Recovery suggestions for tonsils removed / tonsillectomy in older teen

[Fortysix]

Pretty sure this is about to happen over the summer holidays just waiting on formal appointment confirmation.
Looking for tips and advice to make recovery process go as well as possible. Holiday booked for post operative Day 12 if it does all confirm as expected.

First 24 hours complete.
Op yesterday went well although my 18 year old took a while to come round from anaesthetic. In hospital at 07.00 out at 16.00.
Eating reasonably well considering - orzo pasta, tuna, sweet potato mash, mushy broccoli, strawberries. Wound looks horrible though and throat selfies on snap chat pretty gruesome. Old towels and sheets ready for any post-operative bleed. Lots of water and humidifier next to bed. Haven't managed to persuade that salt water rinsing a good idea.
And have walked up and down stairs so much that my fitBit is registering another 300 steps more than usual. Anyone else going through the same?

3000 obviously.

Just beware it will get worse. I remember the first few days (only a couple of years ago so about age 25) was okay but from about day 5... Fucking Hell It was truly awful and sorry but I haemmorged at about day 10 (I think) and had to stay in hospital, by this point morphine wasn’t touching it. I also ended up with more than one infection.

I remember lots of cold lucozade sport and all of the throat numbing products that can be bought and cartons of smoothies.

Hope he’s doing okay.

Glad surgery went well: I nursed two teens with this last year and my experience was that it was very painful and they needed all the painkillers they could have for the first two weeks. I was like a nurse with a chart for when they could have their next dose and they would be desperately waiting for it. We travelled two weeks later and they were fine. Hope all goes well x

Schrod and Working all that makes sense. I feel we are in the lull of the storm and it is all going to kick off. Food presently stuck in wound and DC not willing to gargle as thinks it will go up nose. Broccoli and sweet potato not such a good idea after all. Also think that Co-Codomal is going to present problems so will phone GP about getting some Naproxen. (Think arm is slightly swollen so checking it's not a reaction.)
Checking to see if Lucozade sport an option. Just wants water so far.

I got my tonsils out at 17 I remember my 1st meal being cornflakes . I think it was a pretty speedy recovery I was signed off for 3 weeks to prevent infection . Best op I ever had really suffered for years with tonsillitis and quinces

Haven't read all replies so apologies for repeating anything but I had so many bouts of tonsils following glandular fever all through university that I missed lectures and had doctors notes for exams.

They eventually removed them when I was 20. Best aftercare was regularly gargling with soluble aspirin, a kind of green spray that numbed the throat (these in conjunction). We were also given pretty well done toast the next morning and nothing soft at all.

Good luck.

Re food - we were told it had to be scratchy food to keep the wound clear - advice has completely changed from the old days. So my DC ate normal food from the start.

Good stuff! Avoid fresh tomatoes, anything with vinegar and fresh lemon on or in it - burns like fury. I was about 20 when I had mine out.

Lots of crisps and toast was how I survived. The first 48hrs was fine, then I had a bleed, but managed not to go back to hospital. The pain management was a big problem, so if you have to get him to set his phone alarm to quickly pop pills in the night to keep himself topped up, I'd recommend it rather than wake up in the morning with all the pain killers and anti inflammatories having worn off hours before.

Ice poles were great for the cooling effect and getting liquid in without big gulps. Ice cream not great as it was claggy in the throat.

Lucozade will be fine, I think I drank everything and anything cold.

Thanks all - will try to encourage all these new ideas. Can’t believe Working how awful it would be to have 2 x teenagers at same time . Going to try to get the gargling underway and the alarm reminder for painkillers

Thanks 46 - it wasn’t meant to be that way but cancellations ended up with them both due to have them about the same time, so we bit the bullet and had one done at 9.30am and one at 10am the same day. It did get all the stress over in one fell swoop and they were able to amuse each other too. They were well enough to go to Wimbledon one week later - tired but ok so long as they had their painkillers. And it’s been so brilliant them not being ill all winter this year!!!

All day when I got frustrated i kept thinking how dealing with two at once must have been...
So still not got salt gargle going. However has had PomBears and toast. Still only wants to drink water but been putting ice cubes in it.... Arm swelling disappeared so still on co-codamol. The painkiller routine being followed as per your suggestions .... Midnight, 07.00, 13.00 and 19.00. Face puffy and ears really sore. Again thank you all.

I was 19 when mine were removed. Horrific pain for 2-3 days (ears as well as throat) but gargling with soluble aspirin helped massively.

Foodwise, smooth and cold food like yogurt, custard, angel delight for a couple of days helped before graduating on to well buttered toast etc. helped.

Provided that there is no post-op bleed and he rests and takes plenty of painkillers and fluids, hopefully he should make the holiday as planned.

Wisdom teeth are a breeze after tonsillectomy- I had x 4 out under GA a few months afterwards and it was sore but nothing like tonsils!

Crikey Sunshine what an awful time you had at 19.

Have they given you other things as well as cocodomol? We had two or three layers of painkillers so my DCs were getting something every couple of hours. Am surprised they haven’t given you more!

Fortysix I didn't mention the 3 x pilonidal sinus surgeries the year after

Oh dear Sunshine hope you are fine and dandy now
Working- just checked we only have 10 Cocodomal tablets left. Not given anything else. Was only given 30. Don't know how I'm going to get DC through the weekend. Will call GP surgery tomorrow. Again thanks for hand hold.

It was a long time ago lol. Hope your DS is ok - the most important thing is to keep the painkillers up, even if he feels he doesn't need them.

Ring the GP tomorrow just to see if he can get more co-codamol to tide him over the weekend. Failing that, regular paracetamol and ibuprofen taken at intervals should help.

My tonsillectomy was way more painful than childbirth and I've a high threshold for pain. Don't underestimate the power of painkillers! Hope DS is over the worst soon.

Do call the GP - if your DC isn’t gargling or eating then it sounds like the pain is not under control. Mine I think had transfix, diclofenac and prescription strength cocodomol - though I may be misremembering as I have nursed other people post surgery since. But for sure you need full on pain relief for two full weeks and it sounds like you have not been given enough.

Ffs autocorrect- tramadol not transfix.

Oh and sunshine - huge sympathies!

My husband just had his out at 40 a few months ago and we were shocked at how grim the recovery process was.
I agree with those who say that the second week is worse - it seems to peak around day 7/8 (also around this time when you should be very alert to any bleeding) but after day 12 or so you should see a huge improvement.
Really do try and get her to gargle salt water, and is she still brushing her teeth as normal? Really important to keep it as clean as possible in there if you can.
She may find her taste buds have been affected for a while - a period of months even - but they will eventually go back to normal.
Wishing your dd a speedy recovery, it's really not a pleasant op when you're a bit older and can feel like a long hard slog to feeling better again.

You dc, sorry....not sure if we or ds!

Argh, dd*, not We! Stupid phone.