So I was expecting to have a tonsillectomy to get rid of my swollen and lumpy tonsil. It didn't quite turn out as simple as expected. The surgeon straight away said " we might not remove it as we need know what it is first" . So I went under anaesthetic really not knowing what was going to happen.
The operation went to plan - whatever the plan was - and I woke up without a tonsil. I didn't have a huge amount of pain immediately afterwards and even managed an NHS sandwich that evening - a Thursday I think. I got to go home that evening as I had no issues with bleeding. For anyone reading this about to go through a tonsillectomy - it will hurt, but not straight away. My pain peaked about 3-5 days afterwards. Do not try and be a hero and not use the pain relief, just take what they give you and ask for more if you need it. I could manage to eat Ok'ish, and never really had a day when I could not get anything down, but that was because I used co-codamol and kept on top of the pain.
They do recommend that you eat roughish food - not just ice cream and mash! It helps keep the wound clean and prevents infection. I think I was lucky just having one tonsil removed, both would have been much more uncomfortable.
Overall I was off work for a week which was perhaps a little shorter than normal.
Up next - the waiting for the histology results and moving on to treating this thing.
