A Tonsillectomy at 40???

I've bounced around many different ideas for this blog, simply because I didn't want to let go of the name - I have a fondness for that drivethruonly title! It was supposed to be about signs, but it really takes too much effort to drive around taking pics of signs. I'm so focused when I'm driving that I get annoyed at having to document things. It's enough to just look at it and laugh.

Then I thought I'd talk about food - food online, the gourmet stuff we actually order and wait to be delivered because its just THAT good. I may still do that. But right now, I want to focus on something else - my tonsillectomy.

I'm a 40 year old woman having a tonsillectomy tomorrow, and I'm abso-tively terrified. I've done my research - probably over researched - and found a few really interesting links to message boards where they were discussing the horrors of this procedure on adults. This thread in particular http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=119682&highlight=tonsillectomy+recovery+for+adults has been incredible in keeping me both informed and up all night shaking in fear. But it looks like it got so long that it was closed and the last post was from April of this year.

There's probably not much left to answer that hasn't been covered in there already, but I thought I'd document a bit about my own surgery in case there are others looking for information. What I'm trying to do is collect all of my remedies ahead of time, whereas most people go through the surgery, then start looking for help while they're in the throes of agony. So I'm trying to collect a list of things I will need immediately after surgery so I can keep the pain at bay.

Based on what I've read, this is what I think I'll need:

Nasal spray - one that alleviates the swelling that's expected from the trauma to my tonsils, since they're all connected back there. Apparently, it gets swollen pretty bad and makes you even more miserable

Hypercal tincture - this is an antiseptic/pain relieving mouth rinse made out of calendula and hypericum that's supposed to be really, really effective at numbing the pain. Problem is, I can't find it anywhere. All of the links I found point to sites in the UK, but the posts I read about it suggested that it could be found at health food stores, however, none around me have it. If anyone has upcoming surgery and has the time available, I'd say ORDER it online from the UK sites and just get it delivered. I didn't have that kind of time so I'm going to see if I can find a substitute mouth gargle. Don't know what that will be as of right now though....

Chloraseptic spray - I do have some of this already. Get extra strength if you can, its always been pretty good at numbing sore throat pain and I imagine it will feel good to spray down my tonsils - rather, the site of my former tonsils. Then again, it might burn like hell at first....however, I'm willing to be the guinea pig on this.

Penicillin or other antibiotic - make sure you get an antibiotic because apparently there's a high chance of infection after surgery. Your doctor should give you one, but just in case you don't, be sure to ask for one.

Something stronger than Tylenol! They're giving me Tylenol with codeine, but Tylenol does nothing for me whatsoever. So I'm asking for liquid Vicodin, and if they turn that down, I'm asking for something else like Percocet or whatever else.

Vaporizer - I'm told that the night air and especially air conditioning, wreaks havoc on your throat after the surgery, so I'm going to get a vaporizer to help me sleep.

Oticaine - for the ear pain from the intense muscle spasms after the surgery. If I can't get this, I'll just do sweet oil and aloe vera gel, which are both soothing.

Liquid vitamins - I already have some because I stopped being able to swallow pills some months ago.

Heating pad - it was suggested that warm heat compresses in the areas of the ears and throat will help the pain, as well as a hot shower.

Vibrating massager - this is my own idea that I'm going to try - I have one of those small robot looking massagers, the kind that look like little spaceships. I'm going to hold it to my ear when the pain starts, hopefully the vibrations will help, we'll see.

Some other suggestions from the board were:

Try to start medicating BEFORE the previous painkiller wears off. For instance, after coming home from surgery, you will have plenty of the painkiller in your body already, and that will last approximately 24 - 48 hours before real pain kicks in. Try to take something else around the time you feel the edge coming on.

Since swallowing will be extremely painful, spray first with Chloraseptic, wait, then take the liquid painkiller, wait until the numbness is there, then eat and/or take whatever pills you need, such as the antibiotic.

What I found interesting is that the American posts all indicated that they were given a diet of liquids and soft foods only, but the European posts mostly all said that they were told to eat regular foods as soon as comfortably possible - and they believe it helped their recovery to be much faster. They ate toast, oatmeal, pretzels, scrambled eggs, things like that (nothing rough like peanuts or fried foods) and the thought is that these foods helped regularly scrape the affected areas so the scabs didn't form as thick, helping to lessen the amount of bleeding and soreness when the scabs come off.

Constantly sip ice water, the coldness will help soothe the throat and keep it hydrated.

When the bleeding starts, gargle with ice water to stop the bleeding.

Several times a day, gargle with salt water (not sure if this should be warm or cold, I guess whatever you can stand) to promote healing.

Try to stay with your head elevated as much as possible for drainage. Sleep in an upright (or mostly upright) position, if you can stand it.

That's all I can think of for now, I'll add to it as I remember. The closer I get to the time, the more nervous I am. I really wish there was another way but I want to believe that my doctor would have suggested an alternative if it existed.

Pray for me.

adult tonsillectomy