Tonsillectomy! Warning: disgusting photos ahead.
Lookout! There are some pretty graphic photos in this post, so if you're feeling queasy, stop reading now. But hey, what's the internet for anyway? Graphic photos! I'm pleased to do my part in making the World Wide Web an even more offensive place.
On Monday, three days ago, I got my tonsils removed. Here's a shot of those ping pong ball sized intruders, festering away in the back of my mouth for the past two decades, grossing out every doctor and dentist I've ever seen since high school. In addition to looking horrific, they blocked my windpipe, caused subtle non-stop coughing and runny nose, gave me strep throat FOUR TIMES in the past 12 months, smelled foul, and made my mouth taste like roadkill for the past three years. I'd like to take this moment to publicly apologize to my wife Dawn who has had to kiss me these past few years. And I'd like to send my condolences to the Ice Breakers Breathmint company, who are sure to go out of business now that my demon tonsils are GONE.
That's right, those babies have been extracted and incinerated, and I've been having one of the best weeks of my life. Yes, it's occasionally painful to recover from this surgery, BUT every 4-6 hours I take a hit of some serious narcotics, a medication called Roxicet ("you don't have to put on the red light") and I'm whisked off into a pain-free land of pure relaxation, heavenly deep sleep, and mellow happiness. On top of my drug-induced delight, my Mom & Dad are in town to care for Paavo and Svea, allowing me to rest, sleep, catch up on email, read, and chill out. So my parenting worries are alleviated, and I'm being ultra-productive. Here's a photo of me this morning...you can see the gaping black caverns where my tonsils used to reside. Gross, eh? Get this: my mouth tastes fresh and non-toxic for the first time in years! AND, food tastes twice as good as it used to! I had basic pancakes, and their blinding deliciousness almost knocked me over! Is this what normal people experience when eating? Holy cow, I have an entire universe of food and sensory input to rediscover!
So, there's the update. Thanks to Dr. Posey for doing such a great job, thanks to Nurse Dawn for being my at-home care coordinator, and thanks to my parents for taking care of the kiddos so I can recover. No singing for a month, no driving a car when I'm on these drugs, no sharp or crunchy food, no heavy lifting. It might take me another 10 days to get back to some sense of normal, but all this hassle is a small price to pay to free my mouth from being a toxic waste dump.
Okay, time to drink another huge glass of water, and prepare for my late-morning snooze.
On Monday, three days ago, I got my tonsils removed. Here's a shot of those ping pong ball sized intruders, festering away in the back of my mouth for the past two decades, grossing out every doctor and dentist I've ever seen since high school. In addition to looking horrific, they blocked my windpipe, caused subtle non-stop coughing and runny nose, gave me strep throat FOUR TIMES in the past 12 months, smelled foul, and made my mouth taste like roadkill for the past three years. I'd like to take this moment to publicly apologize to my wife Dawn who has had to kiss me these past few years. And I'd like to send my condolences to the Ice Breakers Breathmint company, who are sure to go out of business now that my demon tonsils are GONE.
That's right, those babies have been extracted and incinerated, and I've been having one of the best weeks of my life. Yes, it's occasionally painful to recover from this surgery, BUT every 4-6 hours I take a hit of some serious narcotics, a medication called Roxicet ("you don't have to put on the red light") and I'm whisked off into a pain-free land of pure relaxation, heavenly deep sleep, and mellow happiness. On top of my drug-induced delight, my Mom & Dad are in town to care for Paavo and Svea, allowing me to rest, sleep, catch up on email, read, and chill out. So my parenting worries are alleviated, and I'm being ultra-productive. Here's a photo of me this morning...you can see the gaping black caverns where my tonsils used to reside. Gross, eh? Get this: my mouth tastes fresh and non-toxic for the first time in years! AND, food tastes twice as good as it used to! I had basic pancakes, and their blinding deliciousness almost knocked me over! Is this what normal people experience when eating? Holy cow, I have an entire universe of food and sensory input to rediscover!
