Tonsillectomy as an Adult - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

ken0042 · 07-25-2008, 07:45 PM

Just wondering if anybody else has gone through this as an adult. From my understanding getting your tonsils yanked as a kid is a relatively simple proceedure, but as an adult it's a whole other story. There's a lot of info and blogs on the web, but was hoping for the wealth of knowledge that is CP.

** Warning, do no continue reading if you are eating/ have a weak stomach. **

So, I had mine out on Monday. I thought I was as prepared as I could be. Took the garage fridge upstairs, bought a blender, had all sorts of things to drink, made a batch of mashed potatoes, bought soup. As of today I may have taken in about a total of maybe 700 calories over those 5 days. I've lost about 12 pounds which is something I could afford to lose, but I still know that much weight loss isn't healthy.

My issue is I seem to have this pile of phlegm that will just accumulate in the back of my throat; especially when I'm lying down. Now I can get up and clear most of it, but this is one of the things that is keeping me from eating and drinking, as well it's a pain to wake up every 20-30 minutes all night because you are choking.

Does anybody have any suggestions for how to deal with that, or any other suggestions that helped you make it through?

Oh, and the doctor gave me Tylonol 3s with Codine- not sure if that is the standard or not.

Flames_Gimp · 07-25-2008, 07:50 PM

get atropine drops prescribed from the doctor, they are eye drops but are used orally as well to dry up your throat. i take them every night.

Clarkey · 07-25-2008, 09:03 PM

I had that done a couple years ago. It was the worst surgery/health thing I had to deal with so far. I've had a week of beaver feaver, mononucleosis, wisdom teeth taken out and ecoli and the tonsils was the worst. I lost 20 pounds and didn't even drink much fluid in 2 weeks. That hangy ball thing (I forget the medical term) in the back of my throat swole to the size of a walnut and would choke me which caused me to cough which hurt like hell.

I would suggest getting some popsicles and numbing the back of the throat and then chugging some water quick. It's hard to do because it hurts so bad but you just have to do it. I didn't sleep for 2 days because of the pain/discomfort. I watched a bunch of seasons of Trailor Park Boys and Seinfeld in a row.

ken0042 · 07-25-2008, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clarkey

That hangy ball thing (I forget the medical term) in the back of my throat swole to the size of a walnut and would choke me which caused me to cough which hurt like hell.

They actually cut mine back quite a bit to eliminate snoring. So hopefully I won't have that to look forward to.

AC · 07-25-2008, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken0042

Does anybody have any suggestions for how to deal with that, or any other suggestions that helped you make it through?

Two important details:

1) Buy as many Popsicles as your freezer can hold. Those were the only thing I could eat for about a week. I literally couldn't eat anything for the first 3 or 4 days.

2) Set your alarm to wake you up in order to take some heavy duty painkillers about mid-way in the night. Waking up first thing with severe pain was by far the worst for me.

And I agree with Clarkey, this was the worst surgery I've had - (chest to repair torn muscle, wisdom teeth, foot (x2), knee).

I was getting better, and about 10 days later (which, along with right after the surgery, are the two biggest concerns for bleeding) I started to bleed badly.

I had to drive myself to the hospital with a bucket to spit blood into sitting in my lap. By the time I was first seen (30 minutes or so), I had begun to throw up gigantic blood clots. Basically the same size and consistency as raw chicken breasts. They gave me those cardboard tray things to throw up into, and I probably filled 4 of those in about 2 minutes.

After losing so much blood (and still waiting for some attention), I started to get super dizzy and couldn't see much very well, and had to get 3 emergency IV's put in place, and was rushed to get emergency cauterization surgery.

After that, I was basically fine.

So yeah... good luck ken!

Sylvanfan · 07-26-2008, 12:12 AM

Yikes...didn't Iginla have his tonsils out last year after the season and that was why he didn't play in the World Championships because he needed time to recover so he wanted to get it done early so he could recover and get back to training as soon as possible. And people had the nerve to call him a wimp! I read this and I'm thinking no tonsillectomy for me ever.

Dion · 07-26-2008, 01:09 AM

Thank god i had my tonsils out as a kid!

Hope you feel better soon Ken.

Hemi-Cuda · 07-26-2008, 02:40 AM

christ, i hope i have the same luck with tonsils that i've had with everything else. still have my wisdom teeth (all came in fully and straight), never had mono or any other virus more serious than a cold, have never had surgery for anything, hell i've never broken a bone (cracked a bone in my ankle when i severely rolled it, but i didn't even need a cast for it. healed in 2 weeks)

i don't know if i have wolverine type healing powers, but i'm quite glad i haven't had to deal with the kinds of crap everyone i know has

Devils'Advocate · 07-26-2008, 09:55 AM

I was getting tonsillitis 3 times a year and it would knock me right out, needing to take 2 or 3 days off work at a time. Then there was the time I passed out on a flight to Halifax because the tonsils had swollen so bad that my air passage was being blocked... ended up in the hospital for 3 days getting massive amounts of antibiotics. After that my doctor recommended a tonsillectomy.

And ken0042, it is 2 weeks of ABSOLUTE PURE HELL followed by 2 to 4 weeks of discomfort... but I can tell you that after being tonsillitis free for 5 years, it was bloody worth it!!!

So if you had yours out Monday, you still have a week of hell left. Sorry to bear the bad news. And about another month of discomfort. I didn't get my taste buds back for 6 weeks... I remember when I felt well enough to eat solid foods the first thing I did was order a big pizza... only to find it tasted like cardboard. I threw it out I was so disgusted.

