratatosk
Thanks for replying. Finally findind someone out there in my age group who has had it done is a little more comforting. I wasn't too worried about the pain until I started reading this forum. Now I am terrified, I am more worried about bleeding when the scabs come off. Did you have any problem with that? Also, my main problem is the taste in my mouth and I always feel a need to clear my sinuses/throat because I feel like something is stuck between my nose and the roof of my mouth (that's the best way I can describe it). At first my dr sent me to have my sinuses scanned but that turned out to be ok. I was wondering if that kind of sensation could be caused from my tonsils also. Any help you can give would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks again,
Cheryl

Cheryl Imel
09-03-2004, 10:00 PM
Ratatosk
I forgot to add, I also have been having headaches for the last 2 and a half years. I was diagnosed as having migranes and now I am wondering if mine could be caused from my tonsils. Also, what was your ENT's feelings about you having the surgery? Mine said he would definitely recommend that I have it done.

mazinn
09-03-2004, 11:52 PM
FOR CHERYL,
you asked in an earlier post about making it through the surgery on just tylenol.... well, i KNOW it sounds impossible, and probably is in many cases.. but i am entering day nine of my post operative surgery, and i've only taken extra strength tylenol...!!!!!!!!!! i have a bottle of hydrocodone but i dont take it as it makes me sick, and the LAST thing i wanna do is throw up. can you imagine? :eek: so far, ive made it on tylenol only.....but i am in no way saying this is the norm. just that i CAN be done in some cases. also, my ent and alot of ents ive read on the net reccomend chewing gum..... alot of ents swear by it. supposedly it creates saliva, hence a wet throat. which is much less painful than a dry one the docs say, and it exercises your throat and mouth muscles. i dont know if everyone gets it, but for a while my whole face felt stiff, incredibly stiff...like i went a couple rounds with mike tyson. so maybe there's something to the gum chewing....

mazinn
09-04-2004, 12:03 AM
:wave: hey, it's good to see your recent post. you hadnt posted in a few days which usually isnt a good sign. hey, just think .. you're about to hit that magical 10 day post operative period, its all uphill from there. you're a day ahead of me, but ive got my sights set on day 10.... and that ear pain really is awful, i know. its kept me awake for the last two nights, but its a healing pain, its a GOOD sign. if you didnt have it, you should be worried that you're not healing well. anyhow, it's all uphill from here...... jus hang in there. think of it as the olympics marathon, the finish line is in sight... you've almost made it.... :bouncing: and i'm right behind you.

laura30
09-04-2004, 05:52 AM
Hi
Just thought i'd comment on the chewing gum. It does really help. Its true that it keeps your throat moist and helps to stretch your jaw. Another thing it does aswell is take away some of that horrible taste, so when you talk to someone they don't think you've got REALLY bad breath! I'm on day 31 now, so i've gone through loads of packs! I went to see my doctor a couple of days ago cos i thought all this would have been over by now but i still have a bit of pain in my jaw and throat. He said that my throat looks great but its still a bit inflammed so thats why it hurts. I don't think it will be much longer now though. One great thing when you get to this stage is that all those horrible first days/week get completely forgotten so theres no bad reminder in your memory.
Good luck. :wave:

paul1970
09-04-2004, 06:55 AM
Hi everyone.

Well as day 10 draws to a close I must admit to feeling alot better today(better as opposed to good). Mazinn, you're right! Day 10 seems to be breakthrough day!!!! No sore ears today and my appetite returned. I even went out for about 20 minutes today which would have been unthinkable a day or so ago.
If you are just coming up to your surgery, I strongly encourage you to post on this board. If I didn't have you people, I don't know how I would have come through :) . The ear pain is the worst!!!
I am writing this at 8 p.m. at night and usually by this stage I am full of codeine to assist with the ear pain. Guess what? No ear pain. Tonight might be my first night of full sleep with no drugs.
Laura...day 31 and still with pain......Noooooooo say it isn't so!!!!

