My experience recovering from a tonsillectomy and septum deviation correction surgery
My tonsils were always monstrously large, I knew that. As my sleep problems got worse and two doctors recommended removing them, it was time to go under the knife. A septum deviation was also harming my oxygen inflow, so my doctor recommended fixing both at once. I knew the recovery could be tougher, but it would be only once.
“Let’s do it”, I said, and the surgery was scheduled for November 6th.
Day 1 — Surgery Day
Pain level: 2/10
Med count: unknown
Food: a freezie and two ice cream cups
The surgery started around 15h30, and it was supposed to 45–60min.
I barely remember waking up in the observation unit, where an attentive nurse measured my life signs and sent me back to my room wearing an ice scarf and sucking a freezie.
I got to my room around 17h45, indicating the surgery had been longer than expected, but I was only going to see the doctor the next day.
My eyes were a bit red, my nose was swollen, and small strings seemed to hold it together. The photo below is definitely not Tinder-material, but it illustrates it better:
Before bed, I still had two cups of ice cream.
I felt dizzy and tired from the anesthesia and meds, but I wasn’t in much pain. I texted my work colleagues and friends, telling them I was fine, and went to sleep around 21h30.
The night was a bit of a nightmare. My nostrils were completely blocked to avoid bleeding, so I could only breath through the mouth. That, though, caused severe drying of my mouth (including the scars on my tonsils). That caused extreme discomfort — not pain per se, but discomfort. That night, I probably woke up around 10 times (until completely giving up on sleeping around 4h) and drank 1.5l of water.
Day 2 — The day I was supposed to go home, but I didn’t.
Pain level: 5/10 in the morning. 3/10 during the day. 5/10 at night
Med count: 4 doses of Paracetamol, 1 of Novalgin
Food: crustless white bread with cream cheese, mashed potatoes with mystery sauce
I was supposed to be released on this morning. My doctor stopped by around 8h30, inspected my scars and her look told me what was inevitable: I was not able to go home. She told me there were some complications during my surgery, and I lost a lot of blood. My left tonsil, especially, was a bit of a disaster, and it required some stitches (they will be absorbed by the body in around a month, she told me). Because of that, I would have to stay in observation for another day.
She also removed the lids from my nostrils, which were massive and a very painful experience. She asked me to hold my nose for 3min, and let the nurses know if there was intense bleeding. A bit was expected, she told me.
After going through a whole pack of tissues and no stoppig in 30min, I called the nurse. She told me that was normal, and if I lost a cup of blood, then I should call her. She left three more packs of tissues and left, asking if I wanted pain killers. YAASS.
From that day for a week, Paracetamol Comb (with codeine) was my best friend. It allowed me to at least tolerate the pain of breathing, drinking, sleeping and eating.
That morning, the hospital served me crustless white bread with cream cheese and pudding. Eating the bread was torture, but I wanted to get better. Lunch was liquid, mashed potatoes with a creamy sauce, but dinner was bread and pudding again. This time, I couldn’t finish.
Speaking was harder than on the 1st day. My voice was weak, and it hurt to talk. As my parents visited me, I tried being a good hospital-room host, but for every second sentence, I needed a glass of water, which was also painful. I was happy when they left, around 16h.
That night, I had the room for myself. It was much better. I still woke up very often (at least eight times), when I just extended my arm, held the arm, aimed the straw and drank some water.
Day 3 — Free!
Pain level: 4/10
Med count: 2 doses of Paracetamol, 2 of Novalgin
Food: crustless white bread with cream cheese, mommy’s potato soup
At 7h30, the nurse told me I’d be able to go home and I was ecstatic. I took a shower, put on my civilian clothes and got ready to be picked up by my dad. I didn’t even care that my throat was painful, and that I had to eat the crustless bread again: I was going home!
The day went on well, and even though I was dizzy for most of the time, it felt good to be out of the hospital.
The short walk from the room to the car and from the car to my apartment were enough to make me bleed quite a lot through my nose, but I was happy.
My mom was ready to spoil me and prepared mushroom soup for lunch and xxx soup for dinner. We spent the day watching Netflix and relaxing. There was nothing else my brain would handle.
My pain was constantly there, talking was even more painful than the day before, but “Cmon, it was just the second day after the surgery”, I thought.
Day 4 — I should be getting better! Why am I not getting better?
Pain level: 7/10
Med count: 3 doses of Paracetamol, 1 of Novalgin
Food: mommy’s soups: pumpkin and mixed vegetables
This was the most frustrating day. The night of sleep was painful as the ones in the hospital, just a little more comfortable in my own bed. But my nose was still completely blocked, my throat hurt like a m***f*ck*r and my nose kept on bleeding.
My dad found a way to put me in a more sitting position, which helped a bit, but not on resting.
The whole day, I was in a bad mood. My parents kept interacting with me, which made things worse: talking was painful, and so was drinking water.
I was supposed to go back to the doctor on Monday, but I was not even near getting better. If anything, I was getting worse. It was sad to see my mom’s reaction to my faces while I ate her food, but it was not her fault.
Oh and the gases: mouth breathing is bombastic for flatulence. These days, I was farting and burping all the time. It wasn’t very smelly, or at least I couldn’t feel it. Thinking it retroactively, my parents were just very nice not to say anything.
