I don't know what kind of anesthesia you were on, but a quick google suggests some kinds of anesthesia cause difficulty swallowing. I also can easily pull up a link suggesting that dehydration is a common cause of sore throat following any major surgery.

So this may not be entirely about the physical contact of the tube.

I am not a doctor, just someone who has seen too many of them over the years for my own medical dramas.

Edit: Just to be crystal clear, I am absolutely not trying to suggest anything for you, medically speaking. The above observations are food for thought concerning the problem space under discussion. That's it. That's all it is.