Tonsils, or the recently acquired lack thereof

Give her a toy.

It was 50-some years ago, but what I remember most from my tonsillectomy was the battery-powered 4WD bead-chain drive dump truck Mom and Dad gave me as a distraction.  That, and the copious amounts of ice cream.  I didn't know ice cream came in any flavors besides vanilla and chocolate.

The toy truck and strawberry ice cream changed my world.

Marjorie Suddard said:

I am most sincerely hoping no post-surgery needling. So far so good (fingers crossed.) Thanks all for stories, support, jokes (Toyman, yours made her lol, which in her world means she gave me a finger point, so cool).

I'm almost scared to ask which finger...

Nothing to add other than sympathy.  You would think with all the advances in medicine that there would be a better way to have them removed. 

What time did the patient go to the dentist?

Tooth-hurty.


Best wishes on her recovery. My sister had hers out as a late-teen and likened eating the first few days to having hot, acid covered abrasives scraping her tonsils.

Marjorie Suddard said:

She has had some pretty bad reactions to hydrocodone, which is available in a liquid, but tolerates oxycodone—which is not.

We've tried a couple different smoothies, but she just doesn’t feel like she can swallow anything. That’s today’s goal.

Thank you so much for the tip about lubricating her throat with water before and after the stinging stuff. That might be a game-changer right there. Dunno why I’ve been cruising the internet for resources without coming here first.

Margie

I get horrendously dizzy from hydrocodone, like laying on the ground isnt close enough to the ground dizzy. If thats the way she reacts to it antihistimines are supposed to help(they dont for me but supposedly do for others)

My mom had radiation treatment on her throat, its not the same at all but the things that helped her because swallowing was painful were:

Ice water before, between and after

Thicker cold food, yogurt was easier than say ice water

Nothing that has any citric acid in it or acidic in anyway.

Not sure if any of that will help. There is also various throat numbing agents, chloroseptic might sting, maybe theres a oral Lidocaine? Or just Anbesol?

And depending on what medication she is taking you might be able to add a half dose of Advil or Tylenol before her main pain relief wears out. Tylenol can be mixed with most things if the need is dire(i get migraines and have done advil and tylenol a lot)

My wife had hers out when she was mid-twenties.  Few days after, she was laying in bed, coughed, went into the bathroom and had blood running out of her mouth.  She was worried about bleeding in the car.  Got her a big pitcher to lean over and hauled ass to the hospital, with the Integra GSR well into the triple digits.  Got to the ER, and they were going to take her right back.  Guy who had been waiting with his daughter was not too happy about this, but when he saw all the blood, he went pale and backed out.  Turns out she had broken a clot loose, which made a bit of a mess.  

They never called the surgeon, who, despite being a very zen guy, who lost it when he found out.  She was so dehydrated they had to admit her and run in some IV fluids.  Moral of the story, do not get your tonsils out as an adult.  If this is not possible, numerous tiny sips of fluids to stay ahead of the dehydration.

Usually day 3 is the worst for things like this and it gets better pretty quickly after. How is she feeling now. 

Day 6 and it’s been pretty much all first-night horrors, so it’s been a E36 M3 show. Called the doc yesterday morning after a horrendous weekend and got a fill-in this morning. She’s lost 11 pounds, swelling is bad, fever is low grade, overall no clots and no obvious bleeding risk, but otherwise she’s a mess. Got a steroid shot instead of the Medrol pack (because drugs now yes and 30 pills no), and she ate more than she has in the past 5 days (most of a Snak Pak, an egg). She’s sleeping now.

tl:dr version: berkeley this surgery forever. No one over the age of 6 should attempt it.

Damn, I hope the drugs are effective at reducing her pain and fever quickly. This whole thing sounds like a nightmare. Sending healing vibes her way for good measure! 

Oof, I'm sorry to hear this.

I wonder if she's got a bit of an infection going on. I had my wisdom teeth done in my 30s and ended up with swelling that just wouldn't go away. They finally diagnosed it as a deep neck infection. That bought me a trip to the hospital for IV antibiotics for another 3 days. 

I hope she starts feeling better soon. 

The oxycodone is some pretty strong stuff.  It's getting to where you can't prescribe it without worrying some government authority is going to come raid your office, so if she got a script for it, I'd say "good doctor."  She can let that small pill dissolve in her mouth instead of swallowing it, if she has that much trouble swallowing.  Stay hydrated.  If she gets dizzy when she stands up, she has way too little water onboard.  Like dangerous too little.  Get at least 2 liters of water a day into her.

"Get Well Soon..."

In reply to Dr. Hess :

Yeah, the script was a pain—couldn’t be called in, had to be picked up in paper form at the doc’s and then dropped off at the pharmacy with a copy of my ID. I haven’t felt this Kentucky since I visited my cousins in Colorado and they kept saying, “Say Caintucky!” Fortunately, it seems to work. Will let her know she can dissolve her nighttime dose on her tongue, thank you. :)

Margie

Dang, get well soon. I had mine out as a 4 year old so I just remember ice cream and toys. 

