What an interesting journey this has been. As many of you remember, I had some fights with tonsillitis this fall. That infection developed into a Peritonsillar Abscess. After spending 3 different weekends in the hospital, and going through 2 abscess drainings, a CT scan, and more IV antibiotics than I knew possible, we thought we had it licked.
On Feb 4, I came down with what I thought was the Flu. Upset stomach, sore throat and a high temp. I had no choice but to work for the day, but when I got home I had a temp of 104.4. I felt like absolute shit. Some Tylenol and some rest, and my fever subsided eventually. But the sore throat remained. Great.
Sore throat gets progressively worse. By Wednesday night, I take myself to the hospital, fearing another abscess. I had all the symptoms I had earlier. Swelling, bad breath, couldn't open my mouth more than a tiny bit, and pain, pain pain! The doctor, who never treated me before, knew of my history, but prescribed pill-based antibiotics and sent me home.
I took the pills for 24 hours, but the symptoms just kept getting worse. Thursday evening, and back to the hospital I went. I saw a more familiar ER doctor, and he knew right away what the problem was: I had developed another abscess. He informed me that I would be spending the night again as I needed IV antibiotics, and started tracking down an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist. The doctors I had previously were not available, but one from the Capitol city was on call.
Anyways, I spend the night in the hospital, and was transferred to the capitol city hospital the next morning. I met wit the doctor there, and he suggests that we remove the tonsils immediately. As an added bonus, he also suggested that I not have to go through the hellish drainage procedure again, that he'd drain it while I was under just before he removed the tonsils. WOOHOO!
I was penciled in for late-night surgery, and spent the day on antibiotics. At midnight, they wheeled me to the ER. I woke up in the recovery room at about 1:30 in horrible, horrible pain. 4-5 shots of Morphine later and the pain started to subside. Waking up was a strange experience to say the least!
Back in my room, and all I wanted to do was sleep. My wife went to a friend's for the night, and I got as much rest as I could. By the middle of the night the pain was well under control.
I woke up, and was offered some pain meds. Either a shot in the hip (No more IV pain meds!) or I could take liquid Codeine (same as Tylenol 3). I opted for the less powerful Codeine. I was drinking OK, and the nurses were already talking about me going home. (WHAT?!?)
I met with the doctor and he said I was doing fantastic. The operation went very well, and he spent a lot of extra time making sure he got all the infection. He said that once I finished 4 glasses of water I could go home. The rick of re-infection is worse in the hospital than at home, so they don't want you to stay any longer than necessary. Once you can drink, there's nothing more they can do for you. The rest is recovery time.
He instructed me to stay home for 2 weeks. No work, no heavy lifting, no exercise. My recovery started off well, but quickly reached a plateau. For several more days I still couldn't eat anything but Jello and pudding and soup broth, and drink nothing but water. I could talk only in a whisper. Finally on Thursday night, I was able to eat chicken noodle soup, minus the chicken pieces. My first 'food' in almost 2 weeks!
Now I'm doing much better. Still at home on my final recovery week. My voice is back (Still can't talk loud or yell), and I'm able to eat soft, smooth foods. So pasta, scrambled eggs, potatoes, etc. Nothing too hot, nothing spicy, and nothing hard, sharp or jagged. I haven't been on pain meds for the past 2 days.
All in all, the pain from the abscess was considerably worse than the tonsillectomy. While the immediate pain in the recovery room was bad, it was bearable and didn't last long. Everything after that was an improvement from before I went into the OR.
The biggest pain relief comes from keeping hydrated. Once it starts to dry out it hurts. Keep drinking water, and the pain is all but gone. Water is more effective at killing the pain than the Codeine I was taking.
So to those with tonsil problems: Yank 'em! Yank those suckers out! It's so worth it! Just stay hydrated. Keep drinking water until you can't drink any more. Then drink more anyway.
I'm on the road to recovery now. My biggest fear was and continues to be our upcoming trip to Mexico. We leave in a month, and I hope to be 100% recovered by then. I mean, what good is Mexico if I can't drink beer and eat spicy foods? 
