Tonsillectomy Survey - Ear, Nose & Throat Message Board

baseballmom777 · 12-29-2003, 09:40 PM

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

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

ShaynaPunim · 12-29-2003, 09:50 PM

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

oh, and make sure to give yourself at least a month before your trip to fully recover.

brandon48 · 12-29-2003, 11:59 PM

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

k_tickle · 12-30-2003, 07:20 AM

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

Ratatosk · 12-30-2003, 08:48 AM

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