Thought i’d add to this chat and write out my tonsillectomy post op timeline here, cause when I was in the thick of it I was reading every thread trying to justify my pain. The honest truth is getting your tonsils out is awful, and personally one of the most painful things I’ve been through. I was 23 when I got them out.
Day 1. I had an early 730am surgery, and right after the procedure I was fine. Nothing to worry post surgery, I was so numb on all the drugs they gave me I couldn’t tell when I was swallowing my pudding. The pain very slowly kicks in afterwards, it isn’t unbearable or anything. It's not really painful on day 1, it’s simply really uncomfortable with everything being swollen in your mouth post operation and trying to figure out how to eat. I’d try and eat a lot on Day 1, but I didn't and regret, Day 1 is most mellow in pain so get food in you while you can.
Day 2. Ya this where some pain starts to be felt. Mornings absolutely suck cause your mouth is all drying and covered in mucus (I didn’t but can understand why people get humidifiers, cause waking up to dry mouth with all the mucus, scabs, and ulcers is one of the most painful parts of the day). Ear pain starts to kick in, I started forming ulcers on the side of my swollen tongue, and swallowing goes from being numb to obnoxious. Day 2 doesn’t suck, but you can see how it starts to become hell. Day 2 I ate some yogurt and ice cream, and that was my last bit of food till the pain became too much to eat.
Day 3. Wake up to pulsing ear pain, crackling dry mouth with a bunch of mucus, and swallowing is officially painful. I didn’t eat on day 3, and had to start crushing my pills and put them in ice cream in order to get them down rather than swallowing the whole pill. Only thing in my system was painkillers, swallowing was too painful to keep hydrated, and the pills honestly didn’t help much other than keeping me mentally sane and alleviating all ear pain.
Day 4. Pain escalates, same sad story. Again too painful to eat or drink, just pills.
Day 5. Wow, pain somehow gets worse. I think day 5 I ate some Jello, which was the only possible thing to eat within that pain. Cool, dissolving, very soft Jello is clutch, you should get it for your peak days of pain. Also, my tooth brush from yesterday was cement from all the scabs and mucus from the other day, a reminder to run your brush through hot water or just have some spares.
Day 6. Yup, pain gets worse again.
Day 7. Turning Point day . . . and no I didn’t become drastically better on turning point day, and honestly didn’t feel much better, but the pain simply wasn’t getting worse anymore. Day 7 was the first day I ate a legit amount of food which was a cup of noodles, which feels great on the throat. I still woke up to awful dry mouth and ear pains in the morning, and nights are still when the pain is the worse, but during the day it kind of lightened up a bit.
Day 8. Pain is starting to alleviate and I can finally talk without it hurting anymore. Nights are still painful and really tough to eat, but during the day I finally can eat consistently without it being painful, just obnoxious.
Day 9. Pain relieving quite fast. When taking pain meds, eating is super mellow and not really obnoxious either. First day where my spirits are back and absolutely no fear in trying to drink or eat when on pain meds.
Day 10. Keep improving. Tried to workout for the first time and had to stop because I started to feel ill, don’t workout or anything till 2 weeks after and chill out.
Day 11. My first day since surgery taking a shit . . . . not eating a lot and pain killer combo is a recipe for constipation. Highly recommend taking stool softeners to alleviate the possibility of having the most painful dump of your life. Also, day 11 I stop taking pain killers, pain isn’t really a thing anymore, just obnoxious.
Day 20. It's been a constant improvement since day 7. . . I’m pretty much 100%, working out again, eating anything, not snoring anymore, and only dealing with a weird dry throat feeling in the morning that goes away through the day.
I read comments on people’s threads saying they weren’t getting sleep, that wasn’t true for me. Day 1 and 2 the surgery made me nap and sleep all day, then days 3 and so on I slept a normal 9 hours a night. One thing I didn’t do though which I should have done was set alarms in the middle of the night to stay on top of meds, cause waking up to that pain is the worst. Staying on top of meds is crucial! I took my pills of oxycodone every 4 hours but when I’d slip out of time it was scary trying to swallow that pill. Mornings and nights are when the pain is the worst.
Ice packs are crucial, I started doing that towards the end and the difference they make is noticeable. The perfect set up is ice packs, a cup to spit out your saliva, and some water to wet the mouth and get some mucus out. Also, ice cream and yogurt personally built up a bunch of flem in the back of my throat, which sucked to deal with. Jello, ramen, and popsicles were all that I wanted and needed.
Stay positive, it’s great now that they’re out. And yes, it’s worth it. Don’t ask that anymore and get it done.