Paul

donnamacfaddon
09-04-2004, 11:05 AM
I had my tonsills out about 2 years ago and the pain is sooo bad but it is sooo worthwhile and ive been mush healthier since. Dont worry guys!Unfortunatly i had to have polyps removed from my nose about 3 days ago, when they did this they found my adenoids were huge and removed them to. The pain is almost as bad as the tonsils, but not quite and is getting more bearable. has anyone else just had thier adenoids out? also its day three and my nose is stil completly blocked, i know this isnt realy about nasal surgery but has anyone had anything similar done?

laura30
09-04-2004, 11:29 AM
Paul1970
Don't worry, its not painful pain. I stopped taking painkillers days ago. Its more of an irritation and my jaw is just an ache. I'm sure most people have fully recovered by day 31. I think the main reason why mine isn't 100% yet is because i couldn't take the anti-inflammatory drugs. Obviously they take the swelling down and help the healing. Thats probably why mine is taking longer. It doesn't really bother me though. I've been back on 'normal' food now for ages. I can eat and drink as i used to so most of the time it doesn't even cross my mind. Anyway you sound like your doing fine, so you may even be a 14 dayer! :)

bakennedy
09-04-2004, 01:48 PM
Finally I can post again!!!

Paul1970 - I am going through the same thing as you with the not tasting food. I am on day 18 and I still can't taste anything but my yucky mouth. I think it is because I still have my scabs. YUCK!!! We went out for wings, beer, and fries last night and I couldn't taste a thing. It was depressing. It might be a good time to start my diet. Maybe I will have success. Why waste the calories on candy when I can't even taste them. Oh well. I went out and bought herbal mouth washes (no sugar or alcohol which I was told would be better for me), a tongue scraper, and a new toothbrush and floss. That helps some with the bad taste in my mouth, but not with the taste issue.

anolith - I too have trouble breathing. I can't sleep on my back at night. I have to lay on my side or stomach (which isn't good for your back). I also notice at the chiropractor while I was on the stim. that I couldn't talk while laying on my stomach. I struggle while laying that way. I have also noticed I now snore, which I found odd. I never snored before the surgery, but now my mate says I snore almost every night.

I visited with my ENT on Tuesday 8/31 and he said that I should be 100% by 9/14 - my four week mark. He told me that if I was still have breathing issues on 9/28 to call him for follow up. Not sure what he plans to do, but I hope more surgery isn't his answer. The tonsils were tramatic enough, although my recovery seemed pretty speedy compared to most. I was eating meatloaf on Sunday 8/22 (surgery was on Tuesday 8/17).

I hope everyone is feeling better and on the mend. I know I am. I now only take tylenol in the morning and before bed.

Pauline - How is your daughter doing? Has she moved onto "real" foods yet???

jaddz
09-04-2004, 11:55 PM
Cheryl,

I am 37 years old and have the exact problem that you describe....always feeling like something is caught in my throat(and often having something caught in my throat). I have felt this way for about 18 months.....just happened one day. I had bad tonsil problems from the time I was a kid until I turned 30 and then this happened. I, too, am terrified of the surgery. My doctor does what is called the coblation assisted tonsillectomy and says pain and recovery are about half of the traditional methods. My 13 year old had his out yesterday and is in some painl, but is managing well on ibuprofen and slurpees. He ate pizza, hot dogs, and eggs today in addition to a ton of fluids. I know I have to have this done, but I am DREADING it!!!!!!!!

mazinn
09-05-2004, 12:06 AM
I am going into day 10 :bouncing: :bouncing: :bouncing: :bouncing:
(those are my cheerleaders) Now, i'm not as brave as most of you guys out there when it comes to eating.... in 9 days i had only two jello cups and two half cans of tepid chicken noodle soup broth, with a few noodles that managed to sneak onto my spoon when i wasnt looking :nono: needless to say, i am very very weak. i think ive developed a fear of swallowing...seriously. when i try to eat and feel that stinging pain, my throat refuses to work, i mean, things just come to a standstill right where they are. I always have a bottle of water handy!! well, like i said ....today was a fabulous day for my throat, barely any pain at all. Unfortunately, my head decided to pick up where my tonsils left off ( told my kids it felt like i had a lobotomy instead of a tonsillectomy!! :rolleyes: ) anyway, got a tip for all of you who just had surgery or are going to have it, when you get tired of the chicken noodle soup, try those Lipton Noodles side dishes pouches. i had beef noodle tonight and ate half a plate. they have alot of different tastebud tickling flavors too...... Most of you brave souls could probably start eating these on days 5 or so....me, i couldnt manage to pull it off till day 9. oh well, we cant all be brave. if we were all brave, then you brave people wouldnt be anything special cuz everybody'd be like you. so remember, it's cowards like me that make you guys look good!! :D seriously, give these Lipton Noodles packets a try....

