Hello all. This is my first post. I found this site while looking for information about adult tonsillectomies. I wanted to share the first 24 hours for anyone who may be interested.

I underwent a tonsillectomy yesterday afternoon using the cold-knife and cauterization method. I was placed under general anesthesia using diprivan (propofol) and was given a shot of morphine upon awakening. The procedure lasted roughly 45 minutes and I experienced very, very vivid dreams during surgery. The hospital did the surgery on a day-patient basis, so the entire process lasted roughly 7 hours from intake to discharge.

The initial pain was quite dull and generalized around the back of my throat and the back of my neck and head. Even though it was dull it was very significant and the morphine did not touch it. They gave me 2 percocet and those seemed to work much better. Upon awakening, my tongue was completely frozen from additional local anesthetic that was used. This made it very difficult to swallow without choking. It was also difficult to talk for quite few hours. My father and the nurse said I sounded like I had inhaled a helium balloon and plugged my nose to talk. I was prescribed antiobiotics for 10 days after surgery (9 days left to go) and also, what I thought to be a terribly excessive number of percocets (75) to be taken 1-2 every four hours for pain. So far, I have taken 2 every four hours because pain has been substantial and am thankful for the large quantity.

Last night when i got home I made a bowl of lipton chicken noodle soup (the reduced sodium variety), the kind that is mostly broth with little noodles. I had the soup at room temperature by making it with only enough boiling water to cook the noodles and then supplementing the rest with cool water. This was actually a rewarding and pain-free experience and made me feel so much better after not having eating for so long. My tongue was still frozen but the neck and head pain was gone.

Before I went to bed I used a flashlight to look at the back of my throat and I was completely shocked at the degree of damage that was done. There are two very, very large pits where the tonsils used to be, along with white and black marks from the cauterization. I've seen shows on TV involving surgery and it looked exactly like it does on those shows. I was actually surprised that it didn't hurt more after looking at the wounds.

I was not able to sleep through the night, mainly because the uvula at the back of my throat is about 5 times its normal size. It seems to get caught at the back of my throat while breathing during sleep and startle me awake. If I lay on my side this helps, but not completely. I have a humidifier in the room that seems to help only slightly. The only thing I find that works is sleeping with a bottle of water and drinking from it constantly. This goes for the rest of the day too. Water constantly, even if it hurts.

This is day two. The pain seems worse and I don't look forward to what lays ahead after reading other experiences from people on this website. I must say that I am very grateful that so many people have shared their experiences though. Regardless of how bad it may get I am certain that the next few weeks of considerable pain will be worth a future that is free of grossly enlarged, cryptic, smelly, bleeding tonsils. It's not just the tonsils that I'm happy to be free of. It's the fatigue and constant feeling of general malaise that I felt from constantly having a low-grade infection (that is, of course, when I wasn't suffering from a full blown infection). That can't be good for your body or your mood!

Anyway, I will keep this post up to date as I continue the process. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't scared or worried about the next few weeks. Just looking at my throat indicates that there's a LOT of healing to do.

Well I must say that it feels like I wrote yesterday's post eons ago. But it hasn't even been 24 hours yet!! I am in constant, throbbing pain. It seems to be getting worse with time and is working its way into my sinuses, across the back of my neck, and along the back of my jaw. I am drinking lots of water even though it kills to swallow. In terms of food I probably had about 3 cups of cool soup and 3 popsicles yesterday. It's is much harder to get this stuff down today. I went into surgery 2 days ago weighing 194 and today I weigh 185! Tonsillectomy sure is a good diet! I use an ice pack 20 minutes on/20 minutes off when I'm awake, which is pretty much all of the time. A word of advice would be to purchase lots of bags of ice from the store. I'm just opening my 3rd bag of crushed ice this morning!

Anyway, I'll post more later. Take care!

Hi there!
I know this is not an easy recovery...but you will get through it! My teenage son had his tonsils taken out on July 24 and despite having second surgery due to bleeding..he is now FINE!! and all the recovery is behind him..and will be for you too one day! This is a much tougher operation to recover from than they let on! At least you are doing the right thing and eating/drinking as you can..that is so important and keep up with your pain medicine..it is hard to get a handle on the pain if you let too much time lapse between doses. Unfortunately it IS going to get worse before it gets better...but it WILL get better and be all worth it in the long run (or at least you will forget how bad this was!!!) Maybe it will not be too bad for you..everyone has different experiences. But to me besides the pain a lot of this recovery is the "uncomfortableness" of it all! Every day there seems to be something new to deal with! The swollen Uvula was one thing we did not know about ahead of time..and was so uncomfortable for my son as you mentioned.... It took about a week until the swelling really went down although he "adjusted" to it after the first day or so.....
So keep up with what you are doing and just keep telling yourself you will get through this and be better for it..no more infected swollen tonsils..infections etc !!!
You came to the right place as I got SO much help off these boards for my son. ..plus it can give you a place to "vent"!!!!
Good Luck to you!

