When I’m near the computer I will tell you a bit about my tonsil surgery I had a few years ago…shudders. But don’t worry, my case was unique and I literally made a life-long specialist shocked and amazed at my tonsils.
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Looking forward to it 
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Friday update:
After the black mass fell out of my mouth the other day, eating has been easier. However, the entire roof of my mouth is still sore (healing nicely) from the removed tissue that I need to keep the clear, plastic retainer in my mouth while eating and sleeping. I made some chicken soup yesterday and overcooked it so everything is soft. As long as I take small bites I can keep them in the rear right side of my mouth as I chew, making it possible to eat, albeit slowly (an entire bowl of soup takes an hour, soooo…).
One thing to note is that I keep a bottle of water with me as I eat to constantly rinse my mouth out, as bits of food will get stuck under the retainer and near the stitches in my gums and will hurt when sitting there, so I need to swish my mouth out regularly.
For my lunch and evening snacks (eating four or five times a day now since large meals hurt more and it’s easier to do several shakes) I mix almond milk and regular milk with a protein powder, PB powder, and a recovery/chocolate shake powder for flavor. I have kept this up since Wednesday and my energy level are better than tuesday/wednesday (it took a day to catch up). That being said, I’ve still lost weight. But, given a lot of my calories are protein, I don’t think my muscle mass has been affected too much. I will note that the chicken soup I used ground turkey so it could break it up in very tiny pieces.
The pain is manageable, but sleeping is difficult because my face is severely swolen, and putting any pressure on it hurts (even the blankets rubbing against it hurt). But pain meds have made it possible to get at least 8 hours at night. I went for a small, short walk today and that was difficult as well because any bouncing and extra bloodflow was immediately felt in my face. Still, overall the progress is better than expected.
Now, onto my tonsil story… @BLeefsterk
In 2012 ish (don’t remember exactly) I had to get my tonsils removed AND my sinuses drilled out because they were so closed off I literally could not breathe through them and had regular sinus infections (much like @Nate_Pearson talks about on the podcast).
My tonsils were so huge and full of puss bits that my specialist said they were the worst he had seen and called them “disgusting”. I’m basically that case that he will refer to for the rest of his life.
The first thing I remember after waking up from the surgery is leaning forward and gagging as blood poured out of my nose and throat and onto my chest like I had just vomited. They used a startchy substance in my nose to stop the bleeding, but the combined trauma meant I was pouring blood.
That bleeding was so bad that I couldn’t do anything for more than 24 hours, including sleep. I was gagging on blood regularly, and was in so much pain I couldn’t swallow or talk.
The next major issue with that was my uvula. They clamp it and hold it out of the way. Well, mine swelled to the size of my thumb (no joke, that’s literal) and blocked off most of my throat and would drop into my throat and choke me. Laying down the uvula would fall into my throat and I would start choking on my own body, coughing and being forced up. More than anything, this was the most difficult thing to deal with for two weeks.
The first week I hardly ate anything because breathing and eating were the most painful things in my life. However, I was not as focused on nutrition at that time and didn’t focus my diet as much as I am doing now.
Overall I could not talk for 10 days, chocked on my uvula for two weeks, couldn’t eat more than juice for about three days, and was bleeding from my nose and throat horribly for a week, and oozing for three to four weeks after.
It then took my a full year to train myself how to eat and drink properly again, because my tonsils were so large that food was forced through a narrow channel in my throat, and with them gone, my usual tonge position meant food and liquids drained around the outside and into my throat when I wasn’t expecting it, thus gagging and chocking me. Because that was a subconscious thing, I had a hard time re-learning it, which is why it wans’t until a year later that I stoped choking very often.
But if you are doing just tonsils you won’t have the added blood drainage from from nasal surgery.
I will say though, it has been more worth it than just about anything else. I no longer get sick 10 times a year like I did, and breathing, eating, and just living are much better.
Let me know if you have any specific questions!
Wow @wasket that is quite a story !! Must have been traumatic. Glad that you after all are content with the result, that is the most important fact 
Thanks for sharing !!
For me the case is less dramatic i suppose. I have enlarged tonsils for quite some years, and puss is draining from it constantly (if i press on the right side of my neck, then puss comes in my mouth, very disgusting !) But i don’t have much complaints from it, and i am not frequently sick.
So it was not an easy decision to get them removed, but it doesn’t become any better and the puss is not normal i think. Beside that i sometimes thinks it holds me down a little bit in training. It can’t be a good thing to have a constant infection i suppose
I did a lot of research on the internet and i think that in the best case i have 1 hard week with lots of pain and then the second week it will become better.
I hope it will be worth it
It will be the first surgery of my life (i am 40 years old), so i am a little bit anxiuous, but i think i will survive
Thanks again for sharing your story, and i hope you will be better soon !!
Note: i am not an native english speaker, so apogolies upfront for my grammar
@wasket any update? How did it take you to get back on the bike? How long until your pain ended?
I just had this procedure today and have been told to take two weeks off from any exercise … including even walking hills. That seems mildly ridiculous. What did you do?
Any other tips?
