Tonsillectomy Summary - If I had to do it all over again

Tonsillectomy Summary

Well, I don't regret having the tonsillectomy. If I had to do it all over again, I would make some changes to my recovery plan. Proper nutrition and vitamins will help your body heal quicker. I think I did pretty good getting a variety of nutrients, but there is room for improvement. It's a shame that anything tangy stings the throat because high doses of Vitamin C helps your body recover and heal from surgery (twice as fast). I think if I had to do it again, I might try to drink a high dose of buffered vitamin C powder in water - mixed with some healing aloe juice. 


Foods, Beverages & Nutrition

It’s funny how everyone thinks you can eat an ice cream after having your tonsils removed. You don't want to consume dairy products, they cause mucous which can make it difficult to breathe when your throat is swollen. Dairy also coats the throat and it doesn’t feel very good on an open wound. The first few days after surgery, you should only consume clear liquids. Some doctors will say to stick with clear liquids the first 24 hours but I found it beneficial to continue on clear liquids during the entire recovery.

Aloe Vera Juice -  I would buy tons of aloe juice. I recommend Lakewood but if it’s not available, make sure you get one that’s not flavored. The flavored aloe juices are too tangy and they can hurt.  Lakewood Aloe juice feels like silk on your throat. Not only will it help you heal quicker but it will help soften the stool that’s hardened by the pain medication. (Constipation at that level is just as painful as the throat and ears). I didn’t like the taste of the Aloe juice at first but I got use to it because it felt so good. I diluted the aloe juice with coconut water and a bunch of Sonic crushed ice….it was perfect. Sometimes I diluted with prune juice– just a splash and the peach/apple juice.

Sorbet and certain applesauce is okay and I recommend eating them with the medication. I didn’t like the way the normal applesauce felt on my throat – the bits seem to stick to the back of my throat. I liked the organic baby food made with apples. It’s smoother than apple sauce and felt better on the throat. I crushed the Percoset up then added it to a small amount of apple baby food or sorbet. The Haagen-Dazs Mango flavored worked well too.  If you take the pain meds with food you’re less likely to throw up.

I was really sick of sweet things about day 3. I glad I had homemade healing vegetable broth. I didn’t think I would like drinking it, but it was a NICE change from all of the sweet stuff. Its best to make your own, but if you can't, remember to get organic and low sodium.  The sodium will burn. The homemade healing broth my best friend made for me was the best. A nice homemade bone broth would be great too. Or you could try Bonafide.

Healthy Food/Beverage Must Haves:

·         Crushed ice and water (crushed ice from Sonic is the best, they sell it by the bag)


·         Aloe Juice (not flavored, Lakewood is the best – about 4 bottles)

·         Coconut water (1/2 tall can per day, but only the kind without added sugar and preservatives - I like Real Coconut Water and Amy & Brian's Coconut Juice).

·         Peach or Apple juice (mix with Aloe if you don’t like the taste of Aloe). Avoid anything citrusy or tangy and anything artificial with preservatives and carbonation.

·     Rooibos Tea   or Celestial Seasonings, Sleepytime herbal tea

·         Bone Broth

·         Homemade healing vegetable broth

·         Sprout Organic Baby Food (Roasted Apples & Blueberries)

·         Pacific, Butternut Squash soup

·         Haagen Daaz Mango or Raspberry Sorbet

·         Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream

·         Eggs

·         Steamed Vegetables

·         Salmon

·         Rice 

Sleeping

The first 10 days I slept on the couch because I could prop myself up and keep my neck straight. The pain pills helped me sleep a lot the first week. The 2^nd week when I went back to work I was very tired and had to take naps on my lunch break. After 2 weeks  I stopped the pain meds and I was unable to sleep for almost a week with the exception of a few hours here and there…that was rough it's a symptom of withdrawal from the pain medication (Percocet).

Teeth

Some people are worried that brushing their teeth will hurt. I didn’t find this a problem at all. But I use clove and anise flavored toothpaste instead of mint. Then I also add essential oils to my tooth brush because it helps keep the plaque off. I thought that might sting but it didn’t.  Just be careful. As the throat starts to heal it will turn white which is plaque. I found that my teeth kept getting plaque on them so I brushed 3 times per day with my Deliverance oil.

Ear Pain

The ear pain sets in at about Day 3. My pain felt more like a massive headache instead of ear pain and the Percocet doesn’t help.

This is what did help: Millenia which is an essential oil blend from Butterfly Express. It says to put a drop or two around the ear. I dropped it in the ear (normally this would irritate the ear but it actually made it feel better). I'm glad I had some on hand.

Cover your ears. Any noise will bother you – everything gets really loud and it makes the ears hurt more. I wrapped my head in a scarf and covered my ears. It muffled the sound enough where I could tolerate it. I guess you could try ear muffs is you have them.

Painkillers

Your doctor may give you Lortab or Percocet. Some blogs I've read suggested liquid lortab but my doctor said it’s not strong enough and you should take the pills. You can always crush them and add them to a little bit of applesauce or sorbet.