Thank you very much for your kind feedback. I am glad to hear that your son has recovered. Your encouragement really helped a lot :)

I was able to sleep through most of the night. At one point I woke up in a cold sweat and I ended up taking a warm shower. I have found that a warm bath or shower really helps relax me and take my mind off the pain. I also wake up sometimes because of phlegm in my chest - this probably has something to do with me not being able to cough or swallow properly 100% of the time. I've noticed that my mouth also seems to be secreting more phlegm than normal. I bet this is my body's way of trying to lubricate my throat. This is quite annoying and sometimes causes me to choke when I lay back - one more reason to sleep sitting up I guess.

The throat pain is still very bad, but it feels a bit better than yesterday. I also experienced a mild fever yesterday that is non-existent today. Also, time doesn't seem to be moving at a snail's pace any more. Crushed ice, a bottle of water, and percocet are still my three best friends right now.

A part of me can't stop wondering what the next few days has in store for me. I've read a lot of posts where people say that day 5 brings new pain, especially in the ears. I guess I'll find out soon!

Hope you are doing well. Sounds like you are a day behind me on the whole experience. I will say that the nurse mentioned the earache is something to do with radial pain from the tonsilor site. So you will start to get a minor ear pain at some point. I haven't really noticed it to be honest.

I do know however my instructions from my doctor said to SPECIFICALLY NOT take a bath. It has to do with possible infections or something, although I can't imagine how...I would stick to just showers in the interim.

The phlegm in the chest doesn't sound like something normal. Have you spoken to your doctor about it? Also, if you start to run a fever you should talk to your doctor, because that is also on the list of things to contact my doctor if it occurs...

Just a thought.

Good luck man, we are almost 1/2 way through the process.

Hey guys....
Hope you are doing okay today... It is an unfortunate thing but the pain does seem to get worse before it gets better..I do not know if knowing that is of any comfort or not!! But the good thing is it means you are healing and coming into the home stretch!!
My son did tend to have a little more phlegm than usual if I recall correctly..just make sure it is not blood running down back of your throat! :) Also stay away from dairy products as they tend to cause more phlegm etc.....I know there was a lot of "YUCH" on his tongue etc that he had to keep brushing off.... so back of throat may have had that too just from all the work they did back there..Did you have adnoids out too?
Also the bath ban might be because you don't want anything too hot to raise your blood pressure and perhaps cause bleeding? My sons dr never specifically said no baths just warned about lifting...doing any exercise etc..anything that would raise pressure....although my son was extremely careful and bled anyway day 11 but they say that is rare!!
Remember to keep drinking as you can and keep up with your medicine and also try the heat thing on your ears if that pain gets worse....As mentioned on here before.. for the ear pain that "bed buddy" (like a rice filled sock) was a great help to my son just heated slightly in the microwave...
That ear pain only lasted for him not quite even two days then it was the BAD taste in his mouth and the scars coming off..... They say the humidifier helps and keeping throat moist as well.
HANG IN THERE IT WILL BE OVER SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the response. I really do appreciate your input, especially since you're going through the same thing. I think the phlegm in the chest is just the result of me not being able to swallow properly all of the time, especially when I sleep. I don't have a fever and don't feel sick or congested so I'm not worried about it. I will mention it to my doctor next week when I seem him for my follow-up.

I must say that the next stage moved in last night. My ears aren't really in pain. Part of it is molar pain, like where my wisdom teeth used to be. The back of my tongue is really sore and my throat is much more tender now, especially deep down near my larnyx. I can keep on top of the pain and the ice while I'm awake. It's when I fall asleep that I run into trouble - I always wake up in excruciating pain. Then I'll take some meds, have some water and put on some ice and I'm fine (relatively speaking of course).

Anyway, you're right. The worst part of it has to be half-way over now. Tomorrow is my 7th day! With this knowledge, even though the pain is sharper than it was before, my spirits are better!

I may need to get more meds though...

