Apropos this rotten cold, a poll.

[commodorified]

I've been hearing about this whole 'tonsil removal and ice cream' thing basically forever. And it puzzles me greatly.

Admittedly, I had my tonsils removed when I was 18, and had had serious trouble with them for years, so it was a fairly complicated removal, but it took me slightly more than a week to successfully consume 2 litres of water within a 24-hour period and thus win my release from hospital and my ever-present IV, yclept Henry. (Not, sadly, "Henry IV": I would totally do that now, but this was then.)

Cold water, as well as even the most forgiving solids, took ... rather longer. There's a reason nobody tells you to put ice directly on fresh stitches, let me tell you what.

Had anyone attempted to feed me ice cream directly after the surgery they would have been exceedingly fortunate to escape having suffered no more than a paint-strippingly old-fashioned look (and only because my throat was too swollen to allow me to talk and I was too loaded on Demerol to throw a punch, at that.)

Therefore:

Poll #17145 In this poll, "ice cream" can also mean frozen yoghurt, sorbet, rice dream, etc.

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 93

View Respondents

I had my tonsils taken out!

View Answers

I was a child, and there was ice cream, and it was good.
12 (12.9%)

I was a child, and there was ice cream, and it was awful.
1 (1.1%)

I was a child, and there was no ice cream
6 (6.5%)

I was an adult, and there was ice cream, and it was good.
2 (2.2%)

I was an adult, and there was ice cream, and it was awful.
0 (0.0%)

I was an adult, and there was no ice cream.
3 (3.2%)

I retain both my tonsils and an uncontrollable desire to tick boxes.
69 (74.2%)

(Optional but interesting) My tonsils were removed in (year):

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Comments

[mme_hardy]

I think the bait-and-switch was that they promised you "all the ice cream you could eat" and then you found out you couldn't eat much.

[kindkit]

I was promised ice cream and toys, and there were none. It wasn't a deliberate lie, just that when my younger brother had his tonsils out, he was in a children's ward that had ice cream and toys. But he was in a big hospital because his surgery was more complicated. When I had mine out, I was in a small local hospital with no accommodation for children at all (and surly nurses). I was given green jello and scolded for not eating it, although I hated jello.

Given that I spent the first day after surgery feeling incredibly ill because of the anaesthetic, it was probably just as well that I didn't get ice cream. But it didn't seem that way at the time.

[recessional]

Your case is definitely extreme, though; most kids who have their tonsils out are back home within 48 hours.

I never had them removed, but many of my classmates did, when I was in elementary. They had ice cream, and popsicles. I did have several egregiously bad cases of strep, and sucked on ice-cubes constantly; to this day if I have a very sore throat I want water as cold as is humanly possible, whereas I've had other people look horrified at the idea.

[dine]

I cannot really recall what I had in hospital, though I was home in a day or so, and did get some (though not as much as I'd have liked) ice cream and definitely popsicles. maybe it wasn't *great* but at least afaik it was tolerable

[leecetheartist]

They said to eat rough stuff to keep the wound scraped and clean.

[tim]

I remembered that it hurt a lot during the day or two after, but couldn't remember whether food/drink particularly had an effect. Then I looked up my LiveJournal entry from afterwards and I'd written, "Mmm, living on ice cream for a couple days." So that's your answer.

[nineveh_uk]

Technically speaking I retain my tonsils, in that I have never had them removed via surgery, but according to the dentist I don't have any tonsils, and indeed I've never had tonsillitis despite ever other bit of my upper respiratory system being rubbish. Either I only ever had pathetic tonsils, or possibly they whipped them out when I had my adenoids removed in 1982. They didn't give me ice-cream then, but stewed fruit that I refused to eat because it was disgusting.

I had ice-cream in hospital after my sinus op a couple of years ago, but it was specifically an attempt to reduce the bleeding, and of course I didn't have a sore throat, just a disgusting one.

[alee_grrl]

I had my tonsils out when I was about seven years old, and as far as I can remember I was not in the hospital for very long. It may have even been an outpatient surgery. I remember a lot of jello, popsicles, ice cream and pudding. And they were soothing and nice. However I did not have the scar tissue and other problems that you experienced. I was able to swallow fairly easily and while there was pain it was only slightly worse than a case of strep throat.

[sharpiefan]

I've not had my tonsils out, but my brother did at the age of... six, I think, so in about 1989, and I am pretty sure jelly and ice-cream featured. (He had his out after several ENT issues, and apparently that solved them.)

I had a double tooth extraction a few years back (one wisdom plus the molar in front of it) and was advised to 'be careful' and 'eat/drink on the other side'. Which, considering my mouth was still going numb for a hour or two after said extraction, thanks to a double shot of anaesthetic, was fun to attempt.