Saturday, August 12, 2006

Just About Over - Day 17

I just cannot believe that it has been seventeen days since I had surgery. The good news is that I'm eating and drinking without any pain. I still feel some scabs in the back of my throat and I still get nervous that I'm going to rip them off but nothing seems to bother them. I still feel some tension when I yawn but that's it. Oh, and when I try to blow my nose or inhale my Nasonex, which is nasal allergy medicine you snort. To put it bluntly.

I just keep remembering that the doctor said this would go one for another two or three weeks. It's a little comforting knowing that, but that's it.

To all of you that have been keeping up with me, and some of you that are ahead. I want to thank you for all your words of compassion and gratitude. I am glad that I am able to help and I wish you all the best with your own adventure. Hang in there, and know it will end.

For all of those who are nursing a tonsillectomy patient back to health, hang in there. My wife keeps telling me she should have created a blog about what a pain I was. I thought I was pretty good considering. The only thing I can say is, we all need you very much and your patience, love, and support, makes all the difference.

My only advice, tell them to go to sleep. I think that is the best way to get through the pain. And tell the to try and sleep on their side or belly if they can breath while on their back.

Good luck and hang in there.

17 comments:

  1. thank you so much for your daily accounts on this. it helped me out tremendously since my young daughter had this done and could not articulate what she was going through. im glad you are doing better. thanks again this was really helpful!

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  2. Thanks a lot for posting this. I had my tonsils removed on the 18th this month and have been worried that my symptoms are abnormally severe or that something was wrong. Reading your blog told me that everything I was going through was natural, and in the gerenal course of things. I was especially worried about how much my jaw hurts (btw, I NEVER want to break by jaw, ever, if it hurts this much just getting it wrenched). Anyway, I really appreciate your doing this, I'm glad your recovery went so well, and hope that mine follows the same path.

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  4. i want to put some images on my blog, on the right side, but i'm not able...can u help me please?
    (sorry for my english!!!)
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for your blog. I had my tonsils out on October 2nd, so on recovery day 4 right now. Everything is exactly as you say. Maybe just another personal note to add. Being a 26 year old female, I may be more inclined to be a bit more emotional than you...so yesterday morning when I woke up and had the worst headache of my life, I began to cry - which only made the situation that much worse. To all you females out there having your tonsils taken out, try your hardest not to cry. The intracranial pressure increases tenfold and the pain is unbelievable. Try imagery, meditation, or just another shot of codeine before giving in to emotion :) Just a thought.

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  6. This has been a great blog to read. My 55 year old mom had her tonsils removed on Oct 4, 2006. She's had a really rough time and the doctor said it wouldn't be easy over the next few weeks. I'm so glad I have come across your blog. It's helped shed some light as to what can be expected. I hope you are doing better and thanks for writing this blog. Yvonne

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  7. Thanks for your blog. I'm considering a tonsillectomy for my recurrent tonsillitis. What kind of tonsillectomy did you do? Electrocautery? Which do you recommend?

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  8. Thank you so much for posting your story, really. I had my surgery November 14th, tomorrow it will have been a week. My ENT told me all about the pain, but I thought I was "tougher" than the average person!!! Hahahaha!!!! I have to laugh at myself. This hurts like a son of a gun. I never knew it was so horrible. I am glad to find your blog, I've been looking everywhere to find out the typical or what we can say average days are consisting of. The medical sites say nothing as to what days are worse or how they fluxuate. I thought I was over the roughest part until last night, when I got the truth, it was more painful than the day after surgery. I am asssuming the scabs are starting to break free, it's a soar kind of pain. I am still on my pain meds, but this afternoon, I have started feeling better. I am so hungry though!!! I have lost roughly 7 pounds though, that's a good thing!!! I tell ya though food never smelled so good!!! I don't want to eat jello or ice cream or yogurt again for a long time!!!! Hope everything is well and again thanks for posting!!

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  9. thanks for this blog, my 19 year old daughter is on day six. This blog gives us hope

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  10. I'm currently on day 8, and while this is old, I'm bookmarking it. This is uplifting to read. ;_; I keep getting so depressed and breaking down. Of course, I also think I'm having a bit of a bad reaction to lortab. o_O I have epilepsy and bipolar disorder, so I've been having strange and bad experiences since starting on it... - Anyway, I just can't wait untli I'm able to breathe well again, eat right again, and drink again without having some fluid refluxing up into my sinuses. :-(

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  11. I just had my surgery yesterday and I'm 28yrs old.