megha13
09-05-2004, 05:13 AM
hey guys im megha.. i have been followin this post for about 2 weeks noww i got to say it has helped me sooo much im on day 6 after gettin tonsils removed. and its pretty much been my worst day:( i went for my check up yesterday the doc said everythin is normal only thing i have an ulser in my mouth close to my wound and thts wht is makin the pain worse has anyone else had tht happen to them?. i havent had much to eat for the past week now. i want to try n eat some solid food can anyone suggest somethin. i tried rice but. the grains cause irritatiion.. i jus wanted to say thank u so muhc guys! answered alot of my questions along the way hope everyone recovres soon:)

laura30
09-05-2004, 06:09 AM
megha13
I don't know whether you have tried to eat any solid food yet but you will feel so much better for doing it. After my surgery i made myself eat every day just to stop me from feeling so sick. Also the more you eat, the more that white stuff disappears. I made myself have 1 piece of toast everyday(it took me about half an hour to eat it!), mashed potatos, soup, noodles and then after about a week a had a full dinner. I was that hungry i ate all of it and forgot about the pain. After that i started to eat a lot more different things. I'm now on day 32 and i'm eating everything that i can think of(making up for lost time!). :D
Good luck

Cori18
09-05-2004, 09:24 PM
Hello everyone, Sorry I havent visited in a while, I am on day six and today was the first day that I actually had the energy to get up and get on the computer, the codeine sucks. I have been doing pretty well i think, I have been able to eat soup, ice cream, apple sauce, eggs, and beef broth but the main problem that I have been having is that I get sick from the medicine really easy. The first 3 days I threw up every time that I wasnt laying down and I would get dizzy and have weird temperature changes, but I finally figured out that I only get sick when I am on the medications not stop, so I stopped taking them every three hours and just took them whenever needed which helped. Today the ear pain got really bad, I think I have cried 3 times today because for some reason I am having HUGE mood swings, I think I have drove myself crazy because of boredom. Basically for the last 6 days I have slept, slept and drank. 7-up is really good when you grind up ice in a blender and let the pop get sort of flat. I am so sick of this nasty taste in the back of my mouth, my boyfriend has made sure to turn his head every time I talk... haha... :)....anyway, Im just wondering if the pain is going to get any worse? and are the scabs in the back of my mouth supposed to look white? And even though my throat and ears are in tons of pain, I love it that I can breathe so much better out of my nose, thank god my doctor decided to remove my adenoids, he decided to do that in the operating room, but I am happy that he did. I didnt have a chance to talk to the doctor after the surgery, but my mom said he burnt them off, whatever that means. Anyway, I will check back with you later, I have to go try and eat some actual food.
-Cori

mazinn
09-06-2004, 02:11 AM
oh, day six.... i do remember that day. i keep a daily journal of my tonsillectomy, and day six was very bad. i COULDNT take the codeine and had to make do on extra strength tylenol, but it was on day six that i got majorly depressed!!! cried right in my chicken soup~~ but hang in there cori18!! day 10 is FANTASTIC!!! today i celebrated day 10 by paying my 10 dollar library fine since i couldnt get those books back til today, did some shopping, and went for a big long walk with my family. i feel fabulous, only take tylenol once in a while, as i rarely feel any noteworthy throat or ear pain anymore. i feel like my old self again. i told my family its like being given a new lease on life!!! personally, i think days 4,5, 6,7 & 8 are the hardest!! but from there on, it gets better and better each day. You've made it through the worst, only a little bit longer to go and you will see a marked improvement in the way you feel!! that white stuff is totally normal and necessary, though ugly. mines been coming off bit by bit, and sometimes it feels a little tingly or raw for a few hours where it comes off, but it disappears so fast you hardly notice it. i looked in my mouth today, expecting to see it completely healed since i feel so good, and saw that i still have a nice size patch of white that needs to go.... that means more of that raw feeling is in store, but like i said, it's more of an annoyance that a REAL pain.

megha13
09-06-2004, 03:53 AM
laura 30 thanks a lot today i had bread n mashed potato.. aahh food after soo longgg....hey whoever is going thru the same thing.. not bein able to eat..and feeling really weak try drinkin glucose water.. gives alot of instant engery:) and of course try to eat!!

slstj
09-07-2004, 01:42 PM
Hi all. First, I want to say, that this board is very helpful and I enjoy reading the posts!

