Adults who have had tonsillectomies?

Wow. Stumbled here because I'm recovering from another bout of tonsillitis. I'm in my 40s, have struggled with my tonsils since I was a kid. Wish I'd had them out then. Anyhoo , was reading all the horror stories. My advice : go in with a positive attitude, expect pain, but decide now you are just gonna deal with it for the positives you will receive from it. I had my first major surgery last year at age 47. Total knee replacement. Yea, google THOSE horror stories. Lol. I went in with positive ..gonna get it done attitude. Was expecting lots of pain, lack of mobility. Was a piece of cake compared to my pain before surgery. So ....don't take horror stories to heart. Everyone is diff, pain tolerance is diff and attitudes are diff.

Good luck!

mine was a horror story and probably not what you want to hear...
I had a small cyst on one tonsil so they decided to remove both....I went down to Perth and had someone look after the kids. Was planning on being back in a week.
so we went in on the day they told us to had heart checked etc etc...then get told they cant do it for 3 days....on the 3rd day they ring again and say sorry don't come in we cant do it till Tuesday next week. so I was already there a week before I even got to go in.
they did the op..after 2 days in hospital they sent me home (to my husbands parents in Perth). Friday morning I woke up and was bleeding a little (the dr told me to come back in if there was any bleeding). I go back into the Hospital...got looked at by one person then another...sat in a cubicle half the day (literally). another person came and looked at me. finally around 4pm I got taken to a temporary bed. about an hour later I got taken to a ward. the specialist came in about 5.30pm on his rounds and checked my throat. He said it looked ok and I could eat some pureed apple...the nurse brought me some and I was on the phone to my husband. Suddenly blood came from my throat...I had to quickly hang the phone up and get a nurse and it was quite a lot. they gave me one of the puke bags and I half filled it before the specialist got there. he tried to stop the bleed but couldn't and I was rushed to emergency surgery.
apparently I lost so much blood they ordered blood for me but didn't use it as they stopped the bleed just before I needed it. after another 2 days in hospital I was out again. a day later I had a small bleed and had to go back to hospital...this time they used a cauteriser thing and burnt the spot that had the bleed as it was small. I was allowed to go back to the inlaws. I had to stay in Perth another 2 weeks.

I would say 2 weeks not exercising would be the minimum. It is not something to be taken lightly here they say you have to stay close to the hospital 2 weeks you can not travel back to your home town.

it is very painful afterwards I found liquid panadol was a God send....I would have half the dose then the other half dose half way through the time they tell you to wait before having more...sometimes I would have a little just to soothe the pain. have it on hand it is the best thing.

sorry to be negative, I am sure your op will not be the nightmare mine was but it is painful afterwards and I would never recommend anyone have the op if they don't need it as its the worst pain I have ever had.

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: Most people seem to agree on what to do and what not to do:

WATER WATER WATER (sip it constantly)
Stay on top of your pain meds. Don't try to be a hero. Miss a dose or take it too late, your throat will feel like it's on fire. (even overnight...set an alarm clock for taking your medicine)
Soft foods in the beginning...popsicles are your friend!
Rest and treat your body right. You will heal and the pain will pass.
Be prepared to camp out on your sofa or bed watching tv, computer, reading, or whatever strikes your fancy.

Hopefully your husband can stay home with you the first day or two to make sure you are drinking and taking pain meds.

Some say no dairy, some say it's okay. Talk to your doctor.

About a week after my surgery, I wanted to eat a little White Castle hamburger. Took me 45 minutes to eat that little thing and guess what, I wound up hemorraging that night and having to go back to the hospital.

I stayed overnight in the hospital because I was just not doing well. My daughter had her's out a couple of years ago at age 6. She stayed overnight mostly because of her diabetes and they wanted to watch her. She was much better in 2 weeks but still lost 14 pounds because I could not get her to barely eat at all. But I got those fluids in her because I didn't want her to go through what I did.

Best wishes and let us know how you are recovering after your surgery. :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

I had mine out at 37. Day 6-7, I started feeling better, but day 8,9, and 10 were the worst. Then I felt almost completely healed by day 12-13. Take the drugs, but be aware they'll affect your mood after a few days. I snapped at my GF while half-asleep at Thanksgiving (day 8 or 9), and regretted it afterwards... though I didn't remember doing it.

