Oh yes, a couple of days?? That's what I thought too. LOL I am taking 2 weeks off. Fortunately, I am a software product engineer so I don't interact with anyone except my co-workers. My ENT told me to take at least a week off and if I had a strenous job I would have to take more time. But, you never know, everyone's recovery is different. The best you can do is learn from this thread as to what works and what doesn't.

As for the kids and germs--Is your ENT giving you antibiotics after the surgery? Mine is, maybe you ask for them if he/she does not routinely give them out.

Yes, I can take the time out, but didn't know if most people find it necessary for the full 2 weeks. I have put in for the additional time, but can return once I feel well enough.

Thank you for your posts earlier - I have tried to get ready for this thing and not looking forward to the whole ordeal, however, with the issues I have right now I can't prolong this. My tonsils have swollen to the point of touching and it makes speaking difficult and breathing is hard at times. (I have to stop and force myself to breath deeply when I talk, and it is tough).

Another question - my mom will be here for surgery day and then days 2-5, then I am on my own. Is it reasonable to think that I can get to the pharmacy or store if necessary on my own after that? Not sure how much of a shut-in I am going to be!

Yes, he is giving me antibiotics. This all happened so fast - went to the ENT on Friday and they sent me immediately to the surgery center for the pre-op consultation and started me on a step-down medication (Methypprednisalone). I am glad to get it done now, but dreading the recovery process. Just gonna try to sleep and deal with the pain as best as I can - maybe catch up on some TV if not unconcsious!

Scott--Ariane and Charlatan are on post-op 5 and 6 and they have each gone out on errands. Ariane actually drove to the store. Just be careful if you are still having to take pain meds. May I ask why you are Methyppredisalone? Isn't that a steroid?

One more thing. If you can take 2 weeks I would do it. :)

Apparently I am having to take it due to the size of the tonsils and the position they are in - honestly, I am not 100% sure. The ENT looked down with a camera (a fun procedure on Friday) and was checking vocal chords and to make sure there was nothing else to be concerned of. He called my tonsils "world class" and drew a picture of them on the example chart - they are huge and are the cause of my difficulty speaking and breathing.

Glad to know they are able to move about, as I will be on my own on the 6th day.

We'll all be here for you. We can't run to the store for you but we'll be here for general chit chat and a bit of support. Sounds like you really do need to get those nasty things taken out. :D. If you are having to a steroid to get the down a bit they must really be huge.

Hang in there and do read the old posts and get prepared.

Yeah, they are huge! I am so glad to have found the site and am making sure that I get prepared for all of this. I am not in pain now with the tonsils, but the difficulty that they are giving me make my job almost impossible. I tried to hold out until summer break but the doctor said that they are coming out now! Oh well, better to get it done sooner than later.

Thanks for your replies - I know we are gonna feel horrible for a while, but I hope to keep reading and posting through the whole ordeal.

hey scott413...welcome! good luck on your tonsillectomy on wed. and to yours on tues dbaum! i'll be here to support you all as much as i can and i hope you can get online and let us know how you are doig..if not we will be thinking of you! Man...its stinks that i was one of the first in and one of the last to get it done! i just want it done with...hopefullly someone will still be around when i get mine out. scott you should be okay on your own after the 5th day..i will be on my own probably 80% of the time. hope all is well for ariane and charlatan.take care =o)

Sunsetskater--I'll be around when you have yours out. I think it's only fair to help out those coming behind us. Shipsbelle has been an angel for hanging around and helping all of us out. So, don't worry about it, I'll be here and I am sure everyone else will be around to see how you are doing. No jumping ship. :D

Almost forgot--I promise to post as frequently as possible. I think I will have plenty of time to play on the computer. I have an over the bed table and a laptop with a wireless card so you WILL hear from me. :D

Hi guys

dbaum, I'm sure that's of some comfort for you now, knowing somone will be going in when you do, so you can support one another out on here. It is a bit of a lonely ole recovery process and the days drag on a bit, especially if you're not getting much sleep at night.

Oh Sunsetskater, yours isn't a long wait now. You'll soon have it all over and done with and back on the road to recovery. What method are they using on you then?

Shipsbelle... thanks for your post earlier on. Crikey, I wouldn't be able to stick a Q-Tip to the back of my throat like that, to clear out food debris. My gag reflex is sooo sensitive.

I wish I could've had the coblation method, like Ariane! You're making lots of progress today and that's terrific! Keep it up. :)

Well, I scared myself a bit, earlier on. I was laying with my head tilted slightly back, when I suddenly felt summat in the back of my throat, almost gagging me. I sat forward and spat out some orangey-brown bits. I've no idea what they were. The scabs don't look that colour. Thought I was starting to bleed and panicked.

Still have quite a bit of pain, but not as bad as yesterday. I haven't been taking pain meds every 4 hours, today.

Charlatan--Comfort is measured in the number of folks I have met on this board and how we have all rallyed together regardless of when our procedure was done. It's great just being able to relate and sometimes just chat with everyone.

You are doing well and making wonderful progress. Tomorrow will be one week. Already, one week has zipped by and you are doing very well.

So what kind of food have you had today? How about you Ariane?

Scott and Sunskater--Are you getting everything in order? The time will be here before you know it. :)

I am killing myself to get things ready - trying to plan for this many days of school is tough, but I am setting things up so that I am covered for the entire month of April if needed. I hope to only be out until Monday the 25th, but never know. Being around Kindergarten kids right after this surgery may not be the best choice!

As for everything else, yeah, getting ready as best that I can. It's tough when you don't have the kind of time you'd like to do it all. Still, I think it is all manageable enough!

Dbaum - at least you will go ahead and get started early in the morning - I have to wait until almost 1pm on Wednesday. I'm dreading it but glad to get it over and done with soon. Will be thinking about you in the morning - try to get some sleep tonight!

Thanks Scott! Good for you in getting all of April covered. I am scheduled to return to work on the 25th as well. Don't worry Sunsetskater we won't forget about you.

Scott, I wish you could have had your surgery scheduled early. But, the main thing is--you are getting it DONE!! Try to get some rest and don't run yourself ragged trying to get everything in order.

hey guys! i think they are just using the scalpal method on me. I too have to wait until 1pm scott. I have a list ready of things i have to buy thanks to suggestions from the board. tty all soon

Hi guys

I'm in so much pain today, I am in tears. After such a promising start, my scabs are starting to come away and my throat and ears hurt so much, I haven't even drank anything today, except a few sips of coffee with a slice of toast that I ate. I was sent home from the hospital with crap pain meds in the beginning, so they're REALLY useless now! I just got an emergency appt with my GP, who prescribed summat stronger, but the chemist don't have it in stock and I have to wait til tomorrow to get it. =(

I guess this is the most painful stage they warn you about, so please, dbaum and sunsetskater and anyone else about to have surgery, ensure you will have plenty of strong prescription painkillers still, for when you reach this stage. Haha.. my GP just looked at all the scabs in the back of my throat and even told me to eat plenty of salty crisps (potato chips), to scrape away the gunk! I can't even swallow my SALIVA!!! :rolleyes:
So hopefully tomorrow I will finally get some decent pain relief, at least.

dbaum, I know this isn't encouraging for you, about to go in for the chop tomorrow, but you will come home better equipped than I was. This country seems to have big problems in dishing out painkillers that actually work!!!

Good luck tomorrow dbaum! May the force be with you! :angel:

Oh Charlatan I hate to see you in pain but it is normal. Heat will help you at this point, especially with the ear pain. I'll be so happy for you when you get good pain meds. I am glad you got in to see a Doc that knew what to do.

It's funny you say that about potato chips. I have always used chips for that same purpose. Everything I would get a throat infection or strep I would start eating chips to scrape the throat. Please just be careful, you don't want any bleeding to start now.

Hugs my friend. I hope my hug reachs across the pond.

Awww.. hugs backatcha, dbaum :)
Just feeling real sorry for myself today and still people around me just think I am being a drama queen. The overall level of medical care in the U.S. is better than here, so you should be better looked after. I have to sign off now, but don't be scared tomorrow, you WILL be fine and in a couple of weeks from now, you will be grinning from ear to ear, pleased that you had the surgery. I'll be thinkin' of ya tomorrow.

Hope to catch up with you again tomorrow or weds, or whenever you feel up to it, k?

:wave:

I hope everyone is doing OK and Charlatan I hope you have good pain meds by the time I check back in. Just had my "last supper" and am just relaxing. Going to bed early so I will check in with you guys tomorrow and let you know how the surgery went.

Ariane I hope you are well and I hope we hear from you soon.

dbaum. we'll be thinking good thoughts :D

Ahh dbaum.. well if you come back to read this before you go to bed (I think it's now 6:30pm central time), then I wanna tell you that my intense pain from before has eased off now and I've even eaten a pack of salted potato chips and rather enjoyed them too! The pain comes and goes. So I hope I didn't scare you too much. Again, all the best to you, for tomorrow. Break a leg! (as they say.) ;)

Catch up with you real soon.

Yay!! That is good news! Glad I read your post before I called it a night. It's about 7:30pm right now and I am going to get ready to settle down for the night. It's going to be a long day. I'll post tomorrow just as soon as I can. :-)

It has been great having this resource in preparation for my tonsillectomy next week. I confess I'm starting to wonder if I should go through with it! In my case, I've had years of sore throats/post-nasal drip/food getting caught in my tonsil crypts. However, I've never had the grotesquely swollen tonsils or severe ongoing infections that many of you describe. My primary motivation in having the tonsillectomy done is getting rid of the crypts (and revolting food particles and resultant stinky breath) and the semi-chronic sore throats. But is that sufficient justification for going through this grueling procedure and recovery period? I feel like such a wimp, but I'm getting kind of scared! Should I rush out and elicit multiple opinions before forging ahead with it? I have complete faith in my doctor (who performed sinus surgery on me several years ago); I'm just wondering if my problems are sufficiently bad to warrant the tonsillectomy. Any thoughts would be appreciated. And thanks!