Anyhow, hang in there.... here is a site with some really good suggestions:
http://www.karlkatzke.com/how-to-qui...y-as-an-adult/

Soup broth, meal replacement drinks and MacDonald's milkshakes got me through. Though it sounds like you are having more of a phlegm problem then I did, so the milkshake might not be a good suggestion for you.

Berger_4_ · 07-26-2008, 01:07 PM

I never understood...what exactly do tonsils do for you? Is it a good thing my mom decided to not have mine hacked out at a young age?

AC · 07-26-2008, 01:37 PM

"Like other organs of the lymphatic system, the tonsils act as part of the immune system to help protect against infection. In particular, they are believed to be involved in helping fight off pharyngeal and upper respiratory tract infections."

ken0042 · 07-26-2008, 05:27 PM

Thanks for all the advice guys, and especially thanks DA for letting me know that this current pain is all worth it.

I've tried all sorts of things but just can't seem to swallow anything again today. Yesterday was better and I actually had some Mr Noodles and Jello. Today I've tried a few times to eat a Mr Feezie and I just can't get it down. For the popsicle people, do you let it melt first or do you let yourself do a bit of a brain freeze to kill the pain?

Hemi- do you currently have issues with your tonsils? Because I'm 37 and have had issues every year for the last 10 years, and 2/3 of the time for the previous 10 years. It's only been the last few years where 1 batch of anti-biotics wasn't enough.

ken0042 · 07-26-2008, 06:59 PM

Well, I think I found the cause for most of my phlegm. It almost killed me to find it out though.

I decided I should probably grab a shower as I'm sure my g/f would appreciate it. So I'm sitting in the shower and the steam is helping me cough and spit up the phlegm, so I keep going. I see there's some blood, but not bright so according to my info, nothing to worry about. The next thing I know I'm choking- I cannot breathe. I try a few times to make this new lump go one way or another without success. My next thought is I better get to the phone to hit 911 before I lose consciousness, and just as I get out of the tub it comes up and out- a huge blood clot covered with all sorts of ugliness.

So, it appears I can now swallow fine. However whatever that clot was covering is raw as hell as water seemed to go down OK, but Sprite burned.

I was going to try drinking some milk next- what do you guys think? Will that go down loke the water or burn like the Sprite?

Devils'Advocate · 07-26-2008, 07:09 PM

Well, at that link I posted one guy said that he would coat his throat with milk or Ensure and then drink soup broth or juice... the cool viscous milk seemed to ease his throat. I had the same thing with the Micky D milkshakes... they seemed to really calm the pain in my throat. Though I didn't lose as much weight as my doctor said people usually do.

Flames_Gimp · 07-26-2008, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken0042

Well, I think I found the cause for most of my phlegm. It almost killed me to find it out though.

I decided I should probably grab a shower as I'm sure my g/f would appreciate it. So I'm sitting in the shower and the steam is helping me cough and spit up the phlegm, so I keep going. I see there's some blood, but not bright so according to my info, nothing to worry about. The next thing I know I'm choking- I cannot breathe. I try a few times to make this new lump go one way or another without success. My next thought is I better get to the phone to hit 911 before I lose consciousness, and just as I get out of the tub it comes up and out- a huge blood clot covered with all sorts of ugliness.

'

nasty.
choking isn't fun eh

Dion · 07-26-2008, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken0042

I try a few times to make this new lump go one way or another without success. My next thought is I better get to the phone to hit 911 before I lose consciousness, and just as I get out of the tub it comes up and out- a huge blood clot covered with all sorts of ugliness.

And here i am eating a bowl of ice cream and raspberries. Suddenly my dessert doesn't look so yummy.

Sounds like a scary experice, ken. Lets hope that's the last of your blood clots.

ken0042 · 07-26-2008, 07:34 PM

So, here's another question, now that I think about 911. Let's say I had just made it to the phone in time to call 911- I know they investigate every call; even the ones where there is nobody on the line.

But at that point it would be better for them to dispatch an ambulance from 2 km away than a police care from 8 km away, have the cop find me, call the ambulance, etc. Is there any way to contact that phonce centre so they know that "just in case" they get a call like that they can send the ambulance first?

missdpuck · 07-26-2008, 07:40 PM

Gee hope you feel better Ken ! Why does any surgery involving teeth, gums ,mouth, neck, throat have to hurt so much. It's like a cruel joke.....

Machiavelli · 07-26-2008, 07:44 PM

To answer one of your initial questions, T3s are pretty standard for prescription pain medication. There are even stronger pain medications that aren't as high up the scale as morphine, but still related to codeine.

Sorry to hear about your painful experience. Reading these posts has been pretty enlightening as I never knew that adult tonsillectomies were so serious with the after-effects. I salute you all; I can barely stand it when a huge clot comes out of my nostril after a big nose-bleed.

Flames_Gimp · 07-26-2008, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken0042

So, here's another question, now that I think about 911. Let's say I had just made it to the phone in time to call 911- I know they investigate every call; even the ones where there is nobody on the line.

But at that point it would be better for them to dispatch an ambulance from 2 km away than a police care from 8 km away, have the cop find me, call the ambulance, etc. Is there any way to contact that phonce centre so they know that "just in case" they get a call like that they can send the ambulance first?

you can call and arrange certain things, i think i actually requested and arranged exactly what you are asking.