On the plus side, at 23 and female, you won't have as bad a time as I had. Lots of fluids (herb-ox low sodium/sodium free chicken broth FTW), lots of rest. Good luck!

I'm 40 now but had mine out when I was 19. I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but a tonisllectomy is no fun, especially as an adult. Listen to your doctor. You won't feel like eating much let alone exercising that soon after your surgery. You have to rest and gets lots and lots of fluids. It is so important to keep hydrated, because if not, your scabs could come off (where they cauterize) and you could hemorrage. This happened to me and I had to have another surgery and be recauterized.

Do NOT exert yourself...it will take at the very least 2 weeks to start feeling better.


I agree with the above post. I had mine out at 21. It hurt for awhile afterward - I couldn't even swallow my saliva. The bleeding risk is what will prevent you from exercise - listen to your doctor.

I drank Light Vanilla Silk and ate sorbet. Milk products increase mucus production in the back of your mouth, so sometimes doctors recommend staying away from dairy. I had good results with the soy milk and sorbet.

Oh, I forgot to finish telling you, keep ice packs on the front of your neck if possible and if it settles in your ears as bad as mine did, I would switch a heating pad on low heat from ear to ear until the pain medicine knocked me out. Make sure you have someone to take care of you for at least the first 4 days so you don't accidently overdose on your meds, and so they can keep a check on you cause all you are going to want to do is sleep. I hope your surgery goes well and I hope you update us to let us know if our tips help you. God bless

Just adding on for people who still need to get theirs done (hope yours was a success)
I am on post op day 4 (surger 7/17), and heres a couple of additions

Pain-Have read a lot that the real pain happens around day 5-8, so can't speak to this yet. But the main part of the pain (if not all) is due to swallowing and uvula sticking around in my throat.

Uvula was so swollen, it felt like a huge slick blood clot hanging from your surgical site. I had to sleep in a recliner for first 3 days so my uvula wouldn't fall back into my throat. If I slept on my side then it would stick to my surgical sites. Was a lot better on day 3 (slept all night last night in bed)

My tongue was swollen on the bottom, can see a bruise on inside of cheek, so thinking that my tongue must've gotten pressed against my teeth pretty hard. Still swollen today, but can get it to settle between my teeth now.

I am trying to drink plenty of chocolate (dark and milk) ensure. They are fairly pricey, but they taste pretty good and is a good way to get protein, calories, and vitamins. The first time I drank it, I did notice that I had to do extra 'swallows' due to the thickness or phlem production, but it was worth it for the calories and 'food'. (Want to try to get in enough so you don't break down your muscles for food sources).

Caffeine! I so didn't think about caffeine withdrawals, so end of day 3 I got a MAJOR headache that lasted into the next day. I commented to my boss about it (we are both RNs) and she asked if I could be having caffeine withdrawals. I added some of the Mio (water flavoring) with caffeine and my headache went away in about an hour. So I went and bought Starbucks Frappucinos to have one each day to help prevent repeat.

Had first round of non-liquids last night (KFC potatoes and gravy) and it felt really good. I added in a biscuit, which did fairly well, but I soaked in the gravy first and chewed up a lot before swallowing. I does feel like food is stuck on the scabs/slough, but I think it is just in your head. (same with chewing gum, thought would be good for saliva production, but both times I thought I got some stuck in the slough, so won't do anymore).

Hope this helps someone in the future!

Ashley,
Quick question regarding your fiances tonsilectomy. I saw that he had mono before surgery. Does he still feel so tired almost like the mono is resurfacing? Im asking because I had a tonsillectomy about a month ago and Im so exhausted everyday (like when I had mono 10 years ago) and Im trying to see if the surgery could have aggravated something and brought these sympotms back.

I had mine out when I was almost 30 and it was very painful. I remember eating ice cream after the surgery and immediately throwing it up - very, very painful.

On the good side, after about 10 days without my chronically infected tonsils, I felt healthier and more alive than I'd felt in a year. It made huge difference in my health.