Hello Spashop

I think all tonsils have crypts to some degree, but not all give big problems with the smelly tonsil stones, you just described. My tonsils weren't huge, but always getting infected and the older I get, the worse they seem to get. My ENT doctor was reluctant to do the surgery on me, because he knew what a big deal the recovery would be, afterwards. I had to talk him round into going ahead.

How old are you, if I may ask? The older you are, the tougher the recovery may well be. If you constantly get tonsil stones in the crypts, I believe they can lead to a chonic infection. If you are really unsure, I would maybe talk it over with your ENT doc again, or do some more research, before doing it. It is not much fun to recover from! I suffer from post nasal drip too. Have no idea why, but I don't think my tonsillectomy is going to cure it, but that's not the reason I went ahead with the operation anyway.
Anyhoo, if you DO get it done, then this board is a great companion during recovery and everyone's friendly and supportive. So I hope you will stick around.

I first discovered this place on friday and decided to post. Then i was occupied on saturday, so on sunday i wrote this huge post and when i tried to send it my brothers wireless computer decided to lose signal and my post was gone forever. Naturally i was too lazy to retype it. Anyways i hope you all are doing well. My surgery was on april 1st and today was my first day back to work. My office manager told me i could come in a little later than 8 if i wanted so i went in at 10:30 and left about 3. I had to leave because i had not taken one of my darovcets since about 5am. It wasn't too bad. I didn't have to answer phones or talk to any patients so that was nice. My severe pain is definately gone but its still gets soar if i talk to much or eat something that is salty, spicy, cold, hot or anything pretty much with flavor. swallowing still hurts but is def. better. I fear that i am getting the illness that is going around everyone i know. hopefully that doesn't happen.

spashop-the reasons you mentioned you are getting yours out are pretty much my exact reasons. hopefully both of us will not have those symptoms anymore. yes it is painfull, esp. for about 5 days but it does get better. i can't say its better for you in the long run because it hasn't been long enough. if you have any questions feel free to ask.

to those of you who are still having trouble swallowing, i bought some baby oatmeal from the grocery store and it goes down pretty easy if the dairy doesn't bother you. that is what i've been eating for breakfast for the past couple of days.

dbaum, even if you don't read this tonight I want to wish you good luck tomorrow. I will be thinking of you! I'm sure you will do great and we'll all be here waiting to hear how it went just as soon as you can post. I think it's a good thing you are having it done so early, less time to be hungry and thirsty leading up to the operation.

It will probably be a relief to have it over with even though it will be painful, at least the wondering and worrying part beforehand will be over, if that's any comfort ;) I just know you're going to do great and feel so much better in a few weeks and you'll probably be doing better than Charlatan and I are in no time, you are such a trooper!

I'll be here cheering you on in spirit and thinking good thoughts. You can do it! :bouncing:

Dbaum - I know that you have gone on to bed and are resting. i wish you all the best in the morning and afterwards. Hope that you are able to rest tonight and not to nervous in the morning.

I am getting pretty nervous myself. i have been running around and getting things done which has kept me busy. Now that it is done, I can sit and relax, but that just means more time to dwell on what is coming up! Tomorrow, I will be running crazy with Mom coming to town and doing some shopping to get everything needed. I may not be on after 2pm tomorrow, so if you don't hear from me, that means I am trying to finish up and relax for Wednesday. My surgery is still at 12:45, so it won't be a rush in the morning for me.

Thank you all for the support and encouragement. I am ready to get this done, but not eager to start the pain. Still, after having been on the steroids for the past 4 days to shrink the tonsils, I can see the benefits that I will be getting. So, to those who are still deciding, I hope that you can research and feel comfortable enough in the decision to do this. I should have done this 4 years ago when it was first brought up by my doctor.

Well, talk to you all tomorrow. Not sure how I will feel in regards to posting on Wednesday. I am thinking of all of you and wishing you well on your stages of recovery.

Charlatan and Magilla -- Thanks so much for taking the time to reply to my post. I am 44 years old and in good health, and have always been a fast healer. I've had a couple of fairly minor surgeries in the past (one to remove a breast cyst, and one to reduce the size of my nasal turbinates), so I'm sort of scared about my ability to tolerate the pain and misery of recovery from this. I have had two kids and had back labor both times; how would you compare recovering from the tonsillectomy to childbirth, if you've experienced it? ( I realize this is a ludicrous question but I'm getting quite nervous.) Is the pain so totally excruciating that you can't think of anything else? I have two kids (aged 6 and 8) who will be staying with my husband's parents on the day of the surgery and for a couple of days afterwards. How many days will I be totally out of commission for? Thanks and sorry to pester with these questions. I'm on the fence about cancelling it next week, but I know the condition will only get worse as I get older and I don't want to be 90 years old with tonsil stones and throat infections and atrocious breath! :eek:

hey all! dbaum sorry i couldnt get on here earlier. i work 10 hour days so its hard to get on..but good luck..i'll be thinking of you. scott..best of luck to you also! i hope you both have speedy recoveries. I was thinking about cancelling my surgery again..ever since i went to the ent i havent had any tonsil stones(a huge reason why i want them out) or soar throats..which makes it hard to want to go in! spashop..sounds like we are in the same place! i wish i could answer your question about pain but i have no kids..i have never had surgery or even broke a bone..so i have a major fear of the unknown! well take care all and talk to you all soon! bye =0)

spashop-i have never given birth so i wouldn't be able to make any comparisons. The first day is not the most painful b/c, at least for me, numb your throat before you become conscious. i had two pieces of pizza that night, minus crust and cut up in to small pieces. The days that were the worst for me were 2-6. You really really must drink water even though it hurts to swallow. The less you drink the more your throat will dry and hurt. That is why mornings are rough b/c you aren't constantly drinking. On night 3 I set my alarm clock for every 2 hours so i could drink water and take medication if it was time. I probably drank anywhere from 5-7 bottles of water a day and trust me it helped. Day 5 my scabs came off. Day 6 i went to the doc. and he said i was progressing nicely and he said a lot of it had to do with the water consumption. I ate 5 chicken nuggets that day(even though it took an hour and a half). Day 7 for me was a complete turn around. I still had pain but actually felt good enough to get up and move around. Keep up on the meds, try to eat(baby oatmeal runny will prob. be easy) so that the meds. don't make you nautious and drink that water.
dbaum-good luck to you. i'll say a little prayer for you.

btw-i remember some of you talking about ice packs. when i had to go to the doc. after losing a scab, he asked me what was with the ice pack. i told him i had read about it helping the pain. he told me that your blood is used to clotting(therefore scabbing) at body temp. not 95 degrees, so if i was worried about bleeding i shouldn't hold an ice pack on my throat. just something i thought i should throw out.

hope everyone sleeps well. we'll see if i can make it a whole day at work. i think i will be sneaking some meds down throughout the day.

Magilla, that was interesting what your doctor said about the ice packs. They put one on me in the recovery room and sent me home with another one. Guess each doctor has his own theories! Ice does help for the first few days, then heat is better for that ear pain.

Spashop... I cannot compare the pain to childbirth either, but have suffered a lot with renal colic.. and THAT is still the worst pain ever! I have been told my many mothers who have had renal colic that that is more painful than childbirth, so that's all I can tell you. Just don't go into this half-heartedly, that's all. But judging by your last post, I'd probably be inclined to want to get this over and done with. If you think you're forever going to be having problems with your tonsils, then it's better to have it done as early as you can. (in my opinion.)

Scott... Good luck for tomorrow! We'll all be here to help you through your misery afterwards, I'm sure. :angel:

I woke up again this morning in that bad throat spasm pain again, that also radiates to the ears. I can't even drink any water when it's like that, just have to wait for it to pass. :rolleyes:

Good morning to everyone! I just wanted to thank everyone for the kind words and good wishes. I'll be leaving in about 1 hr. Oh boy am I nervous. I am as prepared as I will ever be.

Just knowing all of you guys are here to talk to makes me feel worlds better.

I'll be back, as soon as I can to let you know how it goes. :)

dbaum you should be out of surgery now and even maybe going home again! Awww.
Well, I'm feeling a whole lot better today. I think all the scabs on one side have gone now and about 30% alltogether still stuck on there. I kind of sneaked a peek in the mirror today but got freaked out and had to sit down. lol
The soft palette is looking sooo much lower than it was before! Is this going to stay like this?? So that the uvula is down the throat!!! :eek:

Have eaten a Spanish omelette today, that my BF made me, and it was soo tasty. Eaten some good ole English crumpets, too. Just snacking on some tortillas with salsa dip now. So, I'd say today has been a real turning point for me. I had the operation 6 days ago. I'm also able to talk a lot now, pain free, albeit only in a soft voice.

The recovery is miserable, no doubt about it. It feels neverending. Then one day, suddenly, you go from feeling like poop, to being well on the mend and able to eat food again.

Not had any bleeding whatsoever, and have been eating toast and potato chips and cookies, throughout.

I'll check back later to see if dbaum's surfaced yet. Hope yer ok buddy.

Hope everyone else is doing well, also.

Hi everyone. I just got home and I really do hurt. I've had 4 popsicles, 2 cups of ice and 1 cup of water. This will be very short. I have to lie down for a bit and get some more pain meds in me. I'll be back to let you know everything that went on.

For now it's drink, drink, drink and drink some more. Thnks for being there, everyone :)

Aww, bless ya, yer back. That's great that you've had so much water already! You're already doing better than I did after surgery! Yep, pain meds and water is all you need for now, dbaum. You know, anyway. I'm so happy you're back and all went well for you. Will catch up with you later on when you're more with it. Rest well. Hugs.