Wondering about my 15 year old as he seems to get sick more frequently than normal and it's usually a throat infection. We were just overseas for 2 weeks and he came down with it bad when we arrived, got a cycle of antibiotics, was ok for a couple days and it came back. Poor kid slept for a big chunk of the trip. Drs at the International Hospital gave him a higher dose and longer run of antibiotics and had his blood tested for dengue as a precaution, but his throat was damn near swollen shut and his labs came back negative for dengue but way out of wack. Told us he has bigger than average tonsils that are more prone to infection and when they get infected they swell up even bigger so to consult with an ENT when we got home about getting his tonsils taken out but the guy we saw said they do tonsillectomies for people who get strep 5+ time a year.

I don’t know your son’s case, but if in doubt, earlier is better. You do NOT want this surgery as an adult, and you don’t want your kids to have it as adults. I would suggest a “E36 M3 got real”convo with his ENT, who surely has an opinion, even if the stats say something else.

My wife had jaw surgery as a teen. I think they took some bone from her hip and elongated her jaw or something. Total craziness.

Anyway, she does have a great story of chicken enchiladas while wired shut (which she was for about 12 weeks?). The story goes that as week one rolled by she was finally cleared to start eating food again, instead of ice and yogurt and popsicles. She was, as you may imagine, quite hungry.

Mom was making famous chicken enchiladas and everyone was excited. Dad even got out the blender so his wired-shut daughter would be able to enjoy a good hot meal. The doctors had given them a big syringe with a rubber tube. Supposedly you could load this thing up with blended food, feed the tube through the wires, and pump dinner into your mouth. Easy enough, right?

Dinner is served, enchiladas are blended, syringe is loaded. Everyone is enjoying their feast. Except my wife. The tube has clogged, and the syringe is jammed. Everyone is laughing and eating and being a big happy family but no one noticed the girl not getting her food. Before long she is crying, partly because of the syringe, but more because she anticipated the meal, is so hungry, and because no one is noticing her struggle.

Dad sees her crying. He comes to help. Finds the syringe jammed. Pushed harder. Still jammed. Dad gets pissed. How can this damn piece of plastic be ruining this meal for my daughter? 

You can guess what happens next. Syringe gets hit HARD. Jam frees. Blended enchiladas fly. My wife ends up covered in blended enchiladas (not to mention struggling to breathe).

Moral of the story? Well, I don't really know. Maybe it just helps. Maybe I'm being like her dad in this case and trying to help but just making things worse. Sometimes it's hard to know going in...

Nah, this totally helps. Very timely.

katie is starved by this point, and we make her a smoothie today that will solve ALL the problems. Still... she can’t drink it.

i realize why when I dump it into the sink, and not even the disposal can make it go away. The thing just hangs above the drain like a berry blood clot. 

Tomorrow, we try again. With more modest goals.

Margie

A coworker of mine had his out in his 30s and lost 50 pounds.  It was rough for him.  Hope you all fare better.

Aaand this morning’s development is blood! A small bleed, stopped in minutes, but it’s earned us another trip into Atlanta traffic to see the doc, for the second day in a row.

Every step forward has been accompanied by a 3/4 step backward. Someone’s gonna get a letter. Anyone know who’s running this world?

edit: Better question—anyone have Satan’s address?

Margie

In reply to Marjorie Suddard :

Yeah, I've got it right here:

Democratic National Committee

430 South Capitol Street SE

Washington, D.C., 20003.

In reply to Dr. Hess :

Well played, sir. 

Oof. This whole thing sounds like no fun at all. I think the others are spot on about the OTC meds. With the smoothies, maybe try to get them thinner so they are easier to swallow. 

Mrs Suddard,

As is mentioned above, staying hydrated is of paramount importance.  Lots of little sips, stand over them and make them drink fluids.  Use your Mom voice, you know what I am talking about.  Popsicles, otter pops, gatorade, push them to take whatever you can, don't ask her to drink it, tell her.  You want them to pee, and for it to be the right shade of yellow, think more lemonade, less coca cola.  Dehydration and the dope for pain can constipate them too, be advised. 

For smoothies, I like taking a banana and breaking it into about 7-8 pieces, wrap with saran wrap and freeze.  About 6 oz of yogurt, big handful of frozen berries, juice, and your frozen bananas in a blender.  Use enough juice to get it the right consistency.  

You may find that pediatric stuff will be easier to find in liquid form.  Tylenol and ibuprofen alternated will do wonders for them

My wife had the surgery done when she was 25.  it was pure unadulterated hell for her but she had been sick most of the 18 months before she had them out.  She now has an iron constitution.  As far as smoothies or other nutritional attempts are concerned, water down everything.  Then tell Katie this joke:

How many New England Swamp Yankees does it take to change a light bulb?

Two.  One to change the bulb.  The other talks about how great the old one was.

If you don't have a Vitamix or Blendtec, get it. No seeds. Really liquifies everything. If it is thick, put more water in it and blend again. 

I had mine out at 19 yrs.old in the Air Force.   Sat in a chair, had groggy feeling and the doctor talking to me.    Then out like a light.

 Spent a rest full  week in the sick bay.   Was asked if I wanted another week.    I didn't.   Bored.