So, there's the update. Thanks to Dr. Posey for doing such a great job, thanks to Nurse Dawn for being my at-home care coordinator, and thanks to my parents for taking care of the kiddos so I can recover. No singing for a month, no driving a car when I'm on these drugs, no sharp or crunchy food, no heavy lifting. It might take me another 10 days to get back to some sense of normal, but all this hassle is a small price to pay to free my mouth from being a toxic waste dump.Okay, time to drink another huge glass of water, and prepare for my late-morning snooze.
Comments
I too googled you today and found your blog. I am getting my tonsils out friday. I am a professional singer and I have been told that Ill be fine in two weeks to reading a month in your blog. It looks like you are a singer too. How long was it till you could sing? Please email me and let me know. I am freaking out:-) Thanks!
fallonfranklin@yahoo.com
Im on day 10 I got my tonsils taken out August 1st. WOW what a trip it has been. I was prescribed viccodin or how ever you spell that.. almost all of my scabs are gone. I had chronic tonsilllitis!! worse thing everr. I`m finally getting back to normal. I`m off viccodin, just taking ibuprofen. Alot of poeple are shocked that I`m back up and going only ten days after. Recovering was hard coughing up stuff..the bad breath..not eatting yummy foods. I lost a good five pounds. Well i hope everyones recovery is going great. good luck
Brianna
This info may be especially helpful to the spouses/significant others who will be helping their tonsil-less sweeties in the first days after the surgery.
We didn't make this decision lightly since it would involve surgery requiring general anesthesia, time in the hospital (and, in turn, exposure to the germs that hospitals have that, in some cases, lead to infections), significant pain, pain management with major-league painkillers, and disruption to family life for several days. And did I mention pain?
Anyway, the decision was solidified a few months before the surgery when Jonathan had to go to urgent care and get a strep test (which was positive) and an antibiotics prescription while we were on vacation in a different state on his birthday.
The time had come!
So here's what happened afterward from the perspective of someone who was not taking prescription strength painkillers.
After the surgery when they finally let me see him, he was groggy groggy groggy as he came out of anesthesia. Once he was deemed fit to go, we headed to the car and I drove the short trip to our home. His pain started pretty quickly afterwards so we started with the Roxicet almost immediately.
We found that it wore off after about 3 1/2 hours, so the last 30 minutes were especially tough for him before he could take the next dose. We went through the whole bottle of that stuff and then the doc gave him a prescription for Tylenol with codeine which didn't work AT ALL, so he got a prescription for the second bottle of Roxicet.
Jonathan stays at home and cares for our two kids while I'm at work (what a guy this man is!), so for a week after the surgery we had arranged for his parents to be here to take care of our kids. He was in no position to be doing anything requiring movement, lifting, or sound decision making.
I'd never seen him in a chemically altered state before. (We've known each other 20+ years.) It was really, really weird. He was really, really glad whenever it was time for a Roxicet dose. I had to adjust to the fact that meds were really helping him manage pain even though they rendered him so out of it.
After the first week, his parents headed back to Michigan. On Monday and Tuesday of that second week, Jonathan called me at work at about noon and told me the pain was so severe that he needed me to come home because he needed to take the meds. He knew he wouldn't be able to drive our son to preschool and to parent effectively if he was taking the painkillers. Turns out he wasn't able to parent effectively without the painkillers either.
By Wednesday of that week he was able to be at home with our kids all day. By the end of the second week, he was in really good shape. Both of us were thrilled that those things were out. (They measured them and we figured that they were the size of 2 9-volt batteries!)
So, spouses/significant others, be prepared for some major disruptions in your life for a few weeks. You will see your sweetie under the influence of significant drugs. You will also see them in pain when those drugs wear off. You will need to assume most to all of the major household duties.
But it will be totally worth it to get those buggers out.
Once it was all said and done, it aches more than hurts and its controllable with the prescribed medications, which for me are Tylenol with Codeine. I asked the doc about recovery time and he told me that 3-5 days for the swelling to go down and 4-6 weeks before I could eat any harsh foods i.e. chips, popcorn etc.
