Healing Timeline: I pinky promise it gets better

Hey everyone! I wanted to provide my healing timeline, as I know it feels pretty hopeless when you’re in the thick of it. I posted in this sub absolutely desperate on day 5 post-op, and it was impossible to believe it would be significantly better a week later, but it really was! For reference, I’m a 27 year old female who got the surgery due to chronic and severe tonsillitis/strep. According to my surgeon, another infection was starting to form literally the day of surgery even though my throat wasn’t sore yet. He found the infection once he cut into them.

Surgery Day: Pain pretty low-moderate due to surgery meds. Probably around a I was able to drink and eat soft foods just fine. Pain Level: 4/10

Day 1-2: Pain started to increase, I was able to tolerate swallowing less and less, but oxycodone, ibuprofen, and Tylenol were managing pain effectively enough for me to function. Pain Level: 5/10

Day 3-5: Became genuinely unbearable. Even swallowing water became a torturous endeavor, and I couldn’t eat anything at all. Meds almost entirely ineffective at this point. I was exhausted from lack of sleep, hungry, and in so much pain. This left me feeling insanely irritable and desperate for it to just calm down. Pain Level: 8/10

Day 6-8: Still pretty bad, and pain was still increasing daily, but I was already in so much pain from day 5 that the increase seemed inconsequential at this point. The increase in pain was also a bit more subtle than it was the first 5 days. Pain Level: 8/10

Day 9: The first day I felt better than I had the day before. SIGNIFICANTLY better too. It felt like a miracle. Only took one oxycodone on this day before bed, because I was managing fine with ibuprofen and Tylenol. I only took the oxy because nighttime was worse for me pain-wise. I was able to drink water without issue, and I ate a McDonalds burger. The burger hurt even though I chewed it really well, but I was just excited to feel like I could eat something. Pain Level: 4/10

Day 10: Woke up with a mild sore throat, even better than the day previous. Had to be careful, but I could eat anything that wasn’t crunchy/salty/spicy with relatively little pain. I actually was relieved to feel so much better, because I went to a music festival with my mom and sister. I was nervous that I would strain myself, but I was completely fine even with some headbanging. Pain Level: 3/10

Day 11-14: On the complete up-and-up from here on out. Sore throat felt like you might expect from allergies or the end of a mild cold. Ate normally, though more acidic/salty/spicy foods caused a very brief increase in pain. Had my post-op appointment on day 14 and everything looked healed as it should, just some expected redness. Complete return to normal activity with no issue. Pain Level: 2.5/10

Day 15 Onward: Sore throat got better every day and was completely gone by about day 20. The only pain was coming from the scar on the left side, but there was no infection, it was just the sorest spot for some reason. I’m currently day 27 post-op and I can’t even tell that I’d had surgery. I can sing, talk, eat, and sleep without any pain at all and have been able to for about a week. Pain Level: 2/10, and then 0/10!

I know the healing course is different due to many factors, but I felt so horrible days 3-8, and I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. I genuinely didn’t think I could have such a rapid decrease in pain after this point, but my pain really did decrease twofold just from day 8 to 9. Hold onto hope! It’ll be worth it in the end. Take it easy, take your meds, and keep drinking water even if it feels like swallowing bleach. You WILL be better soon!