Second, I need some help/advice. I had several sore throats in 2003, with 3 cases of strep, each in 3 months. The last time (November 2003), my doctor said I had Pharyngitis (sp?). Then in January 2004, I went to a different doctor because I felt like I had a lump in my throat. Although it did not hurt, it was very uncomfortable. He said that I had Tonsilitis and I should consider having them removed. I decided to hold off until I had vacation time to use. Well my sore throats would come and go, but I always had the stiff feeling around my neck and jaw. Hot baths would relieve this. I ended up gaining 10 pounds because I would constantly be eating food to make my stiffness in my neck/jaw feel better or un-noticeable. Well it is September now and I am still at a loss on what to do. I am terrified to go to the doctor. Although my throat is not sore right now, my neck/jaw is. If I open my mouth all the way, I feel discomfort on my jaw about the area where my bottom wisdom teeth were.

Does anyone know if tonsillitis is more than just getting sore throats? Please help me out.
Thanks
Tadd

Ratatosk
09-07-2004, 01:49 PM
I had what was called Chronic Tonsilitis -- which meant the infection never really went away even though I felt fine. That could be what he was referring to.

slstj
09-07-2004, 02:20 PM
Anyone else?

Ratatosk
09-07-2004, 06:27 PM
Anyone else?

Sorry, didn't go into much detail about my tonsil problems 'cuz I've posted my symptoms and why I chose to have my tonsils removed. Chronic Tonsilitis is a catch all phrase that some ENT's use to describe tonsil stones, chronically infected tonsils.... I never had a fever or really bad sore throat.

paul1970
09-08-2004, 02:17 AM
Hi everyone :wave:

Day 14, and I survived!!! Although it takes a little time to get back to 100% energy levels, I feel good. Throat is only slightly sore now. :bouncing: :bouncing:
Was it worth it? Yes it was!! No more tonsilitis for me. ;)
I still have some scabs back there but it was all uphill from day 10. Hang in there if you are at days 1-9. If you are about to have the operation...the ear pain is the worst, not the sore throat. Wouldn't you all agree.
Anyway, I wish you all well.

Paul

mazinn
09-08-2004, 03:03 AM
i am in day 12..... and i am doing fantastic!!! day 10 was wonderful, the pain was lessening but i still couldnt eat anything but noodles or jello. 11 was better.... today is day 12, and it's fantastic!!! i am completely back to my old self, and today i actually ate food that wasnt mushy!! my family went to wendy's and i had part of a salad, french fries, and two orders of chicken nuggets!! :bouncing: i have next to no pain, and with each day, the risk of bleeding when the scabs come off becomes more remote. day 10 is the magic day!! after that, you'll see a marked improvement. and yes, i agree with paul1970 the ear pain is the worst!! I GOT A TIP FOR ALL OF YOU, PLEASE PLEASE CHEW GUM!!! alot of ent's swear by it (as mine does) and he's right!!
i chewed like crazy the first five days, then stopped..... a day later the pain and stiffness in my jaw was incredible. i couldnt even open my mouth to suck jello off a spoon without excruciating pain. i started chewing it again, and within little over a day, the stiffness started to diminish!!! by day 9 the stiffness was minimal. ASK YOUR ENT ABOUT IT..... anything to lessen the discomfort of this procedure!!!!

