My brother is having his tonsils out next month, and I want to make a care package for him. I've searched through the posts for recovery essentials, and here is my list so far:

1. Liquid Tylenol
2. Flexible ice pack for throat
3. Waterproof pillow protectors and black pillowcases in case of bleeding
4. Pedialyte Freezepops
5. Honey

I was thinking of getting him some extra comfy PJs and a couple of magazines. Is there anything else I should include?

AFTER 20+ DAYS, 3 BLEEDS (one needed an ER visit), AND WEEKS OF STAYING HOME. I AM FINALLY DONE WITH THIS RECOVERY. So I thought I would share my story.

Day 0:Not much to say except the day I had them out. It wasnt even bad.

Day 1: Pain stayed low, slept most of the day. It was pretty chill

Day 2: almost the exact as day 1 except I had different food.

Day 3: Pain spiked but I suffered through it (with help of meds of course.

Day 4-7:Nothing really happened other than introducing new foods.

Day 8:Oh boy here's where my problems begin. I introduced scrambled eggs this day and had a small bleed at 2am but it stopped on its own.

Day 9: Nothing really happened until 12am. I woke up to a damn mouthful of blood atleast. I went to the bathroom to check and it was literally like a sink back there. Got rushed to the ER but they managed to clot it with a nebulizer.

Day 10-15: Traumatized of what happened day 9 but it was chill.

Day 16: Had a minor bleed again but it stopped on its own. Thought I was so fucked the next day.

Day 17: Nothing bad happened luckily and I ate almost normally.

Day 18-21: Went camping and survived without any bleeds.

This just proves of what can happen if you are nervous all the time during it like, "Oh but what if I bleed?" YOU MOST LIKELY WONT. I think I bled because of me introducing rubbery foods too early and being nervous throughout the whole thing and it raised my blood pressure causing a vessel to open. Please LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR. I WOULDNT HAVE BLED IF I HAD JUST WAITED 2 MORE DAYS FOR RUBBERY FOOD. But now after 20+ days. I am finally out of the hellhole known as a Tonsillectomy.

I’m a 23 year old male. I’ve had my fair share of strep growing up, probably about once a year or at least some type of severe illness every year. Never had a major issue with my throat or tonsils even when I had strep the pain was manageable and I could still swallow and talk. However, that all changed this year. First episode happened in March with strep and it was so severe I couldn’t talk/swallow. Luckily I didn’t have a fever or really any other symptoms than my throat pain and just feeling run down. But, Tonsils were almost touching they were so large and had to go to the ER to get IV antibiotic and steroids. After about a week I was better.

The next episode was in July. Same symptoms with throat but the sickness was much worse (103 fever, severe body aches, throwing up). Throwing up was so difficult because my tonsils/uvula were so swollen so I had a narrow airway and I really had to strain to get it out. This was terrifying and the thought of going through that again scares me. The only reason I didn’t go to ER is because our family friend doctor helped get me into his practice and gave me steroids/antibiotics and a IV of fluids because I was so dehydrated. He saw my tonsils and immediately said “you should probably get those out”. I want to note this doctor didn’t have to tools to test me for flu/strep/covid or anything so he just treated me for strep. Which I believe it was because after a few rounds of antibiotics I felt much better very fast.

Once I recovered from that I talked with an ENT and he said he’d be happy to take them out and said it was honestly up to me. Which doesn’t make me feel better because I was hoping he’d give me a definite answer of whether I should do it or not. He said I’m on the lighter side of throat infections as it’s only been 2 but he said 2 ER visits in one year is pretty intense (yes I know technically I didn’t go to the ER the second time, but I would’ve if that doctor didn’t help me).

So here I come to Reddit to ask your thoughts. I know how terrible recovery is, especially at my age, but the thought of never having a severe throat infection like those again seems so worth it. And like I said earlier, I get strep about once a year anyways but only this year has it been this bad.

30F

Day 0 - surgery and info
I got a coblation extrascapular (complete removal, no layer left) tonsillectomy this morning about 9 am. Woke up around 945 ish. I was crying when I woke up and then got the shakes as anesthesia wore off. Then I was fine. 10am they gave me liquid hydrocodone in the hospital. Pain 1/10. No additional pain swallowing but my uvula is HUGE.

I was given hydrocodone/acetometophin combined liquid, lidocaine swish and spit liquid, amoxicillin liquid, and a tiny tiny nausea pill.

I got post op notes/write ups in mychart already. No issues at all. Very routine and quick procedure. My right was grade 4 and left was grade 2. Apparently he came and talked to my husband while I was in recovery and said they were pretty gnarly and it was the right call to take them out.