Hey guys

I am so glad that you are all feeling better. My advice is to just hang in there. For those that who want an idea about the pain level, I have had 3 kids and you really can't compare. Sure giving birth is very painful but the pain doesn't last for 9 days!!! That is how long I was in terrible pain. For me the ear pain was the worst, but after 3 days of ice it is a good idea to use a heating pad...it really helps. Also I thought I would add that those who have a weak stomach (like me) the DR perscribed something for the nausea which also helped with sleep :yawn: I am really impressed with everyone being able to eat. I lost over 15 lbs because I couldn't eat anything for almost 10 days. Another word of advice...don't use a straw to drink...I think that is why I had a hole in my soft palate. Oh and one more thing my uvala was swollen for over 3 weeks. If you have any questions please feel free to ask because I had the worst experience ever but I am really glad that I had this done :wave:

Charlatan - thank you for your support! I'm not looking forward to this at all, and it is fast approaching.

Dbaum - I am amazed that you were able to respond so quickly online. I did not like hearing that you are in pain today - I had kinda hoped the meds would be strong enough to make today ok. Oh well, just getting more nervous every minute. At least you are on your way and will be getting better soon!

To everyone going through this or about to, I am so glad to read about your experiences. It is a good way for me to gauge how I am progressing through this. Well, about to progress that is!

I am still scheduled for 12:45, and that seems like a long time to wait for me. Hopefully, it won't be too nerve-racking thinking about it. The no drinking and eating will not be fun either, but that's part of it!

dbaum, God bless you. I will pray for your speedy recovery. Damaja, do you mind if I ask how long it took for you to feel "normal" again following your surgery? And Charlatan, I just ******d renal colic. It is obviously one of the most painful conditions humans are capable of experiencing and I am sorry to hear you have had to go through that torture. I suffered from earaches as a child . . . maybe this recovery is comparable to that type of pain. Which, as I recall, can put you in tears. Ah well.

dbaum, it's great to see you made it through! Wishin' you a speedy recovery! :)

dbaum im sorry to hear you are in pain, but its good you are able to eat popsicles and drink. I wish you the speediest recovery! take care of yourself. hope to hear from you soon. bye =o)

Hi everyone. Ok I am doing better. I think the reason I felt so much pain was due to drying out in the recovery room. On a scale of 1 - 10 and 10 being the worst I am about a 4. Much better than earlier.

So here's what's been going on. First off I looked and the tonsil beds are huge! My uvula is really swollen. Here's what they gave me.

Zofran in the IV for nausea
Scopolomine patch for 2 days for nausea
An injection of steroids--Decadron This should start helping the swelling by tomorrow.
Prescription for Phenergan Suppositories.
Prescription for Percocet
Presciption for Amoxicillin

Here's what I have eaten. Oh first of all I have been drinking ALOT of water with crushed ice.

2 jars of baby food (beef/veggie mix)
Carb Control Yogurt (this is thinner than the normal yogurt
Atkins Protein Shake
Apple Sauce

I have been able to crush the Percocet and put in food. I have not missed a dose and I am not having a problem swallowing small mouthfuls and taking it slow.

Oh I forgot I had 4 popsicles in the recovery room :)

So far so good and no nausea. I am drinking constantly and have been chewing juicy fruit gum.

I know this is just the first day but I am working at recovering well ;D

Steve, Get some rest and try to relax. Check in when you can and let us know how you are doing.

Great report dbaum! :D You are the model post op patient, doing all the right things. The next few days will bring changes in your perception of what's happening in your throat, but you know what to expect and can deal with it. We're all so proud of you getting the nourishment and chewing the gum on the first day :bouncing: Keep us posted.

Hey! Shipsbelle i'm glad you check back on this topic! I have a question for you and anyone else who has already completely recovered. My surgery was 1 month and 2 days ago. By the end of the third week I felt fine, was out and about doing my business and stuff. But yesterday, which happens to be when I had to start back at work, early evening I felt like my throat and nasal area completely dried out and is kind of burning. I've been drinking plenty, and have been using a saline nasal spray to try to help but nothing is really working. I don't know if its from being in this nasty, stale old wherehouse that I work at, or if it was from being around a bunch of friends who are heavy smokers. Or then again, it could be allergies, or maybe i'm coming down with something. Did you experience anything like this? Any suggestions?

Hey Pink4Flower :D

I did have periods of dryness and also used the saline nasal spray. The Saline worked for me. It could be a combination of factors in your case. The smoke, the nasty, stale old wherehouse and possibly allergies. Are you taking any allergy meds that might be drying you out? Did you have any of this dryness at work before your surgery? You may just have to let your body adjust to the old invironment since you had been away from it for awhile.

dbaum~ thank you for the handy so-you've-just-had-a-tonsillectomy guide! :) Especially the drug list - I'm off to check all those for breastfeeding safety now...

dbaum-

i'm glad to see you are doing well on your first day. i can't wait to hear your next report. it seems like you all were given anitbiotics to take but my doctor never prescribed me those. if i would have found this place before my surgery i would have asked him about it.

second day back to work for me and i actually made it 7 hours. i got so used to laying on the couch all day its hard to get back in the swing of things.

charlatan-its good to see things are turning around for you. day 6 was when i started feeling better as well. i'll bet you will feel even better tomorrow. keep us posted

hey everyone! dbaum..how long do they keep you in recovery for after the tonsillectomy? thanks for the lists of stuff your ent gave you..im going to take the list to my pre=op and see if they are going to be using about the same thing. take care all bye=o)

sunetskater--I woke up in recovery at 8:05am and then they moved me to the second recovery area where they sit you in a recliner. I was there about 1 1/2 hours They had no problem with moving everyone in and out.

DAY 2

Didn't sleep well last night, but you guys knew that. LOL I've been sleeping in short cat naps. But not to bad. My stomach was hurting last nigt so I stopped the Percocet at midnignt. That was my last dose. Then I used a phenergan suppository. I still have stomach pain but it's OK.

Still drinking and chewing gum. I haven't had any Percocet since midnight last night. I am on taking Liquid Tylenol. Don't know how long that will last but it will give my stomach a rest.

I had an Atkins advantage shake for breakfast and now I am on just water for a bit. Oh, I'm chewing gum as well.

I tried a bunch of different liquids and food yesterday and here's a couple of things to remember. Pudding was way to thick, The Italian Ice was perfect and here's the big thing to remember--I pureed some Campbell's Vegetable beef soup. Well two things went wrong. First it never purrees completely and I could feel tiny bits of food getting stuck. The second thing is the salt and pepper in these soups. It did begin to burn the more I ate it.

I've been able brush my teeth, which is nice. The tonsil beds are starting to get that white icky gunk on them. They are really gross.

My biggest problem is post nasal drip that will choke me and cause me to cough. This is what is really keeping me up at night. I am going to call today to see what I can do.

Pain is very manageable so far. The only thing I can say is drink like a crazy person and chew gum. IT DOES HELP.

Scott, how are you faring this morning?

Ey-up

dbaum, you seem to be keeping on top of things there. Good for you. I have barely been drinking anything all the way through my recovery, because of the pain. So keep it up! :)
I'm still in pain. Only have about 20% of scabs left now, but it's still very tender and I'm still having periods of spasm (I think that's what it is), where I get really bad continuous throat pain and am unable to swallow and my ears kill, at the same time. These periods can last minutes or hours, and nothing takes away the pain. Does this sound normal to anyone? I am 1 week post-op today.

Scott, I hope you're doing OK there.
Back later. :wave:

Charlatan--To me that sounds normal but I can't say it enough. Drinking constantly really helps. If you get past the pain of swallowing it does ease up the more you drink and chew gum. Hang on you're on the downhill side of healing!!

Ariane how are you doing?

Is everyone else ready????

Good Morning!

Well, today is the day and I am more than a bit nervous. Slept very little last night. I really wish that I had my surgery earlier, rather than later.

I will try to post when I can but need to get some bills paid before leaving! Talk to you all soon!

good morning. dbaum-way to go on the drinking. charlatan the pain will not be as bad if you drink. i know it hurts but it keeps your throat from drying out, hence causing you pain. scott-good luck to you. i'll be thinking about you. my surgery didn't start until about 2 so i know how you feel with not being able to even take a sip of water all day. i will check back here after work to see how everyone is feeling.

Good Luck Scott!!! Let us know how it goes when you feel like Just remember--drink, drink, drink and chew :)

dbaum -- sounds like you are doing great! I was wondering if you reviewed the meds you'd be given by your doctor prior to your surgery. You seem remarkably on top of all this stuff and I confess I haven't a clue as to what meds (apart from pain-killers, which I will of course DEMAND!!!) I should be given before I leave the hospital. Anything I should be especially aware of? Many thanks. And I am stocking up on a lifetime supply of Juicy Fruit!

Spashop- I was only told about the anitbiotic and the Percocet. I found out about the steroids after I was at the surgery center. I am happy they gave it to me and would recommend it to everyone. I requested the phenergan suppositories just to I would have them on hand.

The aneshesiologist was responsible for administering the Zofran, which I requested, and hey added the nausea patch. Another good idea. I just took it off today. All, in all I think the list is a good list and hopefully you can everything you need.

One thing I can say is that the only way I was able to stop the Percocet at midnight was due to the amount of water I was drinking and still drinking. I have still only had liquid tylenol. So, if it gets really bad with the scabs I'll have the percocet and my stomach will have had a rest.

dabum -- It's absolutely incredible that, one day post-surgery, you're only on liquid Tylenol! Congratulations on being able to discipline yourself to drink all that water. I am feeling much more hopeful (less panicky) hearing about your experience. Thanks for the info regarding the meds.

Hey dbaum :D

You are an example of how recovery can be if you force yourself to do the necessary drinking and chewing. I didn't try the pureed soup until the 3rd or 4th day. I had the baby food prior to that. It's trial and error for each individual. We all have different pain threshholds and different temperaments that will effect how we respond to our situations.

Scott is getting his anesthesia about now. Hope we hear from him tonight that he's doing as well a dbaum!

Everyone else who is post op--how is today going for you?