Cori18
09-08-2004, 08:15 PM
I also agree with you guys about the gum, the only problem I had with it though was that my teeth and jaw were very sore and it was hard to chew the first 5 or 6 days, but I still did chew gum which made my teeth and jaw feel better faster... I am now on day 9, I still wake up a couple times a night with some ear pain and a need to drink water because it hurts to swallow with a dry throat. I could really feel that my scabs were falling off this morning, when I woke up to take a drink I had one of the worst pains yet, it was a really strong stinging pain that felt like I was rubbing on the raw skin... But it went away really fast. I am still having trouble eating, I am so sick of eating soup and soft food that the past 2 days I have gone to get something to eat and only eaten like 3 bites because I get full so fast and I have to chew for a really long time to make it easy to swallow. I have been craving food non stop so I keep giving in to hard foods and I end up hurting my jaw from chewing for so long. I am in a little pain today, only when I swallow my ears hurt and my throat feels really scratchy. I have only taken Extra Strength Tylenol once today which was at 5 am when I woke up the 2nd time with really strong pain, but I have been fine all day since then, I have done a lot better today... I really miss yawning, I havent yawned since the day of surgery. well Ill check back later...
Cori

mysschevous1
09-09-2004, 07:23 AM
Hello everyone,

I have been following this board for several weeks now, and today is the day. I am going in for surgery in 20 minutes. I am so nervous. I wanted to thank you all for the advice and for the information. Although the pain is going to be bad I am sure, in the end you all seem glad you had it done. I have had strep throat since June, and 5 different courses of antibiotics did not make it go away. I also have something called guttate psoriasis which is caused by the strep infection. It causes a rash, which I have all over my arms, legs, stomache, back, pretty much everywhere. It is very itchy. I hope that will go away complely when this is all over. I hope my recovery is as good as most of yours and I hope you all have a speedy recovery too.

Thanks again everyone :)

:rolleyes: Still nervous... but it is for the best right ?

TheRanger
09-12-2004, 07:18 PM
Hi everyone,

It's currently day 10 for me. I am feeling a great deal better! The pain was unbearable during days 4-7, but I think I reached the magic day on the arrival of the 8th, and things have just been getting better since.

I ate solid food for the first time yesterday. It was magnificent! I ate an entire medium pizza from pizza hut, lol. It took me about 10 minutes to eat a single piece, but it was grand. I lost about 15 pounds since the operation (190 -> 175), and I have a feeling the lost weight will come storming back once I eat more solid foods.

I think I still have my scabs at the back of my throat. When I swallow, I feel a large lump on the left side, but not on the right. Perhaps I dislodged it when I ate the pizza yesterday. I can't wait for that left sucker to finally go down and feel the unreleting wrath of my stomach!

I am so happy I had this operation done. I no longer snore for one thing! I used to sound like a banshee during the wee hours of the darkness encased morn, but not anymore. Quiet and silent like a baby... I love it! I have stopped taking the prescribed painkillers (since day 6 actually), as the codeine made my horribly constipated. I just down one ibuprofen pill in the morning, and at night.

Well, just thought I'd provide my update. I hope everyone else is feeling somewhat good at this point in time, too. Take it easy everyone.

shutterbug711
09-16-2004, 12:37 AM
I'm having my T&A surgery (snicker) next Friday!!!! FREE AT LAST!!! unfortunately, it's not until noon, so i'm gonna be mean and hungry.

atinfl
09-16-2004, 02:34 PM
Thanks to all who have posted their experiences! The tips and advice are so helpful. We are just starting down this road with our 19 yr. old son, who is currently at college with yet another bout of tonsillitis. We are wondering as to which of the different surgery techniques your doctors have used and why. Has anyone heard anything about laser procedures? (Only the sponsored links seem to have glowing reports :) Thanks in advance for your replies. Wish you all speedy recoveries and good health.

Ratatosk
09-16-2004, 03:26 PM
Only option available for me was regular surgery and cauterization with two weeks off from work to recover -- insurance covered just about everything. I too had read about laser surgery online, I'd found a site in Texas and heard that people would fly in for the surgery, have it, go shopping and fly back home. No bleeding, relatively little or no pain, no extended recovery time.

mysschevous1
09-16-2004, 09:30 PM
Hi everyone,

It has been a week since my tonsillectomy & adnoidectomy. I have to say things are much better now. I only had one day of unbearable pain and that was of course the day my lortab ran out, but my hubby called the doctor and got me one more refill! :bouncing: I honestly thought the pain would be a lot more severe than it was. I am 32 years old, and they say the older you are the more painful it is, and I hadn't seen many posts about having the adnoids removed as well, but my ENT said it's a package deal, and if you do one, the other is just going to act up, and might as well take care of it all at once. I am going to return to work on Monday! Again, thank you all for your advice and sharing your stories. I am sure I avoided a lot of pain due to the great advice here. Good luck to you all!

