Hello

Hi and welcome. I haven't had any surgery but I'll tag Peter who has had both tonsillectomy and neck dissection PFJTHS

He's a great explainer and has helped lots of folk in your situation.

I can recall, though, that generally tonsillectomy in an adult is pretty painful so make sure they give you lots of analgesia to take home. Most people here report that two weeks is around the usual time to be pain free. 

With your neck dissection I think you can expect to have a drain in for a couple of days and be pretty on top of things in less than two weeks. The surgeons are pretty slick and leave little scarring and even that is in the creases of your neck so not noticeable. 

Don't google....there are some really alarmist and stupid stories floating about. 

Do stay with us and tell us how it goes. Fingers crossed with such an early stage you won't need radiotherapy.

Best wishes

I had exactly the same diagnosis two years ago and had my right tonsil removed at the same time as a neck dissection. The surgery itself was ok but it got pretty sore around days 3 and 4. You will have plenty of painkillers to keep it under control though so it’s always bearable. They will keep you in until they’re pretty sure the risk of haemorrhaging is past.  For me, the recovery after this was steady and I was back to eating fairly normally after 3 to 4 weeks. Make sure you do any swallowing exercises you’re given religiously before and after surgery. It’s important. And have plenty of laxatives like Laxido or Movicol to hand as the morphine you’ll be given can cause bad constipation. (For me this was worse than the surgery!)  Hope this helps. 

Thank you I really appreciate it x

Hi Welcome from me I too had tonsil cancer T2N2NM I couldn’t have surgery I had chemo and radiotherapy. Keep off dr google stick to us on here. Peter am sure will pop on. I had biopsy on tonsil and managed with codeine. But tonsillectomy do take longer around 10-14 days. Remember h p v tumours respond reslky well to treatment. 
Hazel x

Hi, I had a Bilateral Tonsillectomy as part of my diagnosis/investigations. The surgery (My first!) was fine, but a bit sore afterwards of course.

The first week post op wasn't too bad, but I found days seven to ten were very painful indeed. The Paracetamol and Ibuprofen I'd been given weren't really doing a good enough job, so my partner got me some soluble Codine which helped a great deal. Swallowing tablets wasn't my favourite activity at that point!

As other have said, don't be afraid to ask for extra analgesia. We all have different pain thresholds, so there's nothing wrong with asking for help if you need it. 

Also, try to take your meals at the times your analgesia will be at peak effectiveness. I found that helped a lot.

By two weeks post op I was pretty much back to normal.

I don't have experience of the neck dissection, (yet!) so can't help there.

All the best with your treatment,

Tim.

1. Hi, it takes time to recover from surgery, your Surgeon team will advise you, hope all goes well x