I am going to take a nap. My throat is very sore but I did try and managed to eat a can of chicken broth with pasta shaped like little gold fish. I am sore after that but I keep tons of ice water in a huge mug where ever I am. I am happy I could get off the Percocet and give my stomach a rest. I may need them again when the scabs start coming off.

I looked again and the tonsil beds are getting that white yucky look. I guess that's the scabs.

My lower jaw bone is very sore, most likely from the clamps and such. I have been able to brush my teeth except for the very back molars, with no problem. I can do the tongue as well. I think it has a lot to do with the chewing. My jaw doesn't get stiff. When it starts I just pop some gum in and work through it.

Still can't talk to well. I can only talk for short periods of time.

I know I'm rambling and I'm a bit tired. Hopefully when I get back up Scott will be back home.

dbaum, it sounds like you're really on top of things. I'm sure that will do wonders for your recovery!

Scott, I hope you're doing well!!

I still have the post nasal drip thing going on and it's making me cough more than I would like. The Doc called in a course of Methylprednisalone (sp?) Hopefully that will help.

I am still sticking with just liquid tylenol and as long as I drink and chew I do pretty good. I'm just really tired.

Good news, I managed some solid food tonight. First off, I am a diabetic so finding stuff that will keep my blood sugar levels down has been tricky. But, tonight I was able to have my favorite pancakes and this recipe will not upset my blood sugars. It took awhile to eat them but I made sure every bite was followed by a swallow of water. It tasted so good. Anyway the pancakes main ingredient is cream cheese.

The tonsil beds are covering up with the white stuff pretty quickly so that's good. The scabs are forming and now I have to get ready for the lovely days ahead when the scabs fall off. Also, because I am hydrated I have not had any problems with bleeding at all.

Just praying my good recovery continues. I think it will because I took to heart the advice that has been shared on this board.

Hope everyone is doing well today. Going to nap for a bit. Be back later.

Hi everyone,

dbaum, glad to see you're doing so well so far. Scott, hope your surgery went well and you are resting as comfortably as you can. Keep up the fluids :)

Days 7 and 8 were really bad for me. I started having a lot of pain again and had difficulty swallowing. The pain would go out like a wave to my ears everytime I swallowed, I was just miserable. My scabs actually expanded out towards my uvula and I had very little room to swallow, so while I was eating food on day 6, on day 7 I was having a hard time with ice cream. I had to go back to sleeping in the recliner because I was having trouble catching my breath propped up with pillows in my bed.

So since it was so painful to swallow, I wasn't drinking as much and just stayed heavily medicated. This made me very nauseous even while taking the nausea medicine, and I was bodysore, and weak all over, and sometimes I would shake and not be able to stop. I slept a ton, and sleeping it off wasn't working. I lost 6 pounds over the 2 days. So I started forcing liquids down me, and nearly stopped all medication.

End of day 9 now, and I haven't had anything except liquid Tylenol at 7 this morning. The pain is there but bearable, and I prefer it to how bad I felt overall the last 2 days. I had a little bit of roast chicken for dinner, and it wasn't easy to swallow but I managed it. I called my doctor yesterday and he said this is all normal when the scabs are about to fall off. It looks like I've lost about 50% of the scabs over the last day, I can't wait til they are completely gone. So I'm just plugging away nap by nap, drink drink drinking. I really truly miss food.

A couple of hours ago I looked in my throat and saw that one of the scabs was bleeding a bit. This usually happens to me a little each day, so I wasn't too worried at first. I gave it a few minutes and checked again and saw it was bleeding heavier, and I could taste it when I swallowed, and I've never had enough blood pooling out at once to have that happen before. So I started drinking ice water, as much as I could. Put on my ice collar. Still going strong. It was quite a bit of heavy bleeding, and I swallowed a lot of it.

After an hour of lying down, ice to my throat, and drinking ice water, it was still bleeding just as heavily if not more so. Paged my ENT (thank heavens he left a number to page) and he called right back and said to gargle ice water continuously for half an hour and to call him back in 30 minutes and then head to the emergency room if it hadn't stopped :eek:

It really hurt to gargle, but I did it for 35 minutes straight. About 20 minutes into it, it finally seemed to be slowing. 25 minutes into it I noticed that a small bubble had formed over where it seemed to be bleeding from, and gargling and rinsing wasn't clearing it. After 35 minutes called the ENT back and he said the bubble is going to form a new scab. He said to just keep gargling every so often until I'm sure the bleeding has completely stopped, but it sounds like a middle of the night trip to the ER and general anesthesia has been averted. I'm still gargling a bit every couple of minutes, I'm not sure if it's completely stopped yet.

Hopefully it is done, I've had enough excitement for one night! It was pretty scary. I hope everyone else is doing ok.

ariane..WOW i guess you would be really scared! I hope that your bleeding has stopped and that you are feelng better and can get some rest. It seems like just when someone is feeling better they take a turn for the worse. I am so scared to have the tonsillectomy! Well i hope everyone else is doing well. take care everyone. bye =o)

Wow Ariane I would have been scared as well. So far I have not had any bleeding. I am having a lot of coughing but no bleeding. Hopefully you are doing well today.

I am beginning day 3 and have not taken any pain meds except liquid Tylenol. I just started taking the methylprednisolone this morning so we'll see how that goes. The hardest time is in the morning. My jaw is tight and it's hard to swallow. For this I just start chewing gum and drinking. Once I work through it the jaw loosens up and things are a bit better. The tonsil beds are almost completely white with scab material. Things are moving forward.

The pain is about a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. What really helps is drinking and chewing gum. I have not lost any weight, which is a good thing, I am eating and drinking stuff that is full of nutrition. For example I have the Atkins protein shakes for breakfast every day. Now I am trying to avoid empty calorie items like popsicles. Baby food, fruit nectar and stuff like that are what I am using.

Hang on everyone and hopefully everyone is doing well.

Sunskater it's normal for the later days after surgery to be worse, but you know enough to be proactive and have the best recovery you can possibley have.

Day 8 for me and I just saw my BF off at the airport. He's gawn back home. =(
My throat's still very sore and the more I eat, the more it hurts. Only have, like, 20% of scabs left now. I think eating the rough foods has done me good in that dept. When I eat, it feels like some food gets lodged in my throat, though, and drinking still goes up my nose. But overall, I'd like to think that I'm actually healing now.

dbaum, yer doing fab. I hope you continue to do so. Get some toast in yer belly though. ;)

Ariane.. hmm.. how much scabbing had you lost already, before your recent bleed? I thought you was healing faster than me and would have lost all those scabs before now. Well, here's hoping that's the last of it and you'll be fine now.

I might not be able to post as much now, because my puter has died. I'm using mother's at the moment.

Anyway, I have to try and think of a way to dislodge this bit of rice that's caught in the back of my throat! lol

Best wishes to all and a speedy recovery! :angel:

Hi Charlatan--even though you still have a sore throat you sound like you are doing well. I still doubt I'll eat toast. :) I am going to try some macaroni and cheese and maybe some chunky vegetable soup. It's only day 3 so I think I am OK. I still have a problem swallowing my own saliva. Drinking constantly helps that pretty good. Didn't Shipsbelle tell us to use q tips to gently remove the stuck food pieces? Good luck with that.

Oh, last night I was able to brush my back teeth. I am glad that I can hit all of my teeth and my tongue without a problem. It feels so much better.

I take my antibiotic in about an hour so after I take that I will try some mac and cheese.

I hope everyone else checks in with a good report today.

Good Moring everyone. Sounds like most of you are doing ok. I had another full day of work yesterday, which wasn't too bad. The thing that stinks for me now is I have a cold and i just know i'm getting a sinus infection. I don't if i should call my ENT about it or my regular dr. Today is my long day at work so i'm kind of dragging my feet this morning. I don't get off work until 7, boo hoo. two days ago i was finally able to clear my sinuses and it was such a relief. I'm pretty much back to eating normal, except salty and spicy foods still sting.

dbaum-toast isn't that hard to eat as long as you barely toast it, cut the crust off and load on the butter to soften it.

arian and charlatan-good to see you to are moving right along.

scott-how are you doing?

have a great day everyone

I might give the toast a go. But just wanted everyone to know I managed to just now finish and entire small container of Stouffers Mac n Cheese. It was so good. Took awhile and a lot of water to wash it down but it was worth it.

Scott--I hope you are doing well.

Magill--Sounds like you are just about back in the swing of things. I hope you'll be able to eat salt and spice pretty soon. :)

I hope Scott's having a good sleep. Hopefully we'll hear from him soon!

Dbaum, your posts have been very encouraging. I hope I can be so proactive in my recovery as you.

Am I the next one? My surgery is next wednesday. I work right next to the hospital and walk by the operating rooms often. It's starting to make me nervous. I got a call from the anesthesia people last night to go over my health history. I won't know my check-in time until the day before surgery - apparently kids and elderly people go first if they're on the schedule.

I stocked up on soups, ice cream, sherbet, apple sauce and instant mashed potatoes. I forgot to get some yogurt and gum, but I still have plenty of time to get those. I also got some saline nasal spray.

The nurse last night suggested having stool softeners on hand for constipation from the pain meds. Anyone have a problem with that?

Anything else I should get?

Hi, everybody -- I think I may be next as my surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday. But I got kind of a scare today -- a friend of mine has maybe six friends who have had tonsillectomies as adults. When I told her that recovery should take about 10 days, according to my doctor, she said that she thought it would take four to six WEEKS, how it's MAJOR SURGERY for an adult, blah blah blah. Now I'm wondering all over again if I should go through with this. I don't have enlarged tonsils (in fact, my tonsils are actually rather on the small side); I have trenches that catch food and get painful, and I've had ongoing problems with sore throats and strep throat for years. If I had tonsils that interfered with breathing and eating, it would obviously be imperative to have the surgery.

It doesn't take four to six weeks to feel normal again, does it? Because I have little kids to take care of! Thanks and best to all.

