Tonsillectomy/snoring surgery - what's it like?

[Pebblszzz]

I've heard it all from the doc, now I want the REAL scoop!

If you or someone you know has had their tonsils out, what do you remember about things like:

1. How long till you're totally 100% normal?
2. What did ya eat?
3. Did it hurt real-real-real bad? I hear it does...
4. I'm told to expect black eyes - did that happen to you?

I'm getting "the works". Snoring surgery, tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy, and they're doing something to rearrange my sinuses....

I figure, get it all over with at one time - save money, save time, and do it ONCE.

47 hours till I go under the knife!

I want my mommeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

 

[DaisyDebbie]

I don't know about the surgery, but Hi Pebz, long time no see

 

[luvwinnie]

and it was PAINFUL...DO NOT DRINK THROUGH A STRAW. I didn't know this and it hurt more than anything! I had sherbet, mashed potatoes, fruit baby food, Jello. But LIQUID Tylenol for pain. It took at least a week for my pain to go away. Good luck!!

 

[dandave]

I had my tonsils taken out about 10 years ago. When I first got home from the hospital, I felt fine. I even ate a meal from KFC. The next day, the real pain started. I couldn't turn over in bed, and I could hardly get up. I had the most horrible pain in my chest from the anesthesia. My tongue was black and icky, from the "jack" they use to hold open your mouth. My head felt like it was going to explode for days. I have TMJ, though.
I mostly just drank liquids and slept for the first few days. I remember my throat hurt for about two weeks. It was worth it, but it hurt like heck.

 

[Pebblszzz]

a JACK? Yikes!!!! I was wondering how they hold your mouth open. You'd think they'd put the "jack" between your teeth, not on a soft spot like your tongue! thanks for the warning, though.

I hurt my jaw exactly a year ago, and it's still not 100%. Sometimes when I yawn it feels like it's going to snap (break). I should warn the doc about that!

My grocery list is getting big, thanks so much everyone for the tips on what to eat. KFC? You were brave! I'm not even going to consider solid food for at least 4 days, I'm sure. My neighbor said her friend lost 18 lbs. after having her tonsils out, that's something to look forward to, at least!

I'm calling this my "stop-snoring-stop-smoking-lose-weight" plan!

 

[CyranoJones]

I had my tonsils and adenoids taken out when I was about 33. The good part is that I no longer have frequent strep infections. The bad news is that is was one of the more unpleasant surgeries I have had. I felt pretty lousy for a couple weeks afterwards. It took about 4 months for my sense of taste to return due to the way the tongue is clamped during the surgery. Even though it was pretty nasty, I am glad I made the decision to have it done.

BTW, the weight loss was an added benefit, LOL!

 

[MaryAnn B]

Pebz,

Good luck with the surgery and I'll say prayers that you don't hurt so much. Left a welcome on your other thread.

MAB

 

[browneyes]

I had my tonsils removed a month before I turned 25. I heard my recovery time would take forever because of my age. It didn't take too long to recover. I think within 2 weeks I felt a lot better. The first couple of days, I slept though. I was DEFINATELY not kissable for the first week or so. I was so glad to have those things cut out. I still have my adenoids. I didn't want much food (I lost about 15 pounds in the first few weeks after I had it done). I ate mostly soup, but I didn't have much of an appetite. It didn't hurt as bad as everyone told me it would. My throat felt dry and itchy for a couple of days, but it wasn't bad at all (especially with the pain meds). I've heard a lot of people eat lots of ice cream when they have a tonsillectomy. The thoughts of milk products didn't sit to well with me then. I ate banana popsicles instead. My ds had a tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy last year. He prefered fudgesicles and popsicles. He didn't eat much either. Chicken noodle soup every now and then. The dr's push you to take in more liquids than foods anyway. You need to keep hydrated (that'll speed up the recouping process).

The black eyed look will come from whatever they're doing for your sinuses. I didn't have black eyes from my tonsillectomy.

Good luck.

