Dealing with Adult Tonsillectomy - hacking up weird tasting gloop?
Hey guys,
I'm almost 22 years old and I had a tonsillectomy last monday (dec. 13)... and I am in extreme pain! I am on day 6 of my recovery and am finding little relief. My surgeon told me I should be better by 10-12 days but i am worried that might not happen! He also told me i will be TOTALLY back to normal in 14 days... thoughts on this? It seems that some people on here have reported not getting back to normal for about 3-4 weeks, which... would take up my ENTIRE winter break.
ALSO, i've been having a lot of nasal drip/discharge in the back of my throat and it has a reallllly funky weird taste. Is this normal!? I just noticed it on day 5/6 of my recovery. It's really hard to describe the taste/smell.. almost like a rancid gravy?? I've been hacking up blots of white/offwhite and/or bloody gloop along with the snot and discharge... is this normal, what is this!?
I am concerned because I just finished my college semester and literally on the first day of my break, had surgery. I REALLY don't want to spend the entire month of my break laid up in bed in pain. I planned a huge new years party and have about 40 guests planning to attend... but I'm worried I won't be recovered by then. My doctor told me I can return to consuming alcohol in 14 days, and I'm just wondering what everyone else's experience with this was? Because of course, as with any New Years Party, there will be booze and I plan to partake in the drinking! Sorry to *****, but I worked so hard this past semester and really could use a nice break.
Is anyone going through/have gone through a similar experience with recovery? How long did it take you before you were totally healed and ready to ... for lack of a better word... party again? Don't judge me! I'm in my senior year at the university of texas and I really need to enjoy this break before I go back to busting my *** next semester taking 21 hours!
I am taking oxycodone for the pain, but it makes me extremely sick and nauseous and I have to take ant-nausea meds to control it. But seriously... this is the worst pain i've experienced in a long time and it's driving me crazy. Being stuck inside alllll the time does not help either.
On a positive note, I have lost 11 pounds in 6 days! Am i going to gain it all back once I can eat again? I will say i've been craving a cheeseburger or a crispy taco!
Re: Dealing with Adult Tonsillectomy - hacking up weird tasting gloop?
The scabs are probably coming off. That happens around days 5-7 generally so I suspect that's what is happening. Once that is over, things get a whole lot better. Drink lots of fluids. You really need to keep hydrated right now. And you should feel pretty good by New Year's Eve. Just hang in - not much longer.
Re: Dealing with Adult Tonsillectomy - hacking up weird tasting gloop?
In my experience, once things start getting better painwise, they get better quickly.
Maybe you managed to get a cold, or maybe it's an allergy season for you. Maybe the junk you're hacking up is the scabby stuff. Mine was soft and white. I don't remember a funky taste, though.
I can't comment about the alcohol question. My New Years Eve partying doesn't involve alcohol...just good friends, good food, fun games and homemade sweet rolls at midnight.
Liquid pain medicine (both Lortab and Tylenol) made me sick. I didn't get sick if I ate instant mashed potatoes before and after taking it. Or you can do what I did and ask to be switched to a pill.
You don't have to stay cooped up inside. During the early days of my recovery, I walked to my vacationing neighbor's house everyday to pick up her newspaper. The distance there and back was about 1/4 mile. Of course, it was summertime, so there wasn't any cold, dry air hitting my throat. I suppose that could make a difference.
If you go back to your previous eating habits, I'm pretty confident that you'll gain back any weight you lose. If you really want to keep it off, I think you'll have to change the way you eat. I lost maybe around 6 pounds. It came back all too quickly.
Re: Dealing with Adult Tonsillectomy - hacking up weird tasting gloop?
It sounds like the scabs are coming loose to me. I had a tonsillectomy when I was 18 and went through the same terrible pain. I couldn't even talk for 2 weeks because it hurt too much to. The surgeon who did my surgery also said in 14 days I would be completely back to normal...not true for me-it took 14 days just to get the swelling down enough to be able to talk. It took a month for me to be able to eat regular food again. With adults, the healing takes much longer for a tonsillectomy-they say the older you are when you have one, the longer the healing process. Honestly, new year's eve is a week and a half away so maybe you will be feeling somewhat better by then but idk about drinking alcohol that seems like it would definitely bother your throat.
I lost 15 pounds total after my surgery, eventually I gained it back. I also had the problem with the pain meds making me sick-I had to stop taking them about the 3rd week because I just kept throwing up...which of course made my throat hurt more.
Idk what you have been eating, I'm sure you have read a lot of posts on here but just some tips from what I found to feel good on my throat and it tasted good...sorbet, also chicken and stars soup at a barely warm temp-the noodles are really small so they are easy to get down.
I know right now it seems like the pain will never go away but it will! You will be able to eat all the normal food again soon and party again so hang in there!
Re: Dealing with Adult Tonsillectomy - hacking up weird tasting gloop?
Thanks for your response guys! Today is day 8 of my recovery and I am feeling about 100 times better. You guys were right, now that i've started to feel good, it's been quickly getting better and better! I'm hoping I will only continue to feel better and won't relapse.
I was able to eat a decent amount of food today - mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and green bean casserole.... and it all went down pretty smoothly with a minimal amount of pain.
I also have been able to lower the frequency of taking my pain meds. I've been taking a pill around every 6-8 hours instead of 4 hours.
There are still a lot of scabs in the back of my throat, but I think they are fading or coming off in small bits. There seems to be some pink back there!
Now my throat just feels like a normal sore throat, it doesn't feel like i'm going to die anymore! I'm almost back to talking normally. At this rate, I feel like I will be totally fine in a few more days!
I'm even thinking I'll be able to drink alcohol on New Years, but thinking I will avoid beer or champaign because the carbonation might upset my throat.
Just wanted to give you guys an update because I'm feeling much better!
Dealing with Adult Tonsillectomy - hacking up weird tasting gloop? 