:wave:

shorty25
09-18-2004, 09:37 AM
Hey yall, I got my tonsils out yesterday and I it made me feel so much better going into it from reading all of your posts. I used a cool, moist humidifier last night and it worked wonders- I think, it was only my first night.

I was wondering, how soon were most of you guys off the lortab? I was just wondering how soon I can go back to work.

Cori18
09-18-2004, 08:25 PM
hello again, its day 18, i am almost fully recovered, I went back to work on day 13 and I was a little sore after talking so much at work but everything has been fine except it still hurts to sneeze and yawn and I get some throat and ear pain on the right side still. My doctor said my right side had a lot of really bad infections and bacteria in the tonsil and the right side tonsil was more embedded into my throat so it is still going to take a little longer to heal, which is what he said at the post op. I would say this experience is worth it to not have tonsillitis anymore, I didnt know that I needed my adenoids removed but he did it, he said I would feel even better if those were removed too, and I did notice right when I woke up after surgery, I told the nurses (when I was still all drugged up) Oh WOW, I can breathe, because my nose had been clogged for 3 weeks before surgery. To Shorty: I was on codene (pain med) which had really bad side effects, but I was able to stop taking that and switch to extra strength tylenol 7 days after surgery, but you probably wont want to go to work for a few more days after that either.
Anyway, if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask, I will check back later....
-Cori

mazinn
09-19-2004, 02:03 AM
well, it's now been 2 and a half weeks since the surgery.... it's all behind me now. the last thing i was able to do was drink soda.... i was eating regular food at 10 days, but the soda still burned... wasnt able to drink that till about day 14 .... i have no pain anymore and even ate nachos yesterday. i was scared of them because they're so sharp, and the jalapeno cheese is so spicy... but it went swimmingly.
i've heard about that laser surgery, and i desperately wanted to find a doctor in my area to do that, but i live in a small town, and there just wasn't one nearby. ive heard it's so much easier than the cut & burn method. well, i survived the cut & burn...
as for the pain meds, well, i didnt take them. they made me feel weird and sick. i just survived on LOTS of extra strength tylenol. at times the pain was bad, and i desperately wanted to take the meds, but i didnt wanna throw up, so i stuck it out. here's my synopsis of my recovery.... day 1 is total oblivion, i suppose the leftover effects of anesthesia plus your body not yet realizing something drastic has happened in your throat. day 2 the pain arrives ...kinda like a hurricane.... gradual increase of wind and rain kind of thing. day 3 you get hurricane force winds and driving rain. days 4, 5, and 6 is when you feel the brunt of the storm, and you wonder if you're gonna survive this. day 7 the eye is on top of you and you feel a brief respite ...then the rest of days 7, 8 and for some people 9, you feel the back end of the hurricane ( in tonsillectomy terms, this is the ear pain :eek: ) day 10 the clouds thin and you see patches of blue sky. from then on its all uphill.....each day better than the last. and slowly, day by day, your life returns to normal (or even better ) .... for anyone who is about to or just had this surgery, chew gum, drink alot and if you're that journal kind of person, keep one. i kept a day by day account of my surgery. and why it helped me is that on days 5, 6, and 7 , when i felt so unbearably depressed, i read back over the previous days. each day i wrote down at least one thing i did that i couldnt or didnt feel like doing the days before. in this way, you can see in words that you ARE gradually progressing, even when it seems like you're standing still. that's the hardest part of this surgery - feeling like you're NOT getting better, and that time is standing still. so, something small like a scab falling off, only taking your pain meds twice instead of three times that day, eating something other than chicken noodle soup, going outside to just sit in your backyard for awhile, is something to hold on to. a light when you feel like there's nothing but darkness...when healing seems to be going so slowly.

my advice to surgery patients: PLEASE chew gum or you will feel like your jaw has been wired shut somewhere around day 4. it hurts, and it's scary.
secondly, if you're finding it difficult to get excited about chicken soup or jello, but cant eat much because of the pain, PLEASE TRY THESE LIPTON NOODLE SIDE DISHES packets. they taste good, and the noodles are soft. best of all they come in fantastic flavors - beef stroganoff, fettucine alfredo, chicken flavor.....they were so good that my 13 yr old son & i would share a packet. he loved em!!!


