I didn’t really sleep well the night before the surgery, which is understandable. I woke up like I normally do and my wife and I got the kids ready for school. We made our way over to the hospital as we had to arrive two hours before my scheduled surgery time of 9:45am. We checked in and waited.
Arrive at hospital
I was finally called back and asked to put on the lovely hospital gown that they give you, which always seems so demeaning, or maybe it’s just me. I spoke to a nurse to confirm a few things: why I was there, some personal information, and some of the medications I was taking. She then had my wife come back to be with me which helped to have someone there who you know. Strangely enough I wasn’t as anxious as I thought I’d be. This was my first surgery in my life involving general anesthesia and I had no idea what to expect with that let-alone what it feels like to have two pieces of flesh cut out of your mouth. Before the surgery I figured that if my wife had two cesarean sections for our two boys and the fact that kids get tonsillectomies all the time, I should be fine.
Surgery time
I spoke with my anesthesiologist and she also confirmed some information and explained what was going to happen. Nurses and surgery personnel are always so empathetic which is something that – goes without saying – is always so helpful during life’s important emotional moments. I was finally called and gave my wife a kiss before heading back for surgery. I was wheeled into the operating room and a team of surgery personnel was there to greet me with masks on and a nice breathing mask waiting for me. They put it on over my face and asked me to breath in deeply. Well my friends, after that, it was lights out!
Post Operation
I woke up in the recovery room with a nurse watching over me and checking my vital signs. Her first question was, “on a scale of one to ten, how bad is the pain”? I told her it was a six, but little did I know that I had some morphine type pain killer in me as well as a local anesthetic on the areas that were just sliced out. After a few minutes I explained that the pain was increasing and she injected some more pain medication in my IV. The pain lessened after that and I soon gave her a rating of five. Before leaving the recovery room she wanted my pain to go down to a four or less. After another 20 minutes it did.
I was taken to the same area I was waiting in before they wheeled me into the operating room and my wife was allowed to come in and see me. She was so helpful and seeing that I had water, ices, blankets, etc. I ate some ices before taking some codeine. The codeine was VERY helpful in reducing the pain and helping me sleep. While all of this was happening my local anesthetic was slowly wearing off and the flesh in my mouth was ever becoming inflamed, which was normal. My uvula, which they did not cut out, became very large and uncomfortable and I had to double-check that this was normal before leaving the hospital. About an hour later I was discharged and went home. I’ll quickly mention that my wife drove me home as you are not allowed to leave the hospital yourself or without a designated driver.
The drive home
It stunk as I was car sick the entire ride.
Finally home
It was great to make it home as I was hungry and tired. The first thing I did when walking into the house was to eat some sorbet and jello before taking my first dose of pain medication. Since I don’t do well taking medication on an empty stomach, I had to eat something. The medication went down fine.
I went right to bed after eating and taking my medication and relaxed for a while. I made sure to start drinking lot’s and lot’s of water and took my medication at three hour intervals after setting an alarm to remind me.
After the local anesthetic wore off from the hospital it was very painful to swallow and my face would cringe every time I tried to. It’s not like you can’t swallow, it’s just that it was very painful. You must drink water to help recover so concentrate on remaining tough. If you don’t drink water you’re opening yourself up for a really bad experience and most-likely a visit to the ER.
Overall I rested, drank, and ate sorbet and jello. Swallowing really stunk but I finally went to bed that night with no problem.
The tonsillectomy night life
I set my alarm at three hour increments to take my pain medication. Here is a quote I heard which you’ll need to live by during this short time in recovery.
“Don’t let the pain get ahead of you, you stay ahead of the pain”
This simply means to take your medication at the prescribed times and don’t miss one, you’ll be sorry.