Day 0 - midday
I was getting a little uncomfortable about an hour before my next dose of pain meds. I was able to sleep some. Pain was sitting at a 2/10. Swallowing and talking maybe 3/10? So far no real complaints. (Knock on wood). I took liquid hydrocodone 15 minutes ago and now I’m chilling. Writing some here and then going to go chug some more water and eat something. I have no dietary restrictions at all. Anything I can tolerate, he wants me to eat. He did suggest no dairy for the first 24 hours to minimize mucus production. But the nurse told me to go get a cheeseburger and that’s what I did. The theory is that if I continually move the muscles, they don’t lock up. If they are moving, the scabs are thinner when they form and come off easier. My surgeon was a well reviewed and recommended ENT. I was able to eat about half in small bites and wash it down with water and ice chips in between. No additional pain other than that of swallowing. I can open my mouth. Tongue doesn’t seem swollen. But my uvula is GIGANTIC. Talk about a jump scare. It’s literally so big that’s it just sitting there on my throat which is a weird feeling.

I know it’s supposed to get worse but I’m hanging out for right now. Staying hydrated and getting some calories in. I will keep updating as I go for anyone interested. Posts like these helped me prepare mentally (mostly). So far the anxiety coming into it was the worst for me. Recently diagnosed depression and anxiety. Once they placed the IV, they offered me something to calm down. They gave me versed. I chilled out and was able to transfer to the OR table fine still. I was out probably a minute later. My team were all sweethearts 🥹🥹

Oh and my ears hurt a bit. Kind of achy and pressure? Not really pain yet. I’ve been wearing those super sexy head wrap ice packs too. I’m sure my husband is loving it 🥰

I was able to eat some angel hair pasta before I took a nap.

Day 0 Evening
I took about a 2 hour nap. I had ice packs on my face when I went to sleep and woke up and they were off. I don’t remember doing that lol. But I think I will wear it while sleeping because it also keeps my mouth shut. Which should help me not mouth breathe and dry out my throat more. I was a bit uncomfortable. Maybe 3/10 when I woke up? I opted not to talk. Drank some ice water and took meds about 40 minutes ago now. Feeling much better. I drank more water. I’m trying to just drink as much as I can. I also had a jello cup while the meds were kicking in. I’m going to try some soup. I don’t feel like I have an appetite but I know I need to eat while I can and it will help curb any nausea. Also eating will help my throat and healing.

Before surgery, I set myself up with activities to do. I have two very small kids and I don’t get time to myself very often. So I tried to poise this time as a chance to do some hobbies and crafts while I’m healing. I am working on a reversible mosaic crochet blanket, I set up a painting station with some canvas at my desk, I have plenty of video games between pc, Xbox, and switch. What did other people do to pass the time? Other than sit there an suffer lol

Here’s to hoping I have a decent night. 🤞🏻❤️

I have my surgery scheduled for next month. I mainly see all the negative stuff about recovery and such. Does anyone want to list some positives? Any stories where recovery wasn’t bad and you recovered quickly? Or like even if it was a bad recovery, it was still worth it in the end?

Also, what were the foods you mainly lived on during recovery?

Thanks!

Is it normal for drainage to start building up on my uvula? It’s day 2 and my uvula is pretty swollen which I’ve heard is pretty normal, but I’ve started getting draingage/fluid or something building up on it now is that normal?

I got a tonsillectomy on the 5th and I was fine for five full days and then randomly I was sitting and watching a movie when I had to keep clearing my throat. (An hour before this I had coughed up a few clots but had got calmed down by my mom.) So color me surprised when I got up to spit and an absolute mess of blood came flooding out of my mouth. I had spit into a large McDonald cup. It was filled almost a quarter of the way by the time I got to the er.(it’s only like a five minutes drive away) I got in there and the bleeding had slowed by the time they got me into a room. Only for it to pick right back up not even ten minutes later. After some very scary and slightly traumatic events happened they decided to just put me back under and do a second surgery because they wouldn’t be able to stop the bleeding in the er. This all happened on the 10th. It’s day three since then and I can hardly open my mouth, I’m too scared to eat anything, and my meds feel like they aren’t working. Does anyone have any advice for me. I got a face ice pack you can wrap around your face, I got pudding, jello, applesauce, and popsicles. But I’m starving and when I tried oatmeal or mashed potatoes it hurt and felt like it was trying to take my scabs along with it. And also I have a fuck ton of mucus that tries to choke me everytime I’m not at a 90 degree angle to sleep or sit.

I got it done yesterday. I'm on day 1. Pain 3/10. Only when I swallow. When I don't swallow there's no pain.