Probably a good time to give the update then lol. It was 2 weeks since the procedure as of Tuesday, and the pain is all that gone. However, the stitches are still in my lower jaw and the gums are sensitive so eating is still an issue, but I can mostly eat normal foods. I just haven’t been able to eat anything tough, crunchy, crispy, or that requires a big bite like a hamburger.
My weight loss stabilized about a week after the procedure, and I have made sure to have a lot of protein. So I am down from where I was going into it, but I don’t feel like I lost a ton of strength. The pain actually got worse after the first week before it started getting better. 5 to 8 days was probably the worst of it. And sleeping is still a bit of an issue, because when I lay on my side my mouth puts pressure on the stitches and it’s uncomfortable.
I have gone for little walks every day after the first week. I didn’t do anything the first week at all, and just started little walks after that. My dentist did not tell me to do nothing for 2 weeks, he just said be careful after a week. The issue is that if you increase your blood pressure your gums can start bleeding because they are still sensitive. I didn’t really have any of that, but I kept all of my efforts really really easy. My wife took today off from work and we went for a three mile hike, which is the most I have done since the procedure. I plan to start riding again next week after I get the stitches removed, but I will make sure I’m feeling okay before I do that. I’m giving myself a week of free riding before I start my new seasons plans just to make sure I’m feeling good.
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Thanks for taking the time to write a lengthy reply. Much appreciated.
I plan to ice, medicate, and take it easy for a week. And then ease into simple Z1 or Z2 rides for the next week. Will probably also do some mild weight lifting to get the off season started right.
For nutrition, I’m actually going to look at this as an opportunity, embracing the anticipated weight loss. Going for some good fasts, and then mainly protein shakes and scrambled eggs.
Hope yours continues to go well.
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Make sure you are getting enough key nutrients during the healing process. I made sure to have plenty of beets (powder/drink/etc), Vitamin C and D, Calcium, and Iron.
I hope yours is not as bad as mine…it was pretty major. They needed so much tissue that they ran out on the roof of my mouth and needed some from behind my molars, which made putting anything in my mouth anywhere incredibly difficult. Let me know how you get on and if you have any questions.
GL!
@LBowers
So, any word on how you’re feeling and how everything went? I hope it’s not causing you any issues 
For anyone still following the thread, this is the first week I have been back on the bike after a full three weeks of nothing but pain and little eating. As I said earlier in the thread, the first week was pretty much a wash when it came to eating. Overall I know I lost several pounds, but the protein intake seemed to work well for me overall. My endurance is trash, but I’m glad to report I didn’t lose too much strength. I was able to just about manage 400 watts for 5 minutes during the ride, and then at the end of my 2.5 hour ride I did 550 for 1 minute. It hurt (both did), but I was able to at least keep some power despite the ordeal. And considering I did lose weight during the ordeal (for better or worse), that put my w/kg pretty good for the durations lol.
So the yogurt, protein powder, eggs, and beets during the recovery period really helped me maintain my strength as much as is possible for a surgery.
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Doesn’t sound like mine has been as bad as yours. Pain controlled with generous amounts of ibuprofen only after 5-6 days. I did basically nothing week one, and into the second week have been doing simple weightlifting and low key rides like Recess -4 (turned down so it’s just an easy spin of 155 or so). Plus walks, and good sleep. Food hasn’t been too bad, really. If I’ve lost any weight, it hasn’t been substantial.
All that being said, this is not something I’d want to do again.
We’ll see how i feel when i hit the road again on Thursday.
Sorry, but glad to hear you’re taking care of your teeth.
I have had several bone grafts, mainly in prep for implants. Main point is to listen to the periodontist or surgeon.
The general habit of focusing on nutritious food, enough protein and water is always good.
Just be careful of disturbing the Graft areas, and be diligent about cleaning / hygiene of the affected areas. My perio told me just to gently swish salt water for a few days and be careful about brushing near the graft areas.
If you actually rest enough and make sure the food is nutritious (vs just “more protein”) you will heal as fast as possible.
Good luck!
Scott
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I’m just curious how big of an area you had? I’m envious, but super glad for you. Did you need to wear a retainer after? I had to wear a fitted one that covered the entire roof of my mouth, which was annoying but kept me from agony every meal.
When do you get your stitches out? I was so glad to get it done because @jsgbuystuff said, keeping it clean was a must, but everything got stuck in them when I ate 
Keep us updated!
I’ve often wondered if insufficient protein in the diet could be contributing factor in receding gums…since gums are made of protein. An endurance athlete puts more stress on the muscles than a sedentary couch potato and protein intake should reflect this while training. If not taking in sufficient protein then maybe your heart and leg muscles are stealing protein from other parts of the body. It’s something to ponder.
I went through a similar recovery and found that sticking with soft, high-protein foods like eggs, yogurt, and blended soups helped a lot. I also scheduled my invisible aligners check-up around the same time, and the team at https://jeffreygrossdds.com/services/invisible-orthodontics-lake-county-ohio/ gave me some solid tips on keeping my mouth clean without messing up healing. Drinking with a spoon instead of a straw helped avoid pressure near the graft.