I'm thinking of getting a tonsillectomy. What to expect?

I had my tonsillectomy at age 24. My surgeon made it very clear to me that this is MAJOR surgery and what to expect afterwards. I'm going to say right up front that there is a good deal of pain for the first two weeks. The old adage about being able to eat as much ice cream as you want is completely true. That will be the only thing you can eat, especially that first week after. The 2nd day after the operation, my incisions hemorrhaged and I was spitting blood all day long. I literally wanted to die and be done with it. My job at the time was barely paying the bills, so I tried going back to work one week after the op. I Iasted an hour and a half. I could feel pressure on my healing incisions, making them feel like they were going to burst open again. Everyone else noticed I was struggling also, and mercifully, my boss sent me home, as I, stll out of it from the op, didn't have the good sense to voluntarily leave. I was able to return to work on light duty after two weeks, but didn't feel healed for a good month.

I had my tonsils removed because I was getting throat infections every other month. You didn't say what your problems with your tonsils are, but if they're the same as my own, try these things before you go for the surgical option.

1) Saline nasal rinse and gargle.

An ear, nose, and throat doctor gave me this saline recipe:

1Tbsp non-iodized salt (iodized salt burns the nasal passages)

1tsp baking soda

32 oz water

Mix it up, gargle with, but even more importantly rinse your nasal passages with either a netti pot, or a rubber bulb syringe. I prefer the syringe because it blasts out all that caked on blood, snot, and boogers that you never knew were there. That's the stuff that gets infected. It truly was amazing to me to see what all came out of my nose and throat with the saline rinse. If you still are having a problem with your sinuses...

2) Get a prescription steroid nasal spray.

These work great at keeping the blood, snot, and boogers (I know, enough about that) from collecting in the first place.

Surgery of any kind should be the option of last resort. If that is your choice however, I'd carve out a two week time-out from my schedule for recovery. As for being in class two days afterwards, re-read what my second day was like. You may indeed be tougher than me, and be able to make it to class. I guarantee though that IF you're able to pull that off, that will be all you'll want to do that day. Being cut on is not something the body forgives easily.

Oh man - it's so easy now with the newer technologies. They can cauterize the cuts as they make them - and you don't even have to be 'put to sleep' - they have drugs which can just keep you in the twilight of consciousness - you kind of enjoy the whole thing and it's a LOT cheaper than being "put out" like in the old days. In the bad old days, you ended up with a stomach full of blood because they just cut out the tonsils and let the wounds bleed out. It was pretty horrible.

So much less pain and a lot easier time in every way. And if your tonsils are giving you trouble, it's so nice to get rid of them. You'll have a pretty sore throat for a few days though.

What to expect....hmmmm...Oh I know! A LOT of ice cream!! Mmmmmmm Dont worry hun, you'll be ok. I'm sure there will be SOME sort of minor discomfort, but heck we suffer minor discomforts for vanity reasons every day right? This is deffinitely something that should be done for health issues---I've been trying to talk hubby into getting his out for years...the snoring is terrible LOL

Best case senario you have OR in the am and go home in few hours, eat soft bland for a few days and back to school in a couple. But any procedure can have complications. I have seen people come back to er that night or anytime the first week for pain and bleeding control. I have seen people admitted for several days and others take 2 weeks to recover. Its all very individulaized, cant predict the unknown.