Can someone help elaborate on what to expect???

Jason1111

My father goes in for surgery May 5th and ultimately he is terrified. He is getting 4 or 5 lymph nodes taken out of his neck. In addition to that he is getting his tonsils out at the same time to complicate things even more when it comes to eating. Has anyone here had both the neck surgery and their tonsild removed at the same time? If so, could you share your story on how well you recooperated? My father really needs some re-assurance.

Thanks again
Jason

Pam M

Hello
Wow, Jason - get ready for an onslaught. I can't help as far as having tonsillectomy and neck dissection at the same time. My treatment started with a tonsillectomy, and ended with lymph node removal a little over a year later.

For me, post-tonsillectomy recovery sucked. I was in a good deal of pain, anxious to get results from biopsies done with tonsillectomy, and very uncomfortable because of swelling. I'm usually "a manly man" when it comes to pain, and felt sorry for myself after the tonsillectomy. the lymph node surgery for me was much less painful, even though it was a "bigger" procedure. What bothered me the most was the swelling and burning from the tonsillectomy. And the swelling of my uvula - it ballooned, and drove me nuts - I was concerned it would block my airway (of course, it didn't - my airway was never in peril, but I was very anxious - I didn't realize the uvula would swell to the extent that it did).

Be ready to try different temperatures of liquids to see which ones he prefers at the different stages of recovery. You may also want to make "icicles" with water in popsicle molds - popsicles "burned" my throat and back of my mouth after the tonsillectomy - I was able to eat fairly soon after the neck dissection.


PUSH water. I think it really helped me to be hyper-vigilant when it came to water consumption and pain meds. I took my pain meds on schedule, and did not miss a dose - if I happened to be asleep, I'd have an alarm set so I could take pain meds and drink water. I had a timer that I used to help with water consumption. I knew that whenever my timer went off, I should have finished my water "dose", and start the next.

It took a couple weeks to recover from the tonsillectomy. I think like twelve days or something. I actually felt worse a few days after the procedure, then got better gradually, then had another dip around ten days out, I think (when dead tissue was "sloughing" off). For much of the time, I experimented with things to eat - the weirdest I got was a couple days of eating Fiber One cereal mashed up, with chicken broth poured over it. Please keep in mind that, in general, the less he drinks and fewer calories he gets in, the worse he'll feel. Hard to keep that in mind when you're not hungry, and eating and drinking hurt. I was on Roxicet for pain; some folks here got "better" pain meds - if the pain is too much, don't hesitate to urge him to let his docs know.

Do well. I had never had a surgery before my tonsillectomy - I was freaked out about being put under. It wasn't fun, but was not too much to handle, either. Please let him know there are lots of folks here hoping his recovery is as easy as it can be.

D Lewis

One lymph node and two tonsils
Hi, Jason

I didn't have a neck dissection; only one 3 cm node was removed from my neck. But, they did take my tonsils as well.

I'm not going to sugar coat this for you. Having tonsils removed as an adult seriously sucked. I was told I'd need a couple of weeks to recuperate, but it took longer. I really needed the pain meds. I had difficulty eating. I lost weight. I felt as though someone had lined the inside of my mouth and throat with wallpaper paste that set up and persisted for weeks.

Quite frankly, the lymph node/tonsil removal may have been the most difficult and painful part of the whole treatment process for me. Yes, worse than the chemo and radiation that followed.

If your father can get through this, and he must, then he will be able to make his way through the entire treatment process. There will be residual ill effects, there will be side effects, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. All he must do is take one step at a time. Then another step, and then another one.

Now is not the time to be terrified. Now is the time to focus, and to accept the fact that this will be the most difficult thing that he has ever done. And he WILL be able to do it.

My thoughts are with you both.

Deb

bpell0402

D Lewis said:

One lymph node and two tonsils
Hi, Jason

I didn't have a neck dissection; only one 3 cm node was removed from my neck. But, they did take my tonsils as well.

I'm not going to sugar coat this for you. Having tonsils removed as an adult seriously sucked. I was told I'd need a couple of weeks to recuperate, but it took longer. I really needed the pain meds. I had difficulty eating. I lost weight. I felt as though someone had lined the inside of my mouth and throat with wallpaper paste that set up and persisted for weeks.

