I am going in for my tonsillectomy on the 18th and yes - I am getting pretty nervouse about it! It is sooooooooo helpful to read all the post but it has also scared me a bit. (yeah, and I am 27... hee hee)

ANYWAY... I would like to know from all of you who have went through this:

What would you do to prepare? What things should I get together? What are the things that worked best for you? What didn't work?

I have already picked up some books, lots of freeze pops and some soft foods, and have definitly planned out my "last supper" for the night before.

What else should I do????

Thanks so much! I appreciate it!

Kar2899: My tonsillectomy was on March 20. I'm doing pretty good other than having caught an infectoin over this past weekend. It sounds like you are doing all the right things to get ready. I would recommend that you have some movies to watch - I watched about 6-8 of these in the first week of my recovery.

Other suggestions:
– I bought something called the "Hamilton Beach Snowman Ice Shaver" from Amazon for 19.99. I used it all day everyday since my surgery - still use it now 3 weeks later, several times a day. You can do several things with this: 1) put ice cubes in it and make plain ice shavings or 2) use one of the two provided molds, fill them with juice or gatorade or whatever drink your daughter likes, and then use the mold to make a snow cone or 3) use the ice cubes to make snow cone, then add the liquid. This device was my savior. I could not use a straw, drinking from a glass was very hard, and the crushed ice my refrigerator makes is too sharp. These ice shavings can be spooned into the mouth and then they just melt.

– As others recommended to me, use a humidifier.

– Have a heating pad handy in case you get ear aches. I had very mild pain and did not need a heating pad, but I read of many others who did need it.

– Make sure you have a blender and/or food chopper.

– Buy some OTC liquid Tylenol to use either after you stop the strong pain meds or instead of the narcotics if you cannot tolerate them as I could not. I used the liquid "Tylenol Sore Throat" formula (it's blue). It burns a bit, but not as much as the narcotic pain med I had. I acutally found that the liquid tylenol helped coat my throat after the initial burn.

– Make sure you get lots of rest and drink LOTS of fluids!!!!!!!!!

Good Luck.

Try not to be nervous - it is not necessarily going to be as bad as you think!

Sounds like you've got the preparation down - books and movies are good. I was also able to do some work from home on the computer and played some computer games. I was pretty much functioning normally the day after my surgery, except I was sleeping more (go to bed early/wake up late) and taking naps during the day.

I agree with bunnycat about getting some liquid tylenol for post-surgery. I only needed the strong pain meds for 2 days after surgery, and after that it hurt more to swallow the liquid pain medicine than it helped to take it, so I switched over to tylenol - much more gentle on the throat!

Also, I seriously overstocked on jello & popsicles - totally not necessary. I think I had 2 bowls of jello and about 5 popsicles the day of surgery and the day after. Other than that I pretty much ate normal food (doctor's orders), just chewed really well (and eaten very slowly, due to small bites and chewing thoroughly). The day after surgery I had pasta & vegetables without too much trouble. My appetite was healthy during my entire recovery, and being able to eat normal foods was nice.

Last but not least, drink lots of water. Lots. Even if it hurts. My worst pain was at night, when I wasn't constantly sipping water. I found that for the first few days after surgery, cold ice water felt best, then when I started having ear pain (days 5-7), room temperature water & warm tea felt better to drink.

Good luck!

-Cyndi

Surgery date: 3/27/07

I am going in for my tonsillectomy on the 18th and yes - I am getting pretty nervouse about it! It is sooooooooo helpful to read all the post but it has also scared me a bit. (yeah, and I am 27... hee hee)

ANYWAY... I would like to know from all of you who have went through this:

What would you do to prepare? What things should I get together? What are the things that worked best for you? What didn't work?

I have already picked up some books, lots of freeze pops and some soft foods, and have definitly planned out my "last supper" for the night before.

What else should I do????

Thanks so much! I appreciate it!Try not to be too nervous.

You might have a little mild discomfort/pain in your throat for the first week or so afterwards but it soon clears. Your doctors should be able to prescribe some effective painkillers.

Good thing is that you have an excuse to stock up on ice cream :-)

Please don't be overly nervous. I was like you and after reading all of the horror stories was terrified but then someone pointed out to me that of course people who had a bad experience are more likely to come onto a message board. This is true but can give the impression that most people have a terrible time after a tonsillectomy.

This is simply not the case and I've come on to try to redress the balance a bit! I am on Day 8 and by all means I've been in some pain but not an amount I couldn't cope with.

I believe what helped me was drinking loads and loads of iced water, chewing gum between meals ( doctor recommended ) but most of all it was eating normal food. I was instructed by my surgeon to do this. This is common practice in the UK. We have to eat hard food couple of hours after surgery.It sounds gross but if you really chew it and swallow it with water it's fine and within an hour of doing it you feel relief and are really working the throat muscles properly. I am convinced this is why tonsillectomy recovery in the UK seems to be a bit easier.

It keeps the wound clean, clears debris, stops scabs from forming too thickly and prevents infection. It definitely worked for me and everyone I know over here who had this op. I have had NO bleeding AT ALL and am feeling loads better already.

So lots of luck. Keep painkillers, water, gum and magazines on hand but don't overdo the soft foods - it really could end up giving you more pain in the long run! Take good care.