Well I am going into day 8 and I think I have turned another corner. My tonsils beds and jaw still ache terribly bad. But there seems to be more time where I can swallow without it feeling like I'm swallowing crushed glass. It still hurts, but not like an open wound. This is good! I hope this continues to improve and doesn't signal another "turn for the worse" that I've become very accustomed to over the past week.

This has certainly been a very difficult week and has tested my limits psychologically. I was taken by surprise in terms of the degree of difficulty that this recovery presented. I had no idea it would be so painful and so difficult to handle!

Sure hope that you are feeling better!! Should be day 9, right?

I am getting anxious... mine are coming out on Tuesday!! Like you, I can't wait to have this all behind me. Boy, what a relief to not be constantly paranoid about when the next infection's gonna pop up...:eek:

KFen...
Are you still scheduled for Tuesday? I'm going shopping today for some food to eat after the snip-snip. I'm so glad that there are others on here going through this at the same time -- I laugh reading the postings because there always seems to be abbout 2-5 people recovering at the same time. That makes me feel so much better!

Clock is ticking down for me. My strep infection finally seems to be subsiding, so I'm hoping I can eat, eat eat like crazy until Thursday. I'm not looking forward to losing another few weeks to my throat, but hopefully this is the last of the major problems with it!

Hey everyone. What a difference one day has made!! You're right KFen, today is day 9 now and I've improved greatly. I still get some pretty intense pains but they're now sharp feelings in small, specific areas when I swallow - and they only happen sometimes. What I feel is happening is the scabs coming off my wounds. The tonsil beds are still a bit sore but they are not excruciatingly sore. I can open my jaw wider and I don't have that full-body discomfort feeling anymore! Best of all, my uvula is almost back to normal and my tongue has turned back to its normal size. Now it all pretty much feels like one of the many sore throats I have suffered over the years.

I still can't really eat solid food all that well. I'm stuck on soups but I've been able to have several different kinds with lots of chunks and substance. I still find that tomato based broths sting badly - so I've stuck to beef, chicken, and vegetable broths, along with clam chowder. I did manage to eat some mac and cheese today as well - I felt like I was in heaven!

Some of my suggestions to anyone about to undergo this operation:

(1) get lots of non-tomato based soups.
(2) stock up on crushed ice/large ziploc freezer bags
(3) get a scarf or something similar to tie the crushed ice under your neck
(4) get a few cases of bottled water - do not keep it in the fridge because ice water hurts.
(5) get some mild herbal teas and some honey. brew the tea and let it cool to luke warm before drinking.
(6) get a stool softener if you're prescribed oxycodone. seriously.
(7) rent lots of DVDs
(8) do not sleep flat on your back
(9) drink lots of water, even if it hurts, all the time
(10) try to sip as much soup as you can the first few days after surgery because around day 5 you won't be able to eat for a few days.
(11) after day 5 warm tea and honey helps to soothe throat. also, warm water for drinking is good.
(12) get some "Cepacol" throat losenges with benzocaine (available in Canada, there must be a US equivalent, if not the same brand). these help after day 5 when the pain intensifies, especially to help get meds down.
(13) if you live alone change your voicemail message (before you go to surgery) to inform people that you can't talk and that you'll call back when you can. many well intended friends will call and keep calling when you don't call them back right away to tell them how you are. tell them that you appreciate their call and will call them if you need anything!
(14) be prepared for lots of pain. it's certainly not the worst pain in the world but it is very sore and relentless. in my opinion the pain is much worse than any throat infection i ever had - mostly because of all of the other factors that come along with it like the swollen uvula, the cauterization, and the requirement to take in so much fluids.

Good luck Cohoss and KFen. I wish you both the best! If I can do it anyone can do it :)

Well it's day 11 and it feels now like I just have a sore throat. My right side is much more sore than my left side, but this was also the tonsil that gave me a lot more trouble and was always more swollen. The nature of this pain makes me feel like the soreness will be around for quite a few more days, but it's completely liveable and doesn't cause too much discomfort.

When I look to the back of my mouth I see some white patches along the right side of my uvula and on both sides of the back of my throat and on the tonsil beds - lots of pink too, which is good I guess. I am so happy that I don't have to take pain killers any more and I'm also finished my antibiotics. It feels like I'm just on the final leg of a marathon!

My voice is also returning back to normal. I notice that I can't really raise my voice without pain (I have a dog and I noticed when I was trying to call him inside from the back yard). I also noticed that ordering coffee at the drive-thru was difficult because it's even difficult to speak loudly... something I didn't really think about before! This is the biggest fear I have, especially when it comes to returning to work. I work in a Casino and spend my entire day talking, sometimes in loud environments. I hope that my voice will be strong enough by next Monday!