Good luck,
Keep things in perspective and realize that the result is worth the temporary discomfort.
Two weeks post op from my tonsillectomy....and all I can say is thank God it is over! The pain has been overwhelming! I just ate my first meal in 2 weeks this past Friday. Drinking is still a little weird and feels funny going down my throat, but looking forward to NO MORE tonsil stones that smell bad!
If you are getting it done and have small kids definitely get them baby sat. I have a 7 month old daughter and my mum and grandmother have looked after her most of the week.
The pain is not so bad the first few days it gets gradually worse and worse up until about day 4. The doctor says the pain peaks at day 4 and day 7.
it hurts the worst when I wake up because my mouth is dry. Also when I burp and especially when I yawn that is the worst.
Good luck to all those getting the operation.!
Good luck to everyone having the surgery, I feel your pain.
All i can advise is that you take all medicines regulary, drink lots of fluids and sleep lots and lots!
The pain started to reduce after about 9 days for me, and im so glad i wil never be able to do this again.~
So, now, 11days later, im still not fully recovered. I stil cannot drink properlly, it hurts to talk and i dont have much tablets.
But its all worth it end and just remember 'dont worry, about a thing, coz every little thing, is gonna be alright'-Bob Marley lol
Good luck everyone...im sure u will all be fine...in the end :)
(any questions feel free to email me x_samfletcher_x@hotmail.com)
All the info in the UK says that people who don't eat/drink because of the pain get stuck in a vicious cycle where the pain gets worse because you are not keeping hydrated and keeping those muscles flexed! It also increases the chance of bleed if you don't eat normally.
Good Luck and it'll all be worth it in the end!
I would get discouraged at how slowly this is going, but I've read so many posts by others about how long it takes and how much it hurts that I feel like I'm right on target. My surgeon reminded me it would be a miserable 10 days and then things would start getting better. He used the "hot knife" method on me, kind of cutting and cauterizing as he went, and I haven't had one bit of bleeding. Of course, that could still happen, but at least it hasn't yet. I think the hydrocodone made me a little sick to my stomach and I had one bout of heartburn (maybe reflux which I never have had before) which was really horrible for a few hours. So for the first three days, I tried not to lay down flat right after I had taken my hydrocodone.
I'm glad I had this done, but it's not easy. Good thing I'm a very patient old lady with a very kind and solicitous old husband. he's been so sweet to me.
Good luck to anyone who is having their tonsils out as an adult. We belong to a very special club.
Previously I was constantly getting sick with strep and other related illnesses. It was causing me to lose a number of days and possibly real soon a job I love.
I was prescribed the generic form of Vicadin, Hydrocodone. Truthfully I don’t like it and tried to come off of it the fourth day. Trust me I got back on real quick! Popsicles, slushies etc at first didn’t work for me (they felt acidic and tasted gross. I usually love popsicles), and I threw up quite a bit the first 2-3 days. Then my fiancé went for Chinese food and bought me egg drop soup and a watermelon smoothie. It was the first time my nausea got under control. Since then (day 7) I have been drinking similar items and I have added mash potatoes to the mix, but I can only eat a little. Ice cream ha! Too much mucus build up from the dairy (I have enough already).
I rinse my mouth out consistently to keep it under control from the rest of my mouth. I looked back there with a flashlight and a magnification mirror. I saw a lot of mucus. My tongue also feels very sore and swollen. I thought about it yeaterday and figured that I may be biting it in my hard won sleep. So I am forcing my teeth together to keep my tongue from further damage, if that is what was happening. Feels weird though.
Oh by the way, I don’t use as many meds as I did on day 5, but I know that the child’s Tylenol they gave me won’t keep the pain under control, so I stick with the Hydorcodone. My fiancé has been a God send. I also sometimes ice my throat when it is real bad. Not for long you, will see if you try it, but it offers a great deal of relief.
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