Post-tonsillectomy foods

Smoothies would probably be good: bananas, berries, some protein powder....

Lots of good ideas in these two threads, I keep taking notes so will just plonk 'em:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/497601

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/476061

Regarding the sorbet, you might want to get a pint of real ice cream for the first day or two. The creamy texture will be a lot more soothing to the tender throat than the acidic juices in most sorbets.

Another soothing food I remember from my similar surgeries as a kid is Wheatina/Cream of Wheat. Thinned down with lots of milk and butter, it too has a soothing texture.

Cream of Rice cereal would be good too, and later, rice pudding.

For the first day or two, she'll want nothing but cold things that will help numb the throat a bit. After that, the soothing warmth from soft-textured food will be wanted.

Any vegetable pureed: peas, carots etc.
Make ice cubes from fruit tea and let her suck on it. Popsicles are great!
Pudding and jello is always good, so is applesauce.

Stay away from anything carbonated and acidic juices as it burns , and
dairy products (yoghurt) it encourages phlegm.

Just read this: Chewing gum or bubble gum encourages swallowing and saliva flow, and may even speed up the healing.

All the best for sozlet and you tomorrow. It will be more stressful
for you than her.

actually, when i had tonsillectomy, they told me to avoid milk or anything of the sort for the first few days = i presume the milk goes sour and such and the bacteria might not be good. i had lots of chammomile tea.
mom threw everything in a mixer, even chicken. you can make real smooth chicken salad for example. mashed potatoes. rice pudding. pate (i love pate, but that seems to be a more european thing).
boiled carrots in a mixer, spinach.... lotsa possibilities out there. mixer is your friend.

Ow! Hope all goes well.

Polenta with a good sauce occurs to me, except a) I wouldn't like it cold and b) doing it right takes a mom's time.

Custard? Even a savory custard? Again, maybe too much emphasis on cooking something. Um... flan from a packaged mix? That could work.

Also asian baked eggs. Adaptable to any taste - basically take, say, five large eggs and beat and then add five half egg shells of water, beat, add favorite stuff from fridge, pour into buttered (or whatever) pie plate, and bake, I dunno, 35 minutes at 350, or until done which you can just sort of tell, or check with a fork. Comes out like quiche without a crust.

On milk products and ice cream - I just remember really liking the post op ice cream and not what day I had it. No memory of phlegm, which doesn't mean I didn't have it.

Which brings up, I bet you get a food list from the hospital... or doc's office.

Maybe some of Dag's pureed veggies could go into the non-crust quiche/baked eggs. That might turn it all a funny color. I think I'd just sliver into the mix some spinach or basil leaves or maybe slice some tiny peas.

About ten minutes ago, I took out from the oven some sliced and roasted yellow pepper. That's divine to me, and I can imagine it in a quiche like thing. But this is probably not a good time to do a trial taste balloon.

There are warring "no milk products" and "milk products" camps -- I'm going to ask the doctor what he thinks tomorrow.

There are also warring "don't do only soft foods after the first couple of days" and "only soft foods" camps. The former seem to think that some roughage -- on the order of toast without crusts -- helps slough off bad stuff and aids healing. The latter say that anything rough risks the chance of starting bleeding again, which you really don't want.

Will ask this as well. (I have, of course, a list. A Long List.)

I now have in the freezer:

- sorbet (pear, very innocent acidity-wise according to what I've read)
- strawberry popsicles
- other strawberry popsicles (both pink, not red)
- homemade apple juice popsicles
- homemade chamomile tea popsicles

and in the fridge

- puddings up the wazoo
- non-milk jello
- Gatorade
- apple juice
- chamomile tea (iced)
- chicken stock (for matzo balls)

among other things.

Feeling ready.

-ish.

also bought some baby food (!) at Whole Foods, in case protein is a tough row to hoe.

and miso.

and "silken" tofu -- figured I could do something with that.

will probably be back as I figure out more about what she can and can't handle + what she likes and doesn't like.

Earlier I had typed out a post regarding this possibility but didn't want to frighten you or make you any more nervous about the surgery than you already are and deleted it.

I have a vivid memory of my second or third morning home after my surgery, waking up to a pillow case full of bloody drool stains.

Was going to suggest you remove any nice linens and PJs you don't want to be stained and put on the old ones for the first few days.

You'll also want to have either pads of paper or a small chalk board for her to be able to communicate to those she doesn't sign with. The less she uses her voice the first few days, the less chance of irritation and bleeding. That's also what the cold ice cream or popcicles help with. Glasses of crushed ice will also be very welcome. Imagine the worst case of strep throat you've ever had and double it. That's about the soreness level she will have for the first few days and really won't want to eat much of anything other than something very cold.

I sure hope Penny hears about this in time to send home some good chicken noodle soup and some get well wishes for the Sozlet.

Yep, I also got an ice shaver machine -- as in sno-cone sno-maker -- as several places mentioned it was a godsend. A great way to stay hydrated, with or without flavoring. (Spoonfuls of "snow" as opposed to drinking water, which hurts more.)

Drop the tofu in some miso soup.

I was going to say yogurt if the kid likes it. Peanut butter by the spoonful, maybe, or is that too sticky?

Oh, hey, today's the big day isn't it. Best of luck to you and the sozlet.

Waiting to hear that she's out of surgery and everything is a-ok.......

From her "I'm not cold!" thread:

Meanwhile, if anyone comes across this via Google in the future, this is what worked well for us:

The big star was/is overcooked, mooshy (NOT al dente) macaroni and cheese, with a little extra milk. This was the first thing she ate in any quantity, and it's still what I give her if she's a little sore.

Overcooked pasta with Alfredo sauce offered a variation on a theme.

She also had a lot of scrambled eggs early on.

Soft (slightly melted) vanilla ice cream was one of the first things she could eat/drink/ingest.

Jello was very, very useful for getting fluids into her when she had a really hard time drinking. When I felt she hadn't had enough fluids I'd set her up with a book or a computer game (something distracting) and then just spoon a bowl's worth into her, using a small spoon.

Strawberry syrup -- the kind sold next to chocolate syrup -- used to make strawberry-flavored milk worked well a bit later in her recovery.

Smoothies did NOT work for her, and I never figured out why. The first was made with a bit of mango and I thought that might be the problem. (Other ingredients -- banana, yogurt, milk.) The next had no mango but still made her throat hurt -- I thought it might be from using the straw, having to work a bit to ingest. The third had no mango and I gave her a spoon, not a straw -- still hurt her throat after a few spoonfuls. She had a banana without much problem, so maybe the yogurt was the issue? Dunno.

Also, any kind of hard popsicles were a bust. Like those fancy chamomile tea ones I made -- didn't work. The only ones she liked were smooth/ creamy and soft.

Chicken soup with matzo balls was tried a bit too early I think but it was one of the first food-food (as opposed to dessert) items she could tolerate.

Pudding! Wonderful stuff. Second only to jello. Chocolate, vanilla, tapioca.

Very ripe avocado was a good way to get some veggies/ healthy stuff into her.

Mashed sweet potatoes were another way.

Tried lots of other things -- some successes, some failures -- but those were the main things that a) were really useful or b) were a surprise failure.

I think sweetened yogurt is acidic; that may have contributed to the smoothie problem.