I think recovery is very individual. I am sure you will feel pretty darn good after 2 weeks with maybe a bit of fine tuning to do for another 2 weeks. I don't know for sure but all we can do is try and do everything we can to make our recovery more comfortable.

Water and gum help. However we all know that it is a roller coaster. I'm about to hit a bump in the road. I am at the end of day 3 and I woke up from a nap and my throat was so red and hurt so bad. I looked at it and it's just really red and the white gook is there. I started drinking water and ate some beenie weenie and some applesauce. It helped some but boy does it hurt. I took a Percocet for this pain. I am glad I stopped the Percocet for awhile and my stomach was able to calm down.

I hope we hear from Scott today.

Hi, everybody -- I think I may be next as my surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday. But I got kind of a scare today -- a friend of mine has maybe six friends who have had tonsillectomies as adults. When I told her that recovery should take about 10 days, according to my doctor, she said that she thought it would take four to six WEEKS, how it's MAJOR SURGERY for an adult, blah blah blah. Now I'm wondering all over again if I should go through with this. I don't have enlarged tonsils (in fact, my tonsils are actually rather on the small side); I have trenches that catch food and get painful, and I've had ongoing problems with sore throats and strep throat for years. If I had tonsils that interfered with breathing and eating, it would obviously be imperative to have the surgery.

It doesn't take four to six weeks to feel normal again, does it? Because I have little kids to take care of! Thanks and best to all.
Hi spashop :D

If you will go back and read this thread from the beginning you will see that recovery time is very individual. Some are ready to go back to work at 7 to 10 days and others need couple of weeks. However 4 to 6 weeks is a bit extreme! Since your tonsils are not very large the extent of the cutting should be smaller than for those who have huge tonsils. And I would think that you would heal a bit faster since the actual surgical area would be less.

If your doctor thinks you should have them out now, do it, since it does get harder as you age. I had mine done last December at age 67! I healed up just fine with no complications. Take the advice given here about drinking and chewing gum and all the rest that others have experienced. Post again--this is a good support group!

Hey debaum :D

You're doing very well--beenie weenies on day three! You are right, things change from day to day and sometimes hour to hour! But just think how much better you are going to feel a week from now! :)

Hopefully tomorrow will be better. But, I still think it's OK. The scabs are in place and really gross looking. It's just red all around the scab and the uvula is so red. The methylprednisolone hasn't done anything for the swelling but it may take a couple of days. It was a Percocet afternoon for sure.

I think the beenie weenies might have been a bit much but what I also had today was soft scrambled eggs with cream cheese and mushrooms mixed in and a biscuit. That went over very good.

Hiya everyone,

My bleeding did stop eventually last night, and today I have a nice new thick scab just as big as it was before. I have had no medication today whatsoever and I am doing fine. Drinking lots of liquids and eating some soft foots, planning on having beef stew tonight and can't wait. I do have a sore throat but it feels like strep basically, if it gets too bad I will take a little liquid tylenol.

I agree that the healing is very individualized. I had the coblation method. I read a lot of old posts on here before I had the surgery, and I was encouraged by the quick recovery times that the people that had the coblation procedure had had. I am on day 10 though and my recovery hasn't been all that smooth but it hasn't been terrible either. The bleeding was very scary but it did stop. There is also a higher risk of bleeding with coblation so I don't think most people will have to worry about that as much; I don't think Charlatan has had any bleeding at all. The nausea thing has always been a problem for me after surgeries and I expected as much going into this. The scabs coming off might cause a couple more days of discomfort for me, but I think I will be eating better and better in the days to come. I don't think recovery would take 4 to 6 weeks. We may all have a few problems for awhile after the 2 week period, but I don't think it will be anything like the first 10 days.

I already am feeling a few benefits from having my tonsils out. I breathe easier through my nose, the horrible daily sinus headaches I had for years are gone, and I am less fatigued than I've felt in ages. Would I do this again? Yes definitely. It is a hard road but it is going to be so worth it for all of us!

Hi Ariane, you certainly sound so much better today. Day 10, wow where did the time go?

I am so glad you can see the benefits and realize that you did the right thing. I can't wait to start seeing the benefits.

I have not had any bleeding, so far, and that's a good thing. It's just really ugly looking in there.

Has anyone had a post op appointment with their Doc? I have one scheduled for next Tuesday.

Hey dbaum :) You sound like you are doing terrific so far. I think it's great that you've managed to stay off the painkillers for a good bit, that way when you really really need the painkilers they won't be tearing your system up as much from the get-go.

One of the major reasons I finally decided to have this surgery is my tonsils had gotten so big that I had started suffering from sleep apnea over the last year to year and a half. It was very frightening. I CANNOT WAIT until I am healed more so I can sleep lying down comfortably without a dry throat waking me up every couple hours so I can test that out. I can't wait to not ever have to wake up gasping for air again. To those of you thinking this surgery might be too much to go through, I really think the long-term benefits will outweigh the short-term pain.

dbaum I haven't had my followup yet. My ENT's instructions were to have it 3 weeks post-op, which seemed really long to me at first but since he's only a page away-even at midnight thankfully-I don't really mind. I'm sure by the time I'm 3 weeks out he'll say everything looks fine and have a nice tonsilfree life :)

Ok, spashop is next, then me. Who else is coming up on the chopping block? :)

Spashop, I don't imagine the recovery to be as bad as 4-6 weeks. I'm going to shoot for a week and a half. I guess we'll see! We can race - the first one to eat tortilla chips post-op wins. Just teasin'. ;) I've got little ones too. I wanted to get this surgery done before my youngest starts walking.

I had a look at my 3.5 year old's tonsils the other day because her doctor commented on how huge they were. Sure enough, they're gigantic. Poor thing - I'm sorry she got these damn things from me.

I think Sunsetskater is scheduled for the 25th.

hey everyone..sorry i havent posted recently..my sis is past her due date and im expecting a niece anytime now. My surgery is on the 25th. I am also nervous about getting my tonsils out..but a nurse i work with told me if they are smaller it tends to be less painful then those with large tonsils..so maybe we will be lucky..i dunno..I havent heard from anyone about the surgery..no docs..nurses..which makes me more nervous. well i hope everyone is feeling better..im off to see my sis...i hope she has my neice before i go in! bye everyone and take care..im glad ill have others going in around the same time as me so we can support each other! I cant say enough how wonderful everyone on this board has been..take care all and ill tty soon =o)

sugarbeth-i would definately have some suppositories on hand. that is one thing that really got me. the meds made me soooo constipated. I only went to the bathroom i time in five days. i wish i would have known that ahead of time.

spashop-like everyone else said people will vary in recovery time. I went back to work 11 days later and did pretty well this week.

good to see arian and charlatan doing better. and of course dbaum the uber post-op patient. dbaum-i am scheduled about 4 weeks later for my post-op, although they did have me go in after i had lost my scabs b/c i thought i had bled a decent amount.

hope everyone has a good night. and to all those waiting nervously-you will do just fine

Well it sounds like everyone is getting ready and is still in good mental spirits.

Despite having to take a Percocet, yesterday afternoon, I am still doing pretty good. The swelling is coming down, so the uvula doesn't choke me any more. So, if all goes well on day 4 I am going to have some more eggs and biscuits. I also want to try some baked chicken. I am really glad that I am eating well because I am not hungry all the time and have only lost a couple of pounds. :bouncing:

I guess, if I am going to get ear pain it should be happening any day now. I haven't had any odd tastes and my tongue is fine. It's just a little sore but no bruising, cuts or anything else.

Kind of interesting about post op follow up appointments. Seems the time varies a lot.

Well it's day 4 and I am dying for a cup of coffee. Wish me luck. I just started brewing some. I am going to let cool quite a bit before trying it. But, I really miss my morning coffee.

I'm back on Liquid Tylenol and am still having the Atkins Protein shakes first thing in the morning to help cushion the meds.

I'll be back to let you know how the coffee goes.

Looked in my throat and scabs are fully in place. Now, I have to get ready for the next step. The scabs coming off. :)

Hi everyone.

Just catching up on the recent posts.. great to see there's no more scary bleeds, Ariane! I got it wrong then, as I thought with the coblation method, there's LESS chance of bleeding. Anyway, I'm sat here, doing a very English thing.. eating crumpets with a cup of tea. It's taking me ages to eat, though. I am 9 days post-op now and still having throat and ear pain, even though there's not much scabbing left. Losing a lot of weight now and am getting concerned that healing well enough to be able to eat and drink normally is dragging on a bit. Still having what I can only describe as spasms of the throat or soft palette, which causes a lot of pain, especially upon swallowing. This has been happening since day 5. I think I am abnormal. ;(
I'm wondering how long til I can laugh, yawn, cough, sneeze.. etc.. again.

Best wishes to those who are healing. xx :)

Okay, Sugarbeth, the bet is on! ;) I also cannot imagine that recovery is 4 weeks unless an infection or some other complication arises. My friend is extremely opposed to surgery and has gargantuan tonsils herself, so she may be a little defensive about the issue. I've put a call in to my doctor today just to verify that I understand what meds they're going to administer, etc. etc. I had no idea that there is a connection between sinus headaches and tonsil problems, but I have had sinus problems for years and years and in fact had sinus surgery about 4 years ago (the procedure where they reduce the size of your nasal turbinates).

dbaum, you are an inspiration to me. You sound like you're doing great. I am going to force myself to drink and chew continuously because it seems that both are essential to a speedier recovery.

Spashop--Yes make sure you drink, drink and chew. I also believe running my warm mist humidifier constantly has helped avoid throat dry out when I am sleeping. You are going to do fine.

Here's where I'm at. Today is Day 4 and I really feel like I have made great progress. On a scale of 1 -10 I would rate my pain level as a 2. I have a little ear pain but nothing I can't handle. I did have to take a couple of Percocet yesterday afternoon, but I am back on Liquid Tylenol today.

