Hi Anne,
Sorry to hear about your husband. I totally can sympathize with him. Go to
http://tonsillectomyrecovery.com/ for some good and very real information. There is a day by day experience section that tells it like it is.
I preface this with this disclaimer:
"Everyone is different".
So to answer your question. I had my palatine tonsils taken out Dec. 21st 2012 as well as biopsies of my nasopharynx, BOT and a laryngoscopy. The pain from that was absolutely miserable. All I can tell you in to make sure your husband stays ahead of the pain. Set the alarm clock to wake up and take it or he'll be sorry!
I had surgery again on Feb. 7th. A selective neck dissection, removal of my lingual tonsils, biopsies of BOT, throat and another laryngoscopy. Add to that emergency surgery to fix a leak.
Similar pain but a up a couple of notches because of nerve pain from the dissection.
Are rads as bad? I've been taking Neurontin since my surgery in Feb. It's helped with the nerve pain. I don't know how well it's working on my throat pain yet. I have an oxy liquid to take before meals as well as Magic Mouthwash and hydrocodone. I'm 11 days in and I'm starting to feel it. The throat pain is different and hurts when I eat. It's more of a burning pain. I'm back on soft foods as of today but even something like a banana burns going down. I'm feeling, I can confidently say that rads will be equally as bad as a tonsillectomy (just a different kind of pain), especially when chemo is concurrent.
Hope your husband turns the corner with that tonsil pain soon!
"T"