Quite frankly, the lymph node/tonsil removal may have been the most difficult and painful part of the whole treatment process for me. Yes, worse than the chemo and radiation that followed.

If your father can get through this, and he must, then he will be able to make his way through the entire treatment process. There will be residual ill effects, there will be side effects, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. All he must do is take one step at a time. Then another step, and then another one.

Now is not the time to be terrified. Now is the time to focus, and to accept the fact that this will be the most difficult thing that he has ever done. And he WILL be able to do it.

My thoughts are with you both.

Deb

everyone is different
my mother JUST had her tonsillectomy. took her about 10 days before she was able to argue with me again

Many people on here shared how painful it can be and the doctors and nurses told us the same. She had 9 lymph nodes removed from neck about a month prior. My mom is a BAD patient.. and i was very nervous for her.

My mother was terrified!

My mothers post op pain was about a 4/10 on a pain scale. We were very suprised ( and certainly thankful) my mother gets very "doopey" with pain meds so she initially did not want to take anything but found the liquid codeine to be very helpful. It burned the first time really bad and she was scared again..second time was no problem! I put it in a spray bottle after day 3 and she would just spray a couple of times when she needed and liked this better.

She was able to eat soups, yogurt, oatmeal and milk shakes, slowly and in small amounts.

STEAM really really helped her. she would run the hot water and put her head over the sink with a towel.

Everyone is differnt .. i am certainly glad we were prepared for much worse and thankful it wasnt as bad as i thought.

My mom had 9 lymph nodes + tongue biopsy about a month prior. she did not have pain from the surgery at all but she was vomitting for 3 days from anesthesia.

No matter what the experience is, he will get through it. Being the child/caregiver is very difficult. my prayers and thoughts are with both of you.

stevenl

bpell0402 said:

everyone is different
my mother JUST had her tonsillectomy. took her about 10 days before she was able to argue with me again

Many people on here shared how painful it can be and the doctors and nurses told us the same. She had 9 lymph nodes removed from neck about a month prior. My mom is a BAD patient.. and i was very nervous for her.

My mother was terrified!

My mothers post op pain was about a 4/10 on a pain scale. We were very suprised ( and certainly thankful) my mother gets very "doopey" with pain meds so she initially did not want to take anything but found the liquid codeine to be very helpful. It burned the first time really bad and she was scared again..second time was no problem! I put it in a spray bottle after day 3 and she would just spray a couple of times when she needed and liked this better.

She was able to eat soups, yogurt, oatmeal and milk shakes, slowly and in small amounts.

STEAM really really helped her. she would run the hot water and put her head over the sink with a towel.

Everyone is differnt .. i am certainly glad we were prepared for much worse and thankful it wasnt as bad as i thought.

My mom had 9 lymph nodes + tongue biopsy about a month prior. she did not have pain from the surgery at all but she was vomitting for 3 days from anesthesia.

No matter what the experience is, he will get through it. Being the child/caregiver is very difficult. my prayers and thoughts are with both of you.

Tonsillectomy
Hi Jason,

Welcome to the site. Sorry for your need to be here but this is a good place for information.
I was diagnosed with stage 4 tonsil cancer in January 2010. I had a right side neck dissection, tonsils removed and lymph nodes removed. A week after that I also had 7 teeth removed. 2 weeks later I started weekly chemo and 33 daily radiation treatments.

Like the others have said, this is not an easy road but the fact that I am typing this right now proves it is doable and survivable. The tonsillectomy was very hard on me too. I had very good doctors and they gave me what ever I needed for the pain. This is very important because when your body is fighting pain it can't fight the cancer as well as it should. Chemo sometimes made me nauseated, but they gave me what I needed for that also.

One thing to remember is to take notes when talking to the docs. Do not do a lot of research on the internet because things like survival rates and many other things can be flat untrue or very misleading.

I have survived this long and and still cancer free. Your dad will be too. Never give up and don't let him. Stay strong and just try to be there for him.

Wishing the best for you,
Steve