    It really isnt as bad as others had said it would be. You nailed it. If you had strep throat, it's pretty much the same thing. I can deal with the pain, but the most annoying thing is the swollen uvula.

    Thats the main reason why I got the surgery. It felt like something was always hitting my throat. And now that my tonsils are out, I have this big cherry in its place lol

    Anyway, great blog. I feel the same about the ice pack not doing anything.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bet you were kicking yourself a couple days after writing this comment... lol.

      Delete
  12. hi i'm 14 years old and had my tonsils out yesterday.....it totally kills my throat when I swallow and my mouth keeps foaming......my question is how long wll it be untll I can actually eat properly and what can I do in the mean time to stop the foaming???????

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  13. Hi Robert-

    I am 21 years old and am on day 7 of my recovery. I'm home from college for the summer and and currently sitting on my parent's couch whining about how much pain I am in (via text message of course, because I can't talk).
    I'm so glad my Dad came across this blog because I really thought that I must be crazy. My jaw hurting, my tongue hurting, and the unbearable headaches! I was not warned about any of these things prior to the procedure and I am glad to hear that they are normal! I'm also relieved (sort of) to hear that your pain, like mine fluctuated from day to day. My Dad seems to believe that one day there will be a turning point and magically I'll be able to function like a normal human being again. This was a great thing to do for everybody out there, and I think it's good for people like my Dad too- people that have to take care of us while we're all sad and mean and hurty. This way they know exactly why we're like that.

    Thanks again!

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  14. Hi all, I have just turned 37, Had my tonsils out 22nd January 2011, first few days I had hardly any pain, I could eat/drink straight after op & felt fine THEN once home & without the paracetamol drip & the meds I was given in hosp I soon felt the reality of the op. on day 6 I was in agony & had kidnve expecetd this as surgeon did say day 5-6 can be the worst of it, but when it got to day 8 & I was feeling much worse I went to my local walk in centre & was asked prior to the nurse even checking my throat ''why are you in pain? you shouldnt be in pain?'' then she diagnosed thrush frm the antibiotics presumeably, however after 5-7 days of treatment for the thrush (a drop of medication to gargle/swallow 4 times a day ) I felt no better, so I phoned the hosp where I had the op, they agreed wasnt thrush & I needed more pain meds (hosp at home refused pain meds & said just take paracetamol) am gutted as spent so many days in agony when all I needed was more pain relief :(. anyways, surgeon who did op, prescribed more pain relief & assured me white spots on roof mouth & throat were normal as its where the Lasered everything. I am now on day 17 & although have nmade great progress I am feeling rather miserable as no sense of taste & things taste so weird that I cant be bothered eating/have no appetite. Hurts when I yawn/sneeze but am coping well as I know this is temporary. Just spoken with surgeon again today & confirmed my throat feels constricted, like something stuck, as its time for the scabs? not sure what to expect now, as thought the scabs were done & dusted over the last week? not seen any though, so amnow nervous as to whether things start falling off now! off work still as feeling exhausted, hope to get back next monday 14th, although I sound downhearted, I am not, as this pain is nothing compared to the tonsiltus I have suffered so so often in the past, & I know once I get through the next week or so things will def improve.

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  15. I loved this blog. Read it multiple times daily. I'm currently on day 17 and spent 1/2 day skiing. I stopped most pain meds 2 days ago and was down to once daily oxycodone or ibuprofen anyway. I've been eating smooth hot cereal since about day 3 which helped energy/healing. Last night I had steak, potatoes, and red wine. The wine was not that pleasant, nor are some carbonated sodas. I didn't sleep more than 3-4 hours at a stretch for the first 2 weeks due to the need to drink ice water. I was religious about keeping the pee very light yellow. I had 2 minor bleeding episodes at night lasting less than 5 min each. I'm 41 years old and very glad I did it. Keep the faith everyone whose still recovering! It does get better.

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  16. Currently on day 10 pain still bad when I swollen bug manageable. I'm still utterly exhausted, seeing surgeon this time next week but no way do I feet fit enough to go back to work next week! Praying he doc signs me off for another week at home!

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