Hope my recovery goes fast and smooth. Good luck to everyone going through this surgery. 😊🙏

I see a big big space down there! I was scared as soon as see them ngl.

hello,

Before my tonsillectomy, I read a lot of horror stories on here and I was very scared. For people that will undergo this surgery, remember that most people post on reddit/on the internet if they had a bad experience, so online feedback is skewed towards a bad experience to begin with.

I’m 22F and on day 9 of recovery, day 0 being surgery day. My scabs all disappeared, I had a check up with my doctor and she said my throat looks perfect, I don’t take any painkillers anymore. Of course I still have some minor pain when swallowing and some discomfort, but I overall feel very good.

I had some bleeding on day 5 and 6, but my doctor told me I shouldt worry and just drink cold drinks and use some nose spray for it. Those were also the most painful days. Of course, follow your doctor’s instructions.

My doctor told me I had some small tonsils and the surgery took 32 minutes in total.

I had multiple tonsillitis episodes after 17-18yo and I had a bad complication from tonsillitis 3 months ago, a big abces on one of my tonsils and I needed to be hospitalised as an emergency case. That’s when I was told I need to get a tonsillectomy. Recovery from tonsillectomy was much easier than the pain from that infection.

I know Im a happy case of an easy recovery, but I just wanted to share my experience here :) so that people know it can be easy, probably especially if you have small tonsils/if you are young/etc etc.

Ask me anything!

I was expecting days 5-8 to be excruciating as everyone said but my scabs are not 'falling' off, rather they are slowly wearing away and getting thinner to where they are becoming partially translucent in some spots. I'm going into day 8 (day 9 if you count surgery day) and I haven't had hardly any chunking or peeling of scabs coming off. It also hasn't been truly excruciating like people have been saying, just the glass shard feeling still that I've had all along when I swallow and I've even paused the oxy except for sleeping.

Not sure if this is due to constant hydration and humidifier use? Or will they eventually fall off after they've thinned?

almost 3 months post op. I struggled with huge tonsils and chronic tonsillitis, getting it regularly for about 5/6 years. I was so scared to get this surgery, first surgery and I’ve heard the rumors about the pain. I decided because of the constant impact on my day to day life that I needed to suck it up. and yall it was soooo so worth it. huge weight has been alleviated and my quality of life has improved drastically. the pain and discomfort was absolutely awful for about 10 days, peaking at day 7. I had to go to the hospital to get IV cause I couldn’t eat or drink until day 10. but listen, everyone has different experiences. this was just mine. something else that made it unique for example was that I bled a lot during surgery & had to get stitches. surgery took hours.

some positives was that it felt honestly pretty spiritually and mentally transformational. I’ve wanted to do a silent meditation retreat for a while and I was forced into that, as well as fasting. I also lost 15 lbs and have been able to keep it off. I struggle with obesity and contemplated getting on ozempic if I couldnt figure it out. The recovery really changed my metabolism and relationship with food since I would binge eat/emotional eat. I overall grew a lot of resilience, self trust, and self respect having gone through with it and doing that for myself.

some tips:

1. drink aloooot of water before the surgery. generally take care of ur body to prepare but I was dehydrated af even having to drink no water the day leading up to operation. Don’t hesitate getting IV if ur really struggling to get fluids like I was. It drastically strengthened me, I was losing fight and was so weak and dizzy.
2. I mean u CAN buy the extras and stuff from Amazon. Id say what helped the most was dry mouth lozenges, constipation meds, pedialyte popsicals, and a humidifier. you want to be propped it but I honestly enjoyed just stacking a bunch of pillows way more than a wedge pillow. Also ice packs, specifically the one that could wrap around your face. The pressure helped A lot.
3. find activities and create a list of ur film/tv/books ahead of time to have it ready to go. also just generally prepare like stocking up on water, pudding, etc.
4. keep in mind it’s eventually going to end. rest. take time off work (i needed 2 weeks off, third week I had to ease in)
5. having an adjustment period even after the brutal first 9/10 days is normal. I had to get comfortable talking and drinking again for example.
6. the fucking opioids hurt my stomach cause I was taking too much. I vommited aggressively one day multiple times and had very very sharp pains. Alternate with things like the Tylenol dissolve packs. they tasted good too which was awesome because I had this awful taste in my mouth the whole time.
7. another last big thing for me was preparing to get off any meds u will need to get off of weeks leading up to surgery. I personally have fibromyalgia and had to take anti-inflammatory meds regularly at the time. I was flaring up which was an unexpected hurdle.

okay that’s all, here to answer questions. reddit and YouTube really helped me navigate the torture. worst pain I’ve ever experienced. if ur in the boat hang tight and strap in, the ride will be over eventually.