Can you help me if you've had a tonsillectomy when older please?

[Chocol8]

I had my tonsils out on Monday afternoon. It was not a pleasant experience, but i was coping until the surgeon said "don't worry about the yellow lumps".

I plucked up courage to look and there were great big yellow lumps down my throat.

Please can someone help me with a few questions: What the hell are these things? I can barely swallow or talk - how long will this continue for?

I also had other lumps and patches of white in my mouth and of course, he's removed them too, which hurts too. How long will it take to get the results back on these?

Lastly, it is only a short operation (although i came to about an hour after) and i went for a wee before the op. Since then, i have had trouble going as i have to force it out - was i cathetarised (sp?).

If anyone can give me some advice on this as an older patient themselves, i would be grateful and it would really help set my mind at rest.
Thank you.

If you only had your tonsils out they will not have put a catheter in your bladder.
You need to drink plenty-i mean 2-3 litres at least a day.
Your pos. a bit dehydrated but see your gp if it continues after increasing your fluids.

The yellow lumps are part of the natural healing process.Years ago they rec. soup and ice cream ect. post op.However i think now they rec. rougher things like toast and rivita.This is to help losen the debris and yellow slough that you can see and keep your throat cleaner.

Also keep on top of your painkillers regardless because you will be more likely to eat and
therefore heal quicker.
Hope you feel better soon
BTW the ward usually dont mind if you ring them direct with any concerns-could you give them a ring ?

I had mine out this time last year at 36 yrs old and felt really horribly unwell afterwards.

I couldn't open my mouth far enough to have a good look at what was going on, but you have to remember that the scar tissue does not scab like it does in dry places, it just hangs around all gloopy & wet until it falls off.

I couldn't talk & swallowing was very difficult. You will have been intubated during the proceedure, which means that your vocal cords may be a bit bruised adding to the speaking diffiulty. Drink lots of iced water. In about two weeks you will feel loads better.

Thanks Mooshy - you have set my mind at rest about the yellow bits. When i had a quick look, (cos i'm a chicken) i was shocked as there are just big and little yellow lumps hanging around down there. It is very painful to swallow and to talk still but i have been eating rough stuff to help with the debris. I have had wholemeal toast with spaghetti on and this morning managed nearly 2 warm weetabix!

However, you may be right about the dehydration - i will try and drink more.

How long did it take for you to heal?

I had mine out in my thirties. I wonder if the GA could be the cause of wee problem. I felt very sluggish all over for two weeks after op.

Keep eating drinking and taking pain med, like Bugsy says you will feel better after two weeks.

I didn't find the pain too bad but did feel shattered for the full two weeks.

Ooh, Bugsy - all gloopy and wet until it drops off!!???!!! Urghhh!

Yes, i can just get my mouth open to see - but haven't wanted to since i saw what was in there.
The side of my mouth was split from where they kept it open for the op and that hurts a bit too, but nothing compared to the pain in my throat.

What can i use to make me go no. 2? Usually warm weetabix does the trick, but it's not working.

Thanks for your replies

I had mine out in my early twenties. It was extremely painful-I think it took about two weeks for this to ease. I was advised to gargle with soluble aspirin which acts as a local anaesthetic and helped with the pain.

It only took me a day to recover as i was about 3 !
DD1 is going in at 7.30 tomorrow to have hers out so i have been reading up on it .She has to have 2 weeks off school-anyone else had them out as a teenager.Am hoping she`ll not suffer like grown ups as sounds horrid.

can i just ask a quick question. im having mine out at beginning of jan and told i have to stay in for 2 nights. the night before and the night after the op.

did anyone else have to stay in?

You can buy lactulose over the counter, but its quite expensive so just ring your surgery and ask for a prescription if you dont have to pay for them.Any painkillers with codeine in will bung you up and also not drinking enough.
A friend of mine swears by eating a whole kiwi fruit-skin and all ! (yuk )

Sweet monkey, Yes I stayed night before and after too.

My daughter has to stay in night after until risk of bleeding has settled.
The night before depends on hosp. policy-ours clerk you in (all the paperwork ) a week before and have to come in early in the morning on day of op.If your on the afternoon list ask if you can go home and come back ?

thanks maddiemostmerry

My admission time was 11.30am but i was seen at about 2.30 then had the op at 4pm. Was bored stupid and i only live 5 mins away from the hospital!

I was out the next day at 2pm after i'd eaten something (i avoided the toast but had to have almost dry weetabix which was very hard to swallow).

I have some senna but last time i took one, it gave me seriously bad stomach cramps which was worse than the constipation. It must be the co-codamol that's doing it.

Generally it is not as bad for teenagers because the blood vessels are not as established as they are with older people Mooshy, but hope all goes well for her.

Chocol8, eat soft fruit to get things going. I used to suck down ripe pears & slices of tinned peach & mango. Tried strawberries but found them too acidic & stingy. Avocado was good as well, slipped down nice & easily.
I asked to stay in. In actual fact I did a drugs trial. I just couldn't face the thought of having to cope with the children after the op (single mummy). So glad that I did, because I felt drained.
Unfortunately, I got a post-op infection & had big horrible 999 haemorrage, which didn't help.
But on the plus side, I lost loads of weight & I have been healthier in the last year than I can remember for a very, very long time.

Thanks Bugsy - i am hoping that the up side is that i lose loads of weight, but with not having gone in 4 days, i've not lost any.

I tried grapes last night but they were quite acidic. I have to chew everything to a pulp before i swallow as the yellow hangy bits get in the way.

I am really hoping to avoid a 999 call - my ds is SN and can't bare blood and i am a single mum too.
My dad had him for the night and the one after and he came home last night. He was very good but even showering him drained me! I wrote everything down, which i think he quite enjoyed.

I will try some different fruit, thanks for the tip. x

can i just ask how will you know about the haemorrage. sorry if thats a daft question but how do you know if its just post op bleeding or the above

well sweetmonkey, I watched the kitchen sink filling up with my blood - it was pouring out of my mouth, like something from a horror movie. By the time I got back to A&E, I looked like I'd been in a slaughter house! Not pleasant.

Oh Bugsy, how awful! I was told that any change in the type of pain i felt was a sign...is that right?

Was told that any bleed at all meant that i should go in immediately as it could get worse, but then told by one, not to worry unless it was more than an egg cup full. My consultant did say that you can bleed to death if a big bleed is not dealt with immediately. Comforting eh? Usually between day 6 and day 10 when the scabs are coming off.

I think my problem was that one of my tonsils was infected when I had the op. Mine were so disgusting that I had permanent low grade infections. So, even though I was immediately put on antibiotics post op, they weren't strong enough to kill the infection.
I was readmitted to hospital & put on two types of antibiotics intravenously, along with blood serum & fluids & noticed the difference in 24 hours.
Definitely keep an eye on yourself. If you start to feel in any way worse, feverish or different - its worth getting checked out at your local A&E.

I do feel worse today but have put that down to actually having a visitor today for the first time since Monday. Maybe i spoke too much?

Do you know how long it takes for the histology results to come through?

Sorry, just noticed when i was brave enough to look down my throat that the uvula (?) dangly bit in the middle is twice the size it should be. Is this normal? It's all swollen - it's no wonder i haven't been able to gargle and find it hard to swallow my painkillers.

Anyone?