Hi i am 22 and going to have my tonsils out next friday sept 15. I am scared out of my mind b/c of all the stories i have read here. I have never had any type of surgery since i was a baby and it freaks me out. What can i expect the day of the surgery? Like before and after. I dont really know whats going on the doctor didnt give me much info and i feel like im going into this blind. Someone clue me in please lol. Im freaking.

Rachel

Hello,

I am also having my tonsills and adenoids removed, along with a UPPP. I'm very nervous as well and hope I can mentally handle the pain..there are alot of great posts in this section, I think I've read nearly all of them.

T

To Whom it May Concern:

I am anxously waiting my turn for a T&A, and full endioscopy window insertion. As a parent I was able to be with my son through all but the actual extraction of the tonsils and adnoids. Many hospitals offer tours of their facility and go over exactly what they plan on doing to you... but just in case yours does not this is what my 3 year old experienced.

1) You arrive in the hospital early and register, answer a lot of questions, sign a bunch of papers and then go up to your wing.
2) You may have a small wait, but you will be assigned a room and given a gown and asked to remove pretty much everything, but your socks.
3) Then you may or may not be given a mild sedative to relax you and help you sleep.
4) Next the doctor will come in and the anesthisiologist and ask you a few more questions and check your teeth. (Because they want to be able to make amends if they chip one/some)
5) You will be wheeled to preop where the IV is inserted and you are told to count to 100 most don't make it past 10.
6) Now you ar ready to go. You are out for the count and soon to be missing troublesome unnecessary parts.
7) After the surgery you will be wheeled to the recovery room, where you will be observed for 30 minutes to an hour as your slowly regain consciousness. Your will be disoriented, groggy, and very drunk.
8) Once you have been awake for a little bit and your vitals stable you will be wheeled back to your room.
9) In your room you will need to prove you can keep hydrated. Eat as many popcicles/ ice chips as you can... the IV won't come out until the nurse/doctor is satisfied you can consume sufficient fluids. (My son scarfed 4 popcicles, a glass of ice water, and wanted more for the road.)
10) After the manditory four hour observation period you will have your IV removed, be allowed to dress and go home.
11) My son had the chemical carterization method and he was eating peanut butter crackers, apple sauce, graham cracker sticks, cucumber, chicken nuggets... you name it he ate it when we got home. His appetite and diet got worse until after he lost his scabs then he was back to his usual bottomless pit routine.

Hope this helps. Best wishes and good luck.
MG

that is basically what happens. just remember that adult tonsillectomy is much different from a child's experience. while the same tissues are being removed, adults experience much more pain, bleeding, increased risks of post operative complications, and a recovery time that may be double or triple that of a small child. adults, unlike very young children, are also given narcotic painkillers that mitigate pain but also potentially increase nausea. an adult WILL NOT be able to eat crackers and chicken nuggets when she/he gets home from throat surgery, or for a few weeks after for that matter! i am on day 12 and was finally, for the first time since the day before surgery, able to eat something that i didn't pour out of a can and eat with a spoon. i do not say this to scare you, but want you to have a realistic expectation of what to expect. you will not have the same post-operative experience as a 3 year old child.

My dgt is 23 and in college and is sched for tonsillectomy next week. Do you think she will be able to pursue studying w/ all of this pain? I am encuraging to wait until a break from school:confused:

Again, my dgt is sched next week for T&A. She is a college student, do you think this will impede her studies?:confused:

most certainly. she should have at least a week, if not two, just to relax and heal at home. the first week will be lots of pain and she will need rest. she will not be able to get to/from school, let alone read, take notes, etc. i have two degrees and can honestly say that i could never have taken a class during this healing process.

This tread is probably to late for you to read, 29 y/o male. But your experience sounds very similar to mine. 28 y/o female tonsillectomy. I'm on day five and wondering... do I still have those two really bad days ahead of me? The past two nights I've had 2-3 hours of a stabbing burning pain, and I've thought, here it comes, but then never does? When did you get your two days or did you? Also, when did you feel well enough to get out and about? (I'm not worried about work, I have off for a while)

apesb, it really depends on when your scabs start to slough off. Mine came off on Day 4, and the pain was pretty brutal until Day 11. If your have already sloughed off and you are not feeling too much pain, count your blessings!! :)