You make me nervous just reading your posts! Yesterday was 4 weeks since I had mine out and I am 33 years old. Although I respect your desire to want to do this unmedicated--I really hope you at least leave the option open. I did so much research going into it, and I feel that I was as prepared as I could have been. I was completely expecting the worst sore throat that I could imagine. But what I was NOT prepared for was how badly your body feels after a few days of no real nutrients. You start to feel very, very weak and just drained. And nauseous. Jello, chicken broth, etc. just does not provide your body with the vitamins it needs. Drinking Ensure did help me get some vitamins into my system. I did go days 4 through 7 with no pain meds at all but Tylenol. And I have to say that the Tylenol did not even touch the pain. The only reason I did that was because the liquid lortab was making me extremely nauseous on an empty stomach. Once I was able to eat a scrambled egg (it took me 2 hours to eat just one, BTW) I was amazed how much better my body felt having some protein and just something with a little substance in it. And THAT was just enough to let me take one percocet in the morning and one at night without getting sick. And it snowballs...the more you are able to eat (and the pain meds help make that possible), the better your body feels (NOT your throat, unfortunately) and your ability to tolerate the pain meds without feeling sick increases. At the two week mark I was pretty much able to eat whatever I wanted to...although my throat was still sore. And that is with me having some setbacks with bleeding from a scab falling off, and developing thrush from the antibiotics.
SO...I hope reading this helps. Just please don't swear off the pain meds all together...keep an open mind. At least accept the prescription and if you decide you don't need it, fine. But if you do then you have it and can get it filled ASAP. Keep us posted on how you are doing and most importantly GOOD LUCK!!!
I am definitely keeping the option open, no decision has been made.
Food is actually a huge concern of mine because I don't eat about 80% of the food on the list they gave me :/ Really the only foods the doctor says is "okay" is pudding and pop sickles and I can only have 1 a day because they are too sugary for me. As far as getting prepared food wise I have nothing because I don't eat any of that so I am nervous there...actually nervous all around.
Ugghhh not looking forward to it! Also, did anyone's doctor say no drinking 5 days before surgery? Mine didn't but I have had a lot of people say that I shouldn't..
No, I wasn't told not to drink and I wasn't given a list of "OK" foods. All I was told about that was that soft foods would be easier to get down and that I probably wouldn't want to eat much more than that. If wanted regular solid food, I was told to chew it completely so it wouldn't scratch or mess with the scabs. And that was about it. I ate a lot of soup, creamy things, tea, juice. I did eat steak and apple pie at about day 3 or 4 but I sure had to chew it to death to get it down!
Well, I am splurging this weekend for sure! Countdown to surgery...4 days =( Trying to do homework and just enjoy doing everything I love doing, so, my weekend will be happy hour, golfing, going out and my boyfriend is taking me out for dinner tomorrow night I think I just ate the best Chalupa of my life, the best because I know I won't be having one for awhile. Hoping I have a good weekend....ughh still nervous though
Okay everyone! Surgery is done! I had to be there at 6:45 where they got me into a room and went over everything, I had a lot of family there for support which helped make the time before surgery go by faster! After surgery I woke up with the oxygen tank because I was very short of breath, I also ended up swallowing blood during surgery so they tried to get more anti-nausea medicine in me but it wasn't working. They kept me all day, until this evening when I finally got to go home. Right now though I would much rather go back there, it was easier to rest there because SO many people were taking care of me
I had my tonsils out in 2002. I was 23 years old at the time. I thought I would be back to work the moment I could "talk" again, but I was very wrong! First off, you can talk right away but not very loudly and kind of in a baby voice way. The Dr. told me I would be very MISERABLE and he was right! The moment waking up from surgery, it felt like someone put a blow torch down my throat!! Once home, the only relief from pain was the liquid vicodin versus hard to swallow pills. Also the nice soothing liquid pink amoxicillin was the only thing I wanted to put in my mouth! Soup broth is probably the most recommended post-op in my opinion. You literally feel like sleeping it off for about a good week since your ears are usually in ALOT of pain too. Overall, after a week of not eating and drinking enough, I had to be hospitalized for 3 days. Which is where ALL tonsillectomy patients need to be anyway. This should NOT be an outpatient procedure, but it is and someone should change that. You also may want to set it up so that someone can take care of you for a good 2 weeks. Driving was not an option at all for a couple of weeks due to ear pain which can cause improper balance and perception of things. On top of that, my Dr. clamped my tongue too tight with the mouth gag they use and permanently damaged my taste altogether. I wound up with hypogeusia, dysgeusia and ageusia, which is the damage to, distorted, and complete lacking of taste. I will never again be able to taste chocolate and things like that. It only takes a split second to forever damage nerves, and if your surgeon is not aware or careful, it very well can happen to anyone. My situation wound up in med mal court! Be very careful about your decision. If I could go back and choose to live with my awful tonsils. I WOULD! You can and will still get sore throats from time to time, even though its not as common.. strep throat still can get you, with the tonsils gone, losing your voice altogether seems to happen more than before. Good luck to anyone who opts for the tonsillectomy! This is pretty much what to expect. Not many, but there are also slightly more pleasant stories are out there too.