SO, PLEASE CHEW THE GUM, AND DRINK DRINK DRINK. EVEN IF THE WATER HURTS, (FOR ME, IT DID) YOU MUST DRINK. i suffered from dehydration once when i had what was believed to be meningitis and had to have a spinal tap. the spinal tap came back neg, so i was sent home with a worse headache than i had for the previous 6 days. i couldnt even sit up... well, my hubby rushed me to the ER three days later, nearly incoherent, and barely able to walk, even with support. i was given an IV for dehydration, and in an hour i was sitting up in bed, 2 hours later i eating doughnuts and reading a magazine. the nurse came in and exclaimed on how much better i looked. and i felt great. the virus i had passed on or about day 7, but i suffered horrible pain and violent nausea for two more days... needlessly. i was dehydrated. i do not reccomend dehydration.. :eek: it hurts, every cell in your body SCREAMS.... so drink.!!! water hurt... but there was no way i was going to take ANY CHANCE on becoming dehydrated again. that pain is worse than anything a tonsil can dish out.

well, good luck to everyone.......God bless.

shorty25
09-19-2004, 10:19 AM
Mazinn, thanks for the great post :wave: . I am on day 3 and I am doing okay. I dont have pain unless I swallow. When did you go from liquids to jello and noodles? I want to, but I am not sure if I am ready.

For some reason my nose got stuffy yesterday and I am not sure why, is this normal? Also, which days would you say were the worst for you. Thanks

mazinn
09-20-2004, 01:16 AM
:wave: hi, shorty, and the rest of you. the worst days for me were 5,6 & 7....the ear pain arrives sometime around there and it really is, in my opinion, worse than any throat pain.
i didnt eat any solid food for, except for a half can of chicken noodle soup, two bites of a pancake and a jello cup for 8 days...... which i do not reccomend. i was SO unbelieavably weak i would shake as if i had cerebal palsy when i stood up. i didnt have an appetite, though, which made not eating easier. because it hurt so much when i tried to swallow anything, i developed some kind of swallowing phobia....quite literally, my throat would freeze up and things would stick in there, i COULDNT swallow as it hurt, so i would have to wash it down with water. i tried the lipton noodles on day 8..... the sauce makes them go down smoothly and they're soft. i ate half a dessert plate, and was so happy :bouncing: it was such an accomplishment. i am glad you're doing so well, shorty. i love reading everybody's stories about their recoveries... some are easy, some medium, but i havent seen many difficult ones. What you can expect next, shorty, is the ear pain..... now, it's not pleasant, HOWEVER- it is normal and completely necessary. it's a sign of healing, it means you're getting better. i was HAPPY when i got it...i waited and waited for this sign of healing, and when it came, i was relieved. yeah, it hurts, but it's relatively short...only a few days or so.
and what it signifies gives you the will to hang in there....it tells you that you are healing normally, and that soon this will all be over. Keep us posted on your recovery, and may it be a speedy one.

shorty25
09-21-2004, 12:06 PM
Mazinn-thanks so much for the nice post. It is so nice to chat with someone who knows what I am going through. Well yesterday I did not have horrible pain, but I was sooooo nauseaus that I could not even move my head. I called my doc, and he called in a script for something to help. I think it was due to taking the lortab,so I am only taking it at night now.

Today is day 5, and I have only minimal ear pain. I am waiting for it to come. Hope all else is well with all of you!

ylikone
09-21-2004, 02:45 PM
Hi everyone... I am a 33yr/old male and having my tonsils taken out in 2 days. Interesting to read all these posts, I am excited about all this pain everyone is talking about. Will post my story of how it all goes a bit later.

heddy73
09-21-2004, 03:02 PM
My 5 yr old had his tonsils out and I have been posting questions in the children health forum and they directed me here. Not many parents answering questions right now.....I was just wondering if anyone has had headaches? He is complaining his head hurts. Not the ear pain they warned us about. Could it be dehydration? He sips thru the day but I wonder if its enough. They didn't tell us a quantity....thanks for your help....





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