Day 5 — seeing the doctor
Pain level: 6/10
Med count: 4 doses of Paracetamol, 2 of Novalgin, 2 of pantoprazol, 2 of antibiotics
Food: leek soup and Spätzle
On Friday, it was time to get back to the doctor for a general assessment. My night wasn’t as painful, but it wasn’t good either. The pain level was still very high, and there was no chance — at all — that I’d be able to get back to work on the following Monday, as the doctor quickly confirmed.
She asked how I was feeling, and I was honest that not very well. I still couldn’t breath through the nose (I left out the information that I still had not-so-small tubes in my nostrils to keep the openings intact), my nose was very sensitive and my throat was very painful.
She told me I could take up to 6 Paracetamol Comb pills through the day and recommended I upped the dosage to 2 in the morning, 1 early afternoon and 2 before bed, taking Novalgin in the intervals.
I would also need to take antibiotics — some opportunist anaerobic bacteria had moved onto my throat scars and were feeding on my blood.
She reaffirmed my need to drink at least 3l of water a day to rehydrate, which I took seriously.
She removed the tubes from my nostrils, which made my blood pressure drop and I almost fainted right there. My father and her helped me to a sofa, where I chilled for 10min before being ready to come back home. Which, of course, was accompanied from more nose bleeding.
Although the pain was still intense, I felt so much happier that I could finally breath through the nose. Not very well, sure, but breathing felt like a completely new experience and that was nice.
I adventured brushing my teeth for the first time since the surgery just to see a bloodbath, but it felt good to have a fresher breath.
Day 6 — like Foxtrot, one step forward, one step back
Pain level: 7/10
Med count: 5 doses of Paracetamol, 2 of Novalgin, 2 of pantoprazol, 2 of antibiotics
Food: mashed potatoes with BBQ sauce, spinach soup
Why isn’t recovery a linear thing?
After feeling better on Friday, Saturday wasn’t easy. The pain had increased, and after just a couple of hours from taking the pills, I wanted them again. The amount of drugs in my system didn’t help. Being stuck at home with my parents neither.
My mom didn’t feel well either, so she didn’t want to do anything. After much asking my dad went for a short walk around the block, but all I wanted was to quietly suffer alone.
Eating was as painful as ever, and I forced myself to drink all the water I could. By now, I hadn’t washed my hair for 6 days (I wasn’t allowed to wash my head for at least a week after the surgery), and I felt gross.
Even watching TV wasn’t fun. This was a day to forget.
Day 7 — a ray of light
Pain level: 6/10
Med count: 5 doses of Paracetamol, 2 of Novalgin, 2 of pantoprazol, 2 of antibiotics
Food: Processed rice and lentils, mashed pumpkins with chicken sauce.
Sunday wasn’t good either, but it definitely wasn’t as bad as Saturday. My afternoon nap was welcomed, and sleeping wasn’t as painful as the nights before. I removed the large pillows that raised my mattress to a 45 degrees angle so I went back to sleeping horizontally. I also threw the straws away.
For the first time, I felt more like an adult again.
I attempted my first solid food in a week, a piece of doughnut. While it was painful, it made me happy.
Day 8 — I should be going back to work. But I’m going back to the doctor.
Pain level: 4/10
Med count: 3 doses of Paracetamol, 2 of Novalgin, 2 of pantoprazol, 2 of antibiotics
Food: soft rice with black beans soup, gratin potatoes
When I woke up, I was so happy I didn’t have to go back to work. I was finally not feeling like shit, sure, but I was definitely not feeling good yet.
My doctor had requested to see me again, and getting out of the house — of course — caused some nose bleeding. But breathing fresh air felt good.
Her diagnostic was aligned to my feeling: the antibiotics were kicking in and helping me recover. My nose was definitely improving quickly, and my throat was finally following suit. She asked to see me after a month for a more general check-up, but if things were going well I could fade out the painkillers in 3–4 days and stop the antibiotics after 7 days.
My afternoon nap was pleasant, and I was able to eat solids without (much) pain. That night, I woke up only twice to drink water!
Day 9 — happy recovering
Pain level: 1–2/10, but 5/10 during cleaning
Med count: 2 doses of Paracetamol, 1 of Novalgin, 2 of pantoprazol, 2 of antibiotics
At this point, the pain isn’t as bad anymore. I was able to reduce the pills to one in the morning, one in the evening, just keeping the basics.
The doctor recommended I used a syringe and salt water to clean my nostrils. As I am still shouldn’t blow my nose for at least a few more days, I would have to inhale the remains and spit them through the mouth.
Of course I oversalted the water, and the first reaction was crying. It would get worse. I started sneezing and it was like the gates of hell had opened, with old blood coming out of my mouth and my nostrils non-stop. Not pleasant. However, I feel cleaner after it, and I’ll remember to be more restrained on the salt tomorrow…
With less drugs in my system, I was finally able to write my experience down. I know that I still need to be careful, and even going out for a few seconds to put out the trash made me feel a bit worse, so I am happy to have a few more days to recover before going back to work.
It is a long journey, so one’s better know what they’re up to before having the surgery.