I absolutely agree! I was lucky in that I was there longer than expected anyway! I am not even happy to be home in my own bed! I was so much more comfortable there!! I was telling my boyfriend and mom that I want to go back. They gave me liquid pain medicine there and then right after I took that I was given something in my IV that works in 5 minutes so I was never in pain....ever!
I am kind of worried though and I don't know if you or anyone else has advice on this but my chest is rattling when I breathe and I have to cough a lot...kind of like when you bronchitis I think...what do I do about that?
Hey everyone...I just had my tonsils out last Friday, February 26th...I will be 25 in May, and I have to tell you the pain only gets worse as time goes on....Day 3 is when it began getting really bad. Yesterday there was a 4 or 5 hour period where I couldn't move, talk, swallow...or do anything. I felt like death. They originally gave me Roxicet 10mg (liquid version) but ended up transitioning me to straight Oxycodone so I could take it more than every 4 hours...I guess the tylenol in the roxicet is what prohibits you from being able to take it more frequently.
At this point the pain seems to come and go in waves...but the worst part is I cant sleep more than an hour or 2 without gagging and waking myself up.
I am actually quite excited to find someone else who is currently going through this with me. How old are each of you?
My only tip so far is POPSICLES...they have become my new best friend!
Hope to hear from some of you soon, as I don't have much going on these days except making sure I stay on top of my meds.
I had really bad hiccups every 2 hours the day after my surgery...after I came home from the hospital. I was told it was the last remnants of the anesthesia working its way out of my body.
I had my tonsils/adenoids removed when I was 21(I'm 41) now, after years of chronic throat infections. Luckily, I was already in the hospital when I had the surgery, so I didn't have to worry about aftercare. I do remember, that it was one of the most painful experiences of my life!
For a week I lived on lukewarm broth, popsicles, jello, and pain killers. I did try ice cream a time or two some days later after begging the nurses repeatedly for some. I had to sleep sitting up, because laying down was too painful. Drinking anything was too painful, so sipping lukewarm broth and eating popsicles was how I kept hydrated. It was either that or get threatened with IV fluids, which I wasn't about to do.
The pain seemed to subside gradually after the first couple of weeks and I was fine after that, (enough to move onto soft foods) but it's not something that I would wish onto my worst enemy.
One thing the nurses told me explictedly not to do during all of this, was to drink through a straw. They said that the sucking action could cause bleeding in my throat.
Last edited by Indianmist; 03-04-2010 at 05:32 AM.
Yesterday was 4 weeks since I had mine out and I am 33 years old. Although I respect your desire to want to do this unmedicated--I really hope you at least leave the option open. I did so much research going into it, and I feel that I was as prepared as I could have been. I was completely expecting the worst sore throat that I could imagine. But what I was NOT prepared for was how badly your body feels after a few days of no real nutrients. You start to feel very, very weak and just drained. And nauseous. Jello, chicken broth, etc. just does not provide your body with the vitamins it needs. Drinking Ensure did help me get some vitamins into my system. I did go days 4 through 7 with no pain meds at all but Tylenol. And I have to say that the Tylenol did not even touch the pain. The only reason I did that was because the liquid lortab was making me extremely nauseous on an empty stomach. Once I was able to eat a scrambled egg (it took me 2 hours to eat just one, BTW) I was amazed how much better my body felt having some protein and just something with a little substance in it. And THAT was just enough to let me take one percocet in the morning and one at night without getting sick. And it snowballs...the more you are able to eat (and the pain meds help make that possible), the better your body feels (NOT your throat, unfortunately) and your ability to tolerate the pain meds without feeling sick increases. At the two week mark I was pretty much able to eat whatever I wanted to...although my throat was still sore. And that is with me having some setbacks with bleeding from a scab falling off, and developing thrush from the antibiotics. 
Had my tonsils out 5 days ago 
