Things to Do/Eat/Drink After Tonsil Surgery

I hated this day. Look how pitiful! (immediately after surgery)

It's been two weeks. Max finally got to go back to school this morning. He was up earlier than usual because he was so excited to see his friends/teacher. He still isn't fully healed; who knows when those scabs will disappear in the back of his throat? Up until Monday he also still had pain when he ate food, only on one side. But Tuesday he seemed to be totally pain free so we are moving in the right direction. It did take him a full two weeks to recover. Poor kid. I'll admit though, it was nice having him home for two weeks without interruption. The house is awfully quiet this morning... and I'm a bit lonely.

I think Max lucked out that his surgery was two days after Christmas and just three weeks after his birthday; he was not short on things to do thanks to all the gifts he received! In this blog post I'm going to break down our time together at home in "list" style. I like lists. This is not in chronological order. If any of you are planning on having your kids tonsils out in the near future, maybe this list of "what to do after a tonsillectomy" will be of some assistance. ;)

First the facts: Max ate immediately after surgery. He was starving. Eggs were his choice most often. He rarely complained of pain except when he was asleep so we didn't give the Tylenol with codeine around the clock. He was very swollen for days and sounded like he had marbles in this mouth when he spoke. Around day 5 he started complaining more of one side hurting, especially when he ate/drank. This lasted through day 12. The only thing he liked to drink was pop. Either straight up or in slushie form. Even apple juice hurt. And while he ate regularly, he lost 6 pounds over these two weeks. His first night sleeping straight through with no pain meds was about day 9. He was a busy body for most of the two weeks but didn't leave to go anywhere until day 12 when I took him to see a movie. I think compared to most, he had a slow recovery but he did awesome in that he rarely complained. He was free to take Tylenol with codeine from the ginormous bottle as needed and was put on amoxicillin for 10 days. He really is a trooper!

Things Max ate/drank: (not so much nutrition here...)

1) scrambled eggs (tons!)

2) pancakes

3) pudding

4) jello

5) oatmeal

6) pizza

7) meatballs

8) cheese quesadillas

9) applesauce

10) ramen noodles

11) soup (watch the salt... it burns!)

12) 44 oz. coke or mt. dew slush from Speedway, daily (he will hate those days are over!)

13) gatorade

14) ravioli

15) orange crush

16) sprite

17) ice cream

Things Max (and Mommy and Daddy) did:

1) legos

2) puzzles (three of them, some with the assistance of Papaw, Austin and Mimi)

3) paper airplane competitions

4) fort building

5) matchbox car racing

6) remote control car driving outside on nice days

7) GAMES! (my word, I think we played every game we own- scrabble was a fave)

8) Wii

9) DS

10) homework! (he had plenty to catch up on!)

11) crafts

12) nap (ok, just one day... he's not a sleeper)

13) movies/tv

14) made cookies/bake pops/jello

15) read and enjoyed cards from all the kids in his class

I feel as though I'm forgetting things! Am I? Oh well. You get the idea. We stayed busy. It was fun!

Max also helped a little as I completed a craft that has been on my to do list for months; I found this chevron rug tutorial on a craft blog I follow and since I love all things chevron I decided to go for it. It started with a jute rug from IKEA, white paint, "hazel" paint from Sherwin Williams, and a chevron template piece cut from cardboard. This thing took hours but after three days we were done. It's not perfect (I didn't measure the spaces between stripes because I don't have time for things like that) but I love it! Now I just need to find a permanent home for it in my house.

All in all we had a great couple of weeks together. Chris was off for a big portion of it due to the holidays, so that was helpful. Max, even though he didn't see many friends during this time, was never short of someone to play with since we were both home. And even though I'm lonely today I'm happy knowing he is back where he wants to be... with friends at school! We have a follow up with the ENT after school today to make sure all is well before he rejoins his swim team next week, too! Here's to a healthy 2012 with no more sore throats!!!!