I am off the baby food, italian ices, applesauce and stuff like that. I still have an Atikins Protein shake first thing in the morning so I can take my meds. Then I am having scrambled eggs with cream cheese and mushrooms with a biscuit on the side for breakfast. Lunch is Mac and cheese. Today I am going to try a salisbury steak with mac and cheese.

I have noticed it's easier to breath when I sleep. Before surgery I had to use those nose strips in order to keep my airway open. So, this is a good thing. Another good thing is I finally had a mug of coffee this morning. I let it cool down so it was just warm but it did just fine. I enjoy my morning coffee and I am so happy I can have it again.

Of course when the scabs start coming off I am sure I will have back up a bit and watch what I eat and drink so I don't bleed. But, so far I have had no bleeding. The back of my throat looks like a war zone. :eek: It's fully scabbed over and the next step is to lose the scabs.

The best advice I can offer is to drink and chew and run a humidifier. Every time you wake up drink ice water. Immediately in the morning get a piece of gum so you can get the jaws going. By keeping the jaw loose I have been able to brush my teeth and tongue twice a day every day since surgery. I don't have that build up of yucky stuff and my breath has been fine.

I can't wait to get back to normal. But I am pleased and if it weren't for the advice from folks on this board I would not be doing this well. By the way I am 50 years old and a diabetic. If I can do it, so can you!

dbaum -- What type of gum do you chew? I tend to like minty ones like Doublemint but I'm wondering if that would be more painful to chew. I spoke to the nurse today (doctor will call me Monday before my surgery on Tuesday) and she assured me that she has NEVER, EVER heard of anybody's recovery taking 4 weeks. She said that yes, I will have a sore throat, and emphasized that drinking as much water as possible is the most important thing. She also mentioned that, since my tonsils are small, the recovery will probably be somewhat easier than that of somebody with really huge tonsils.

I was re-reading some of the earlier posts on this thread and it comforts me to see that those of you who have already gone through the surgery had the same feelings I've been grappling with over the past week, basically wanting to turn tail and call the whole thing off. Thanks to all of you, I now feel much more secure in my decision to go forward with the surgery. I've never been under anesthesia before and something about the idea of it really scares me. Anyway, thanks so much to all of you. Thank God I found this board!!

Hi Spashop--Glad you are feeling more secure in your decision. I love minty gum but don't chew them while you are healing. For now I am using Extra Sugarless Bubble Gum and Juicy Fruit. The minty gum will burn your throat. You are right about how great this board is. Everything that I am doing I learned from this board and confirmed with my Doc. You'll do great, Spashop. Relax and do something fun this weekend. Tuesday will be here before you know it. You're going to do just fine. I will be here so don't forget to let us know how you are doing.

dbaum -- Thanks so much for confirming which kind of gum I should chew. I am going to try to relax this weekend. For some reason, I can't stop eating -- maybe it's PMS or maybe it's my subconscious prodding me to stuff myself with all those foods I won't be able to eat for a while! Have a good weekend and hope you are continuing to feel okay.

hey everyone..glad to see everyone is doing okay..I just got home from the hospital..i am now the prooud aunt of a healthy beautiful 9.1 oz baby girl =) im sure ill be spending lots of time with her, but ill make sure i check back regularly..i miss so much when i dont check daily. I go for my pre-op on wed. i still have to go shopping but my nephew has this baby cereal that melts in your mouth..has anyone tried snacking on those? I sure am going to miss cereal...spashop..i to am eating like crazy..esp my favorites cause who knows how long it will be till we can again..esp if you like salty or spicy. talk to everyone soon =)

spashop and sunsetskater, I did the same thing when it comes to eating. I tried to eat all of my favorite things in a couple of days. LOL

Sunsetskater--congrats on becoming an Aunt to a "big" girl. I am sure you will be spending time with her. How fun that's going to be. I did not try any baby cereal so i cannot say.

Charlatan, how are you doing now that BF had to leave? Are you scab free yet?

Ariane, how's it going for you? Hopefully you are eating well and enjoying "new food" :)

I am starting Day 5 and all is well. I am not taking any liquid Tylenol over night. Pain is still about a 2. The roast I tried to eat last night was a bit hard to do. So I ended up eating 1 piece of roast and some mac n cheese. This weekend I am going to try and make a pizza with a Boboli crust. I won't use tomato on it. I am going to brush the crust with olive oil and then put down a layer of pizza cheese, then a layer of chicken and mushrooms, topped with another layer of pizza cheese. We'll see how it goes.

Talking is still odd. I can talk but my voice doesn't last very long. Sometimes it sounds like have a a mouthful of mush or something. LOL I guess that will take time. My ENT told me if there is a change in my voice it will be slight and my voice may be a tiny bit lower. Too soon to tell what the end results will be. I still have another week off from work so hopefully it will be back to "normal" by then.

Sunsetskater, congratulations on your niece! That is very exciting. I bet you're glad she was born before your surgery.

dbaum you are doing so wonderfully, it's hard to believe you're only on day 5! Anytime you can get by without the pain meds it's got to be good for your stomach. You're really doing a great job. Let us know how that pizza works out, it sounds yummy.

I am really craving pizza, salty things, and chocolate. Oh and caffeine. I was told I have to stay away from that til my scabs are done falling off or it will make them bleed. Like they need a reason to bleed, lol. I'm still having bleeding on and off, sometimes a couple of times a day. But so far it's stopped pretty fast since that scare a few days ago. My scabs are still hanging in there at about 50%, give or take. I'm scared to eat scratchy things like toast and crackers even though little snacks would be wonderful, so I'm sticking with soft things still.

My voice still comes and goes. It still hurts a lot to talk sometimes. Sneezing hurts a lot too. I went out yesterday morning and ran some errands, and it really wiped me out. I'm just not used to the activity now. I was in really bad pain when I got home and had to take some liquid tylenol for the first time in 2 days and take a nap, and I was in more pain than normal for the rest of the day yesterday. I want to get back to doing normal things, both with food and going out and doing things. It's frustrating that it's taking so long.

Ariane--I know how you feel about food. After a couple of days I was over the sweet stuff. I wanted real food, salt and all. I haven't tried chocolate but that will come in due time. I love chocoloate so much and I don't want to risk my taste buds being off and making the chocolate taste odd. When I eat chocolate I want to enjoy it. :)

I don't know about caffeine and bleeding. Maybe it's because you had coblation done? I dont know, but I started having a bit of morning coffee yesterday and it was OK. I let it sit until it was just warm. It was nice.

I haven't gone out for errands yet but today I have a critter trapper coming to set traps to catch a squirrel that's having a party in my attic. Then they are going to repair the entry points. Should be a tiring day.

Ouch--Sneezing??? Phew, I haven't done that yet. But I will tell you that coughing is no picnic either.

Hang in there Ariane. You are doing good and I think you will agree if you go back and read some of your earlier posts. :)

Yes, I will let you know how the pizza works out.

Yikes yes, I really try to avoid coughing but I feel like doing it far too often. Luckily I didn't sneeze any until day 9 or 10 I think, and I'm really glad I didn't have to worry about it til then. It probably wouldn've hurt a lot worse. Yawning is bad too.

I'm at a funky stage now where my mouth is producing about twice as much salive as normal. It's kinda icky. I suppose that is to help the throat stay moist while the scabs are coming off?

I'm not sure why they told me no caffeine either, but since I start bleeding when I'm not even eating or drinking anything I'm not going to chance it. Surely they will come off in the next 2 to 3 days. I hope :)

I hope we hear from Scott soon, or did I miss it maybe? Wow I hope nothing went wrong with his surgery.

I haven't seen a post from Scott. I do hope he's OK.

The excess saliva is yucky. Mine is very thick and annoying to say the least. I have found that chewing gum helps to thin it out a bit.

I might have missed it but when is your post op visit?

I'm right there with you on the chocolate too dbaum. I love it, it's one of my vices. I'll pass on that piece of pie for dessert, but I will make sure I have a piece of chocolate a day. I don't want to have any until I can enjoy it properly either though.

Oh and I wholeheartedly agree I'm doing much better than I was say a week ago, I'm just ready to be done with this now :) It feels like it's been longer than 12 days now, perhaps because I was sick before the surgery and could barely eat then too. Heh it actually almost sounds like you're further along than I am, at least foodwise. You're having the best recovery I've read about on here. Keep it up!

You aren't doing too bad yourself. You started out sick, had surgery and have come a long way since your day of surgery. The next big step is to become scab free and then the big victory -- PAIN FREE. :)

Mine will be 3 weeks post-op, I haven't scheduled it yet but I guess it'll be the week after next. Yours is next Tuesday right? I will go try the gum to help the saliva right now. I haven't chewed any for a couple days because I'm not having any jaw tightness, so I will have to give it a try.

Yep, mine is Tuesday. So we'll see what they say.

Give the gum a whirl and see what you think. The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is drink ice water, take some liquid Tylenol and get a piece of gum going. Since I'm sleeping longer my throat dries out a bit and stings a lot in the morning. But doing this helps me out.

Hey guys

dbaum! Haha! You're doing soooo well!!!! Yer lucky. I hope you continue to recover with minimal suffering. Have you eaten any toast yet? Hehe!

I'm at Day 10 post-op and today I had to cough a lil and it hurt. I also sneezed twice and that hurt too but yawning is impossible! Woke up in pain again. Still using the humidifier at night, although my room is now damp and I've had to strip my bed to dry the bedding off! ROFL! Is this normal????

My scabs are off now, except for a lil bit in the deepest part of the tonsil beds. I've still not bled at all and think I may have got away with doing so now. Still taking pain meds once or perhaps twice a day and still getting some ear pain. Taking aaaaages to recover!!!! Sheesh!

Ariane, I hope that your new scabs soon come away, blood-free. I am sorry you had to go through that bleeding stage. I would have been so scared. When my BF was here, I was handing him the torch (flashlight), about 10 times a day, asking "Am I bleeding??" because I was petrified of doing so. lol

He went back to California 2 days ago and I miss him a lot. After our goodbyes at the airport, I cried the rest of the day, which KILLED my throat! I just have to concentrate on getting fit and well again, so that I can go over and be with him. Am doing OK looking after myself, though. Was kinda nice having a nurse maid though. ;)

Sunsetskater... Congrats from me also, on the new addition to the family. :)

I hope everyone's doing well and I'm wondering where Scott is, too.