The Percocets can be taken once every 4 hours or as needed. I woke up every 4 hours and took it but now I wished that I tried to wait longer – especially on the afternoon of day 4. About day 3 or 4 I noticed that my urine was clear but I didn’t think I was drinking enough water to do that. I also noticed some pain in the kidneys. By day 6 I had a very very painful bowel movement. Despite drinking the aloe and prune juices I still got very constipated. If I had to do it all over again I would ease off the percocet and try to go longer in between doses. Taking it every 4 hours made my body feel like it was shutting down by day 5-6, even urinating became difficult.

My original plan was to avoid all pain meds until I absolutely had to take them but I read that could make it worse and you could end up having to take more medication for a longer period of time. The pain medication itself seems to last about 3.5 hours but you can go longer as long as you don’t try to eat.

On day 6, after the very painful bowel movement I cut the doses back to every 5 hours and the next day every 6 hours and the next day every 7 hours. Then I took it every 8 hours for a few days. By day 13, I cut back to 2 per day. Day 14 & 15 I just took 1 before bed. Day 16 was a Saturday and the pain wasn't strong enough to take the medication. It hadn’t been the 2 previous days but I heard you want to slowly reduce the pain meds.  That night I could not fall asleep until 5AM. Sunday it felt like my body temperature was out of whack. I was really cold or too hot. I struggled to sleep that night constantly flipping the covers on and off. Monday morning, Day 17 I had body aches and chills – I just couldn’t get warm. I Googled percoset withdrawl and sure enough, it’s exactly what I was experiencing. Another symptom is excessive yawning and a running nose. I can’t even yawn because it hurts - I have to grit down every time my body wants to yawn. The yawning kicked in once I reduced the dosage down to one per day.

According to the web-sites I found, addiction starts at about 7 days. Some people claim addiction sets in as soon as you feel the dreamy euphoric feeling when it firsts kicks in. I have to admit, when you are in a lot of pain you really start to look forward to the dreamy euphoric feeling. I believe I experienced that on the first day.

If I had to do it all over again, I would go more than 4 hours in between doses.  Also – make sure your doctor prescribes the numbing lollipops. You suck on them for 30 seconds and it numbs your throat. It’s perfect for taking your medication and getting you between doses.

I did get dizzy a lot, sometimes just sitting up and sometimes just getting up to get ice or water. As soon as you feel dizzy, stop what you are doing and lay down. The feeling always passes, but usually I would nap before getting up again. I think the dizziness may have been from the Percocet. Or its possible that my body was depleted of B12 after the anesthesia. B12 deficiencies can cause dizziness. I would add a 5,000 mcg dose of chewable B12 - just in case.

Pain Levels

The first day or two the pain isn’t really that bad. Day 3 the pain gradually increases. I think the worst days were evening of Day 3, Day 4 and Day 11.

Weight loss

I guess the average weight loss is about 10 pounds. I have a couple of friends who lost 20 pounds. I did not lose any weight, but 10 years after the surgery I was diagnosed with Lipedema. A loose connective tissue disorder that creates fat that doesn't go away with diet or exercise. The strange thing is, before I had this surgery, Lipedema was only in the lower half of my body. The year of the surgery, the Lipedema spread into my upper body. I've always wondered if having the surgery did something that caused the disorder to spread.

I had to wait an entire month before I could do any exercise. I heard a few horror stories from people who ripped their throat in yoga, gymnastics and just trying to do their jobs. If that happens you end up losing a lot of blood and have to be rushed to the hospital. I didn't dare do any exercise for a month...plus I was still pretty tired. After 4 weeks passed I went to yoga but I took it easy the first week.

Time Off – I thought once I got back to work I would just have some throat pain to deal with. I had no idea how wiped out my body would be or that I would have to go through pain killer withdrawals. It took a full 3 weeks before my energy came back and I only took the pain meds for 2 weeks. I would not be able to take 3 weeks off of work ,but I wish I went back to work on 12 or 13 instead of day 11. When you do have to get up and move around, carry things, etc – just remember your body is still weak. Walking and carrying a bag of groceries didn’t seem like a big deal at the time (2 weeks after the surgery) but I fell – twice. After my throat stop hurting and I stopped the pain meds I felt guilty for not getting things done around the house. I wish I would’ve rested more – or at least not felt guilty when I was resting. I just didn’t expect to be that tired. Remember – you had surgery and you need to rest. REST!!!! Plan for 12-21 days off work depending on your job.

Other Must Haves:

·         Millenia  - essential oil to reduce swelling in ears.

·         Deliverance –essential oil to keep plaque off of teeth (one drop on tooth brush with toothpaste)

·         Humidifier

·         Popsicle Molds 

·         Cold packs /ice packs (for the first few days)

·         Scarf or ear muffs (to reduce ear pain)

·         Lots of comfy clothes and plenty of blankets and pillows.

Tonsillectomy Blogs:

Preparing for my Tonsillectomy

Day 1 - Tonsillectomy

Day 2 - Tonsillectomy

Day 3 - TonsillectomyDay 4 - Tonsillectomy

Days 5 & 6 - Tonsillectomy

Day 7 - Tonsillectomy

Days 8, 9, 10 - Tonsillectomy

Days 11-15  - Tonsillectomy