 

[Meriweather]

DH had the snoring surgery ....and his sinsues done.
It wasn't pleasant.
The throat pain was the worse pain he has ever been in.
Lasted a good 2 weeks..............

and.........you might not want to hear this. He still snored!!
He had the snoring surgery a second time............no go! Still snored.

Good luck with your surgery. Hope you heal fast!

 

[Doctor P]

I had the full UPPP surgery for sleep apnea that included tonsillectomy, uvulaectomy, shaving the soft palate, shaving back the turbinates in my nose, and correcting a deviated septum. The nose stuff is as uncomfortable as a major cold--you feel congested beyond belief. I had a fair amount of bleeding from the nose for several days, but that was merely an annoyance. Once you are cleared to sneeze and to blow your nose, do not be scared by what comes out of your body. I never knew your sinuses could hold so much material and much of it is really gross but very normal (e.g., pieces of stitches, bits of bone fragments, and lots of clotted bloody mucus).

The throat stuff was very uncomfortable for a long time. Imagine the worst sore throat you have ever had and then multiply by two. The good news is that, as bad as it tastes, regular liquid extra strength Tylenol was all I needed after the first two days. Mashed potatoes and pudding were too hard to eat the first several days. I had some level of sore throat for about a year after the surgery.

However, it was much easier to breathe than I expected, the pain was LESS than I expected but lasted much longer than I expected, and knowing what I now know, I would do the surgery again in a heartbeat even though it did not cure my sleep apnea. My quality of life is 100 times better.

 

[Dizzy-Disney4]

DH just had this surgery done on March 12th. He had tonsils/adnoids removed and also his turbinates (bones in the nose) removed. The nose wasn't bad, but his throat still hurts. He was out of work for about 2 weeks and was a real mess. He also said it was the worst pain he has ever had. I guess its real tough surgery for an adult (he's 34). He spit up lots of blood and other nasty stuff. He slept sitting up on the couch for about a week. The packing in his nose was horrible he said...after two days, he couldn't wait for it to come out. He still had a bad taste in his mouth and a bad smell in his nose. The doctor says he should return to %100 soon...gosh I hope. He lived on lukewarm water, jello, and room temp juice (nothing too acidic). It took a good week before he could eat anything with substance...ended up with mac & cheese stuck up in the holes from the nose surgery...gross but it was funny. I made him some custurd that he enjoyed and room temp broth.
Good luck, don't mean to try and scare you, but it is a tough surgery to recover from.
You can pm me if you have any more questions...I can always get answers from DH if needed.
Oh yeah...no balck eyes from his surgery.

 

[Pebblszzz]

TWO WEEKS! OMG!!! I have a very important client meeting on 4/22 (12 days after surgery), I hope I'm not totally out of it...

I can't imagine having it done TWICE. Your poor DH!!! (and poor YOU, if he still snores!)

Dr P - thanks so much for your tips. I was pretty much expecting "gross", and lots of pain...but it's nice to hear from those who really know what it's like, instead of doctors and nurses who say, "oh, you'll do just fine!" and don't really tell ya what you're in for!

Kathy - got that custard recipe handy? Don't ask hubby anything on my account, I don't imagine talking feels so great for him right now. I bought a little dry erase board so I won't have to!

I can take it - keep it coming, folks!

Thanks so much!

 

[Meriweather]

Originally posted by Pebblszzz
TWO WEEKS! OMG!!! I have a very important client meeting on 4/22 (12 days after surgery), I hope I'm not totally out of it...

I can't imagine having it done TWICE. Your poor DH!!! (and poor YOU, if he still snores!)

No, He wasn't out of it....just extreme sore throat. He went to work anyway
He finally had the sleep test done (as Dr. P said.....this surgery didn't cure the sleep apnea) and uses a C-PAP machine. That took care of the snoring.