By the way, I have an appointment to see my ENT doc on monday, so am hoping he'll say I'm healing normally with no probs.
One thing though.... I think they cracked my rib, on the operating table, somehow! It's definitely not a bruise or a pulled muscle. Because I woke up with an oxygen mask on, I'm wondering if they used me as a table and put the oxygen cannister thingy on me heavily and cracked a rib! The pain of it hasn't let up at all, since the day of my operation, on the 6th. Oh well.

Charlatan, good to see you, but that's horrible news about your rib. How awful to have to go through that pain on top of the tonsillectomy. Is there anyway you call the hospital and try to find out if anything out of the ordinary happened during your surgery? It just seems like someone should have to own up to a mistake like that.

Have you still not looked in there yourself? :) I was scared of it at first as well but I became morbidly fascinated with it, and found it didn't look as bad as I thought it would. I check it several times a day. Especially since I keep springing bleeders.

dbaum you were right about the gum, I'm chewing it now and it does seem thinner. Whew that's a nice break. You could write a guide on how to recover from a tonsillectomy after this is over dbaum :) Are you still drinking fluids basically constantly? I'm so tired of drinking water.

Charlatan--No I haven't eatten any toast yet but I did try a couple chips. Not too bad but I think I'll wait a bit longer before I have any more of them. I did have biscuits for breakfast. :) Does that count?

I run my humidifier non-stop and will probably be using it for the next month. It does make the room feel damp but I don't care because it does help my throat. I had to strip my bed today too. It will be nice to have fresh sheets on the bed.

Use a heating pad for your ear pain, that should help a bit.

Keep it up and you'll be ready to be with BF in no time. :)

Charlatan--Missed the part about your rib. Ouch. I've had a cracked rib and had to sleep sitting up for about 6 weeks.

Ariane--Yes, I drink mostly ice water all day long and whenever I wake up in the middle of the night I drink water as well. I never stop. Where ever I am I have a huge mug of ice water with me. It truly works and I'm not about to stop now :) Glad the gum chewing helped you out.

So, what's everyone having for dinner today? Any new foods on the menu?

LOL!! First time I looked in my throat was yesterday! I only did it then, because I knew there were barely any scabs left, so wouldn't get freaked out by it! ;P

Am I the only one who sees that the soft palette, yanno, where the uvula is, has dropped down now? I'm wondering if it will stay this way.

When I drink, it still goes up my nose a bit. I hope this will go away too!! Am impressed that I never lost my voice at all, but those around me were probably disappointed.

Since I have an appointment with the ENT Dr on Monday anyway, I will ask him about my rib, although it wasn't him who performed my operation. I don't think he was even in the hospital that day. Maybe he can get me checked out, though.

Yep, I've noticed the upper palate and uvula seem to be a bit lower. I don't know if this is permanent or not. For the water going up your nose, it will correct itself but you can help it by saying the word "kick" over and over. This will exercise the palate area and allow it to get used to its new position.

Charlatan, I can't believe you didn't look. LOL I've been looking since day 1 and I must admit it resembles a war zone back there. LOL

Yes my upper palette and uvula are lower too. I hope it doesn't stay this way, it freaks me out a bit having my uvula basically dangling into my throat like this. If one of you asks the ENT if this is permanent when you go in this week, please let me know.

Don't know what dinner will be, but I think I will go brave some biscuits for breakfast. Are you doing the pizza tonight dbaum? Have a great day both of you, I will check in later. Hunger calls :)

I am going to try for the pizza around lunch time so we'll see how it goes. Enjoy your biscuits and put lots of butter on them. It makes them softer. Catch up with you later and hopefully we'll hear from Scott today.

Just thought I would pop in to let you know how my Day 5 has been going. I thought I was going to try pizza but my throat had other ideas. My Doc and everyone on this board warned me that day 5-7 are usually the worst. Well, I'm here to tell you that I took a nap and woke up to some serious throat pain. I got the gum going and slowly drank some more ice water. I looked in there and it looks like maybe the top parts of the scabs have come off. Long story short, I'll try the pizza tomorrow. I took one Percocet and will be having some pea soup with goldfish crackers.

I'm still doing OK and this is just the next phase of healing.

Hopefully everyone is doing well and I really would like to hear from Scott. I hope he's OK.

I survived the surgery, but I have had a rough time with it. My surgery did not go until about 4pm and I have been in alot of pain. I have mostly slept, or stayed on the recliner. Sleeping is difficult, as the medicine wears off and the pain returns. I am only eating popsickles and ice cream, and cannot imagine anything else. I do have dizziness and that keeps me off the computer. I will be back on again and talk more, but I am not feeling so hot right now.

I will talk to you all soon.

Scott, I am so glad you were able to pop in for a moment but I am sorry to hear you are having such a hard time. Please, even if it hurts drink and drink and drink some more. It will help with the pain. Once you can handle it start chewing gum you won't be sorry. It will be difficult at first but so worth it in the end. Please pop in again when you are up to it and let us know how you are doing.

hey scott..glad to see everything went okay during the tonsillectomy..im so sorry that you are in such pain right now..are you dizzy from the anethesia or maybe from the pain meds? i wish you a speedy recovery!!talk to you soon. bye =o)

Good morning everyone. Today I am beginning Day 6 and my scabs must be starting to come off. I had so much throat pain yesterday evening I thought I would die. I could only eat a bit of soup and some vanilla mousse. I have been taking Percocet, regularly since last night. I think this is normal and if anyone knows anything different, please let me know.

I do have a question. Anyone have any pain way in the back of their tongue? It doesn't seem to bother me but if you try to stick your tongue out the pain way in the back is very uncomfortable. Is this normal?

Needless to say I did not try out my pizza. :) I think the magic day is Day 9 and then it gets better. What do you guys think?

hey everyone..i was looking at other tonsillectoy board(no where near as good as tis one) and someone told me that her doctor gave her ACTIQ- a numbing lollipop that has a stong painkiller in it and it helps you sleep...but when i looked it up i found out it supposed to be for cancer patients only..so im not sure if what they gave her was illegal or if the give them for prescriptions now..anyone hear of them? i also just read a horror story about a anesthisa tube setting on fire during a tonsillectomy! im sure it doesnt happen often..but its weird some of the stuff you hear on these boards..i also talked to 2 people who had to go back into the er from hemmoraging(like i thought ariane was going to do) thank goodnes she didnt..needless to say im even more scared now...but im still going to go through with it...talk to you all soon..bye =o) hope everyone is doing well!

sunsetsakter I have heard of the lollipops for cancer patients. They are very legal and it's a cocktail of pain killers and what not. You need to stay away from that other board. LOL. Yes all surgery carries a risk but look on this board how man folks do well. I hope you are posting over and letting them know that it can does go well. You are going to be fine.

dbaum-this tongue pain you speak of is normal. i was experiecing a lot of tongue pain like you are. i asked my ent about it and he said that you tonsils are(were) basically connected to your tongue. i suggested that maybe it was from the clamp they used during surg. but that is the answer he gave me. my tongue is still sore at times and i definately can't fully yawn yet and i'm 16 days post op. it is not as painful as it was though. sounds like you are going through the hardest part but as soon as those scabs come off it only gets better...keep us posted on how you are doing.

Thanks Magilla. Nice to know I'm still "normal" :) Yep, I figure a couple of three days and then I should slowly improve. Thankfully I am still able to drink peach and pear nectar, scrambled eggs (very soft) and mac n cheese. Keeping the nutrtion is so important.

Onward, ever onward. ;)

At least I'm not the only one who's experiencing the feeling of their uvula dropping down their neck. I used to have such a lovely clear view down my throat.. could see right down to the epiglottis. Now all I see is my soft palette and uvula. No doctor warned me of this happening after surgery and I'm not happy about it. Obviously, it is a consequence of having a tonsillectomy, but it would have been nice to have been informed beforehand. When I attempt a yawn or open my mouth wide, all I feel, is the uvula sitting on the back of my tongue and it makes me heave. =(
Will ask my ENT doc tomorrow and report back on here with what he says about it.

Apart from this, I am still healing, albeit slowly. No actual pain as yet today, but I'm still not eating or drinking right.

Hope everyone's doing well. BBL.

daum -- I'm so sorry to hear that the pain has been bad. Are you feeling any better now (I hope)? It sounds like the pain really is at its worst during days 5-7 when the scabs start to come off.

I went out today and stocked up on everything I could find mentioned on this board: gum, Italian ices, yogurt smoothies, popsicles, ice packs, heating pads, saline spray, liquid Tylenol. I won't know until tomorrow sometime when I'm schedule for surgery on Tuesday.

Scott, I was so sorry to read that you are having a tough time. I hope that you are feeling somewhat better now.

Hi Spashop--The pain is pretty intense but I am still drinking and chewing. I don't think there's any getting around the pain of these days while the scabs are coming off. But as long as I stay hydrated the scabs will not become hard and they will come off easier. I just have to get through this and then it will be a gradual improvement every day. At this point ice cream did very well. This was the first time I had ice cream and it felt wonderful with those raw areas of new skin. However, ice water was a bit intense so I have started drinking room temperature water and it seems to do better.

I tell you, every day it's a new thing. :) Oh one thing you should get. You will probably have to sleep propped up for awhile so I bought a neck pillow. The ones that wrap around your neck to hold your head up when you are traveling. Hopefully you know what I'm talking about. If you do, you should get one so when you fall asleep your head won't fall over and give you a crick in the neck.

Scott--I really hope when you post again you will be feeling better.

Where is everybody?! It's been at least 5 hours since anyone posted now. Thought I would bump this thread back up up the board and wish Scott and dbaum well - and anyone else who is recovering, who I have failed to mention. How's it going, guys?

