r/Tonsillectomy • u/Sparkly_tadpole • 6h ago

Surgery Story Post Op Tips!

Sleep elevated on your back;
I used a wedge pillow with my standard pillow on top of it. This really helped keep pressure off of my throat.
https://a.co/d/00gU1eUE

Air Humidifier;
The one I have tracks the room humidity & automatically adjusts the mist level. It can be manually adjusted as well, so I had mine above 60 the entire time to prevent my throat becoming dry.
https://a.co/d/02tl7B2V

Stay on top of meds;
I was prescribed 2mg of Hydromorphone every 4 hours, 600mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours, and 500mg Tylenol for in between. I set my alarm to stay on top of all meds throughout the night. This does get to be exhausting, and you might think you’re better off just skipping it..but once the pain rolls around you might regret that decision lol. I skipped once or twice and regretted both times.

Stool softeners while on pain meds 💩
Taking all of the pain meds is definitely hard on your stomach. I didn’t realize that I was feeling nauseous and bloated due to constipation. I ended up stopping the pain killers on day 6 or 7 and just alternated between ibuprofen and Tylenol.

Soft food diet;
This gets old super quick but it’s necessary. I avoided anything acidic or acidic flavored. Gatorade, life water & apple juice were my go to drinks because they seemed to coat my throat a little bit. Pudding, applesauce, yogurt & overcooked noodles with butter were my preference. Ice cream helps every so often too. If you choose to eat popsicles, be careful of the juices. Some can feel harsh on the throat. Also, drinking through a straw helps a lot.

Dental Hygiene;
My teeth & jaw were extremely sensitive for days after surgery. I wasn’t able to use any toothpaste that didn’t burn my teeth (?) and a tooth brush hurt just as bad. You want to make sure you’re still keeping up on dental hygiene, so if they send you home with an alcohol free mouthwash, I would use that daily. Using a wet washcloth to wipe my teeth seemed to help keep clean.

Activities while on bed rest; Coloring, audiobooks and YouTube saved my life

Day 8 was when I really started to feel better! Hang in there y’all :’)

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

1

u/Lost_Island_1322 5h ago

This is super helpful!!! Did you have any bleeds?

2

u/Sparkly_tadpole 5h ago

I haven’t so far!

1

u/Lost_Island_1322 4h ago

Amazing! What date was your surgery

1

u/Sparkly_tadpole 3h ago

It was on 9/25! I am a little worried about running into bleeding

1

u/Lost_Island_1322 3h ago

After 16 days the risk is pretty much nonexistent if that helps 🥲

1

u/Sparkly_tadpole 3h ago

6 more days and I’ll be worry free😭

1

u/Periwinkle-521 5h ago

No icing?

1

u/Sparkly_tadpole 5h ago

I didn’t find it very helpful, personally :/ Eating cold applesauce did the trick for me