 

[Dizzy-Disney4]

Sent you a pm

 

[helenabear]

I've never had this nor do I know anyone who has, but I just wanted to wish you all the best during your surgery and recovery

 

[Doctor P]

I want to add a few things--I had no visible signs of the surgery. No black eyes, no visible swelling. The ENT said that this type of nose work generally does not cause those kinds of complications. However, my nose was tender to the touch for several weeks.

I tend to recover from things fairly quickly, but I was unable to do a full day at work for over a week. I was under for about 4 hours and it took a long, long time to get the anesthesia out of my system. However, I had no real nausea after the surgery at any time though I did get a little bit bloated.

My recovery was also hampered by not being able to use my CPAP machine, so my sleep apnea did not allow me to have fully effective sleep.

By the way, my sister had the nasal surgery only and said that my description was really, really accurate and really made her recovery and presurgical preparation much easier (took away a lot of fear and also made her realize that a lot of what she felt was normal).

 

[Pebblszzz]

I feel so much better now knowing how rotten I'm going to feel!

Really.

At least I know what to expect.

I faxed a list of questions to my Doctor's office, too. They faxed it back. One of the questions:

"What should I expect during the recovery period? What is normal?"

Doc's reply: "Lots of pain. You will feel like you have a severe sore throat. Might feel congested"

LOL!!! "Might"???? I'm told there will be "packing" up my nose, so I would presume I'll feel pretty darn congested!

Doc confirmed that I'm having "UPP", which is the snoring surgery, after all. Said that adults don't even have adenoids! Also going to be doing:

Septoplasty
Tonsillectomy
Submucous resection of inferior turbinates

Geesh, this sounds like an awful LOT...

MOMMEEEEEE!!!!!!

 

[Doctor P]

Perhaps you don't want to know this (or they don't want you to know it), but you will still feel quite congested after they have removed the packing from your nose (usually within 24 to 48 hours). This is because they have likely also put some liners up your nostrils to keep them open and keep them from healing shut. You will feel quite a bit of relief when they remove the packing, but you will feel even more a week or so later when they remove the splints in your nose. They didn't tell me they were there, and I couldn't figure out why I felt I was so congested! They are painless to remove, really , so don't worry. Just thought you should be aware.

 

[Pebblszzz]

Thanks again, Dr. P!

I'm sure that there are LOTS of things they won't tell me until they HAVE to.

Glad I got my DIS buddies to keep me informed!

Sure, I'm scared, but nothing will stop me from going through with it. I know it's going to hurt worse than anything I could imagine, and I'm still doing it.

At first, I was doing it for hubby. I slept through my snoring, so why would it bother ME????

From what I'm hearing, however, my quality of life will improve also.

Y'all say a few extra prayers on Thursday morning, ok?

 

[Familyof6]

I was actually looking for a packing list to check if I had everything for our Disney trip...we leave in two days! Then I saw this thread (because it had the word "packing" in it).
DS 12 is having surgery in May...BTW Dizzy-Disney4, we are also in Derry! Small World for certain!
I have talked to a few people about what to expect for him in the way of recovery, but NO ONE told me how bad it was going to be. I guess I shouldn't scare him but at least prepare him! He's had strep 6 times since Jan...and we're taking a RX with us to WDW just in case he begins to feel lousy again.
DD has also had strep 3 times since Feb...the last being NOW . I had to call today to reserve a refrigerator at our resort so we can keep her med cold. I suspect she will be next in line for this surgery, but at this time we're just seeing how it goes with DS.
Thanks for being online and supporting one another...and unknowingly, me. I needed to hear this from "real" people who have felt the pain. I know the results will be worth it. I have had the worst winter here in NH! There was actually one day that all 6 of us were at home sick!(with various ailments) I've had it with illness! I NEED this vacation!
WDW(and warm weather) here we come!

The best part about this trip is....the kids don't know! They don't even suspect a thing! I'm packing everything for us, secretly. I can't wait to see their faces when they realize what's happening. They were just asking what they could do for this vacation because they were so bored! (it's only Sunday...another whole week of vacation to go, and they're bored!) They won't be bored from Tuesday on!

Thanks for listening!

Lisa