Ariane are you doing ok, also?

I'm feeling miserable cos I still can't eat properly and the uvula-on-the-back-of-the-tongue thing is really bothering me and making me gag.

Can anyone who has totally recovered from their tonsillectomy tell me, please, if this is permanent? =(

Eaten some junk food today... crisps, chocolate, ice cream. But I did try to sit down to a proper meal and just couldn't face it.

dbaum... are you enjoying your de-scabbing?? You must be feeling a heap of pain now, eh? Don't worry.. a few days and you'll be feeling so much brighter. When I started de-scabbing (I like that word.. lol), I must've gone about 36 hours of not even drinking anything. The pain meds were so crappy... but yours should hopefully be keeping things under control there for you.
I'm rambling on, sorry. It's 1am and I ought to go to bed. Will post again tomorrow, after having seen the ENT doctor. xx

dbaum -- Thanks for the heads up on the neck pillow. I know exactly what you're talking about and will get one tomorrow. I have a spinal curvature and semi-chronic neck problems so I have a TON of devices to support the head correctly while sleeping, etc. etc. (most of which don't seem to work terribly well, I might add), but never got one of those pillows.

I have a question about pain meds. I went looking for liquid Tylenol today but all I could find was some sort of liquid Tylenol for sore throats. Is that the kind that you've been using? Also, I have never taken Percocet. How long does it work for?

Thanks so much for your help. I can't tell you how much I appreciate having found this board. I told my doctor about it so he can refer other patients to it. Have a great night and I hope those scabs will finish their shedding soon! You're in the home stretch! :wave:

hey all! ive been making a list of things i need to get at the store..im going shopping aon friday..i have a whole list of things that should help me out. I might need to get a new humidifier though..its like 5 yeas old am im not sure how well it works. what is saline spray for? I was also wondering about the liquid tylenol? i am so nervous about my uvula swelling up now..does that happen to everyone? hope everyone is doing well today..take care and cheers to a speedy recovery!!bye =o)

Charlatan--Oh yes I am enjoying the descabbing. It seems to be a slow process. I looked in there and there's so much to go. This is day 7 so I figure at least two more days of this. Grrrr, it's got to get better. But, I did hold off on the Percocet last night. We'll see how today goes. I just took some Liquid Tylenol. Oh I did the strangest thing. I don't know why but it just seemd to be the thing to do. I had a bowl of Peach Gelato and then decided to eat some chips in between. So I had Gelato and chips. LOL Seemed to be Ok.

Spashop--The Liquid Tylenol I am using is red in color. I know the one you are talking about and it has a minty taste. Just look for extra strength tylenol liquid and make sure it's red color. It's kind of hard to find and it took me three different trips. You might find it at an online drugstore. Where ever you find it get at least 3 of them. I just opened my third bottle. Percocet lasts me about 4 hours. It works great but you have to back off it and have some phenergan suppositories on hand. They are great. You will not regreat the neck pillow. It's been a life saver because I was not able to sleep with my head down until last night and then that wasn't for the entire night.

sunsetskater--The uvula problem seems to be universal. However, I was given an injection of steroids during surgery. That's supposed to help. But, I had so much post nasal drip it was choking me along with the swollen uvula. So, my Doc prescribed me a course of Methylprenisolone. I think it helped but it really took some time. As for your humidifier, I would make sure it's in good working order. :) I bought a small warm mist one and it has been working non stop. It will do wonders for you over night.

Despite the pain I did have some more mac n cheese for dinner. I am keeping up the nutrtion with Atkins shakes, scrambled eggs with cream cheese and mushrooms and mac n cheese. Although when the pain is real bad I go back to the veggies/beef baby food. If I am able to use just Liquid Tylenol I am going to try some additional foods.

Charlatan, is today you ENT appt? Let us know how it goes. I am scheduled tomorrow for my first post op.

Hello! I'm new to the boards here, and have some questions about my up and coming tonsillectomy that I'll be getting on April 20th.

Just a little background, I'm a 35 yr old stay at home mom in Bakersfield, CA. Since October, I've been sick quite a bit with constant colds, flu's, you name it. I'm also a smoker (the 20th is my quitting day, have patches and everything ready :) The Bakersfield air is quite horrible, and in addition to my smoking, I do have some asthma that has quite suddenly reared its head. My Dr referred me to an ENT because of my constantly being ill with swollen tonsils, in addition to a lymph node in my neck that was swollen for over 6 months (had biopsy on it, all is well with it). ENT wants the tonsils out, since he thinks that is the root of all of my illnesses. I agree.

My concern is that my constant coughing is going to make recovering from my tonsillectomy a problem. I'm concerned about causing myself a bleed from the coughing, or just having alot more pain than necessary. I brought this up with the ENT, and even requested one more appt before the surgery so he could reasses me to make sure I'm good to go. He said he'd still like to go ahead with it on the 20th.

I can't help but be concerned about this, and worried that he doesn't quite understand how often I'm coughing. I know that my quitting smoking at this time is going to help, but it's not going to clear up overnight.

Am I worrying for nothing? Has anyone had any problems concerning coughing after a tonsillectomy?

Thanks very much in advance :)

Sabrina

Sabrina--Welcome to the best place in town when it comes to dealing with a tonsillectomy. As for the coughing. I am a smoker and I am on day 7. Coughing lightly is fine but when I called my ENT and told him my post nasal drip was causing me to choke and really cough he prescribed a course of methylprednisolone. This helped. Also, if you are getting Percocet for the pain killer it is a cough suppressant becauce of the codeine in it. I have not had any bleeds, right now I'm just have "descabbing" pain. :)

Ok, at least I know what to ask for before leaving the clinic. Pain killers that help dampen down the cuough urges.

I must confess, I was nowhere near as freaked out right before gettin gmy gallpladder removed. Recovery and pain from that one was quite simple it seems. This just seems so much....invasive and dangerous. I do have my husband staying with me the frist day and night, and my stepdaughters will be there every day when they are off from school. Worried abou tthe little one (4) but she'll be fine.

Hopefully my mothers will be by a few days later. Thank you all advance :)

Sabrina, Good thing you have someone with you, I agree with you. I had gall bladder surgery and it was a walk in the park compared to this. But I keep hanging on to the idea of the long term benefits. It is tough and here is the best place to ask questions and get support. You'll do fine and we'll be here when you have our procedure done.

Hi Sabrina, welcome aboard.

Firstly, I'm in the UK but am coming to your neck of the woods as soon as I'm done recovering from my tonsillectomy on the April 6th. My boyfriend lives in Tehachapi... so the air ain't too good over that way huh? =(

Anyway, fortunately for me, I quit smoking when my tonsils first started giving me a heap of trouble, last summer. I just went cold turkey and didn't want a ciggy even, because of the tonsillitis. But since you will probably be needing to hack up some phlegm during your recovery from your tonsillectomy, I would go with dbaum's comment and get whatever meds you can to help. I can still barely cough now, 12 days later. It hurts too much.

Are you having yours out by electrocautery, do you know?

dbaum... good to see you're still keeping your spirits up, during your descabbing. You're doing ever so well, I think. :cool:

As for gallbladder removal... I heard that's painful, but yeah, I can't imagine it being anywhere close to this. My mum's set to have hers out soon and I may have to have mine out in the future as there seems to be "rocks" in there. Not afraid of that, though.

Hey Charlatan--I'll bet your excited about coming across the pond to see your BF. So, you're on day 12. What kind of pain are you still having? When I wake up it takes about an hour to clear out the excess saliva, start chewing gum to work the jaw and get some water down. Are you eating normally? I guess I'm trying to see what to expect when I have to go back to work. I go back to work on day 14.

ello chook. Am still in quite a bit of pain, but I wonder whether I am abnormal, as no one else seems to have the problems I'm having, 12 days after surgery.

The tonsil beds themselves, look to me as though they're healing fine; they're not giving me the bother right now. It's the back of the soft palette and uvula. It kind of stings, feels tight, hangs low and makes me gag. lol
I'm not really laughing, I'm afraid that it's permanent now. ;(( About to leave for the hospital though, as Ihave my appointment with my ENT Dr shortly.
Still have a bit of ear pain too. I am taking painkillers twice a day, to help me eat and drink, but I'm not eating or drinking enough, I know.
Anyway, I'm HOPING and PRAYING the doc will tell me things are just a bit swollen back there still and it will settle down very soon, otherwise, I don't know what to do.

I still haven't really got my sense of taste back. Water still tastes sweet and icky and other things taste weird also and some sting my uvula/soft palette, at the back.

Still have a small patch of scabs in each tonsil bed itself, in the deepest part.

Considering you're on day 6, you're doing great. I was in agony then. Are you eating?

Yes I am eating and drinking but I've had to go back to very soft foods and it does take a long time to get it down. Good luck with your Doc appt. and let us know what they tell you. I doubt you're abnormal. LOL But, I guess we'll have wait and see what the Doc says. ;)

This pain is making me so crazy I called my ENT and his medical assistant told me to come in today. I really hope everything is OK. All I know is this is hurting so bad and I can barely talk. I'll let you know what he says.

Oh dbaum... yes, it was agonizing for me too at day 6. I hope that they give you some stronger pain meds then. I think that bad bad pain only lasted 2 or 3 days. You may well wake up tomorrow feeling much better. I feel for you, dbaum. Let's hope it soon passes for you. Tell us what the doc said, ok?

I have just returned fromthe hospital in tears and it's hurting me more so, to cry. Told ya I was a big wimp from the start, didn't I? ;P
I saw some Asian female doctor, which annoyed me, as my ENT consultant was in the next room, but busy with another patient. Ideally, he would be the best person to have seen! ANYWAY, this female doc was useless.. all she was interested in, was ushering me out of the room, so she could see her next patients in time, before going off for a round of golf, I think! She looked in my throat and said it looks normal!!! I *know* it's not looking nor