Tonsils: Two weeks!!!

At the doctor finally for my post-tonsillectomy checkup. After two weeks of pain, sleep deprivation, minimal eating and minor-but-horrifying hemorrhagic episodes, I've lost 15 LBs. Quick, quick, what other surgeries can I have done on my mouth/throat?!?!?

Tonsils Day 10: First Sleep

I woke up today after having slept two whole hours, twice!

That's four hours of sleep. The longest stretch of time I've slept in the past 10 days.

It's frickin' cold though. 7 degrees or something crazy. I'm wearing two hoodies and my onesie and I'm still shivering on my couch.

Can't bear to stay in my bedroom because the windows are so big and cold and there aren't enough tall buildings nearby to block the wind coming from every direction and my patio is covered in snow.

Penthouse problems...

Day 9 Feeling better

Last night was rough. Today is better. Not much bleeding. Painkillers are working. Watching the One Direction movie. All is good.

xoxo

I am in hell. | Day 8

Today was my worst day so far.

I had pain all day and trouble swallowing all day. And I've been bleeding off and on.

I knew it was going to get bad. I know I'm already SO lucky for not having been in extreme pain the whole time and not vomiting blood and not being able to swallow anything. I know I know. I was freaking out before surgery because I knew what I was getting into.

Still, I secretly hoped I would be that special person who sailed  through this stupid tonsil recovery thing like it wasn't no thang.

I'm terrified of going to sleep because for the last 30 hours anytime I fall asleep for more than half an hour my throat dries out and I wake up bleeding and having to gargle cold water for 20 mins or so to make it stop.

I honestly haven't slept for more than two hours straight since my operation last Wednesday. 

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I've been emailing with my doc. She says a little bleeding is normal. But if I start bleeding massively to call her and/or call 911. I don't think it'll get that bad. I also might go in just to see her during office hours tomorrow just for peace of mind.

Also. Confession. I hear people lose 15-20 lbs while recovering from tonsillectomy because of this soft-food only diet. But yesterday I liquefied a meatball in a blender and mashed it up with some mashed potatoes and ate it... and it was DELICIOUS. I've probably lost like 2 lbs.

So basically this has been awful and I'm still obese.

Yay.

It's not that bad. I know I'm going to be fine. I'm just so sick of recovery and not eating real food and not leaving my freezing apartment and being terrified of sleeping and talking like a quiet little mouse.

Oh and being super constipated from pain meds.

TMI? Sorry.

I'm going to work on a blog post about something fun and fabulous so that I can feel better about my life.

Be right back!

Tonsillectomy Recovery Day 7

So the mucus-y scabs from my tonsillectomy have started falling off of the back of my throat. It's totally disgusting and really painful.

It's like...they're kind of like scabs, except that they're wet. So they'll start peeling off... but half the scab is still attached. So I can feel the semi-soft mucus ball like dangling in my throat, but it's still attached to a hard scab that is still attached to the wall of my throat. And I can't try to get it out because if the scab gets pulled off before it's ready to fall off I could hemorrhage and die.

And if tthe scab does come off all the way (so far I've hacked up two massive semi-bloody mucus scabs and they are revolting) the skin under it is super raw and sensitive. And somehow this all causes a lot of pain not just in my throat but also in my ears and I just want it to be over with ahhhhhh.

Anyway, I'm glad I read about all this and knew what to expect. It's like the final stages of recovery. But it's the most painful part. And I just have to deal with it.

Sorry for grossing you out. But it's better to read about it than to have to live through it.

Promise.

Tonsils Day 6

I just coughed up my first semi-bloody mucus scab-ball and I've never been so happy in all my life. It was monstrous. Like the size of a golfball. Recovery!!!! The end is near!!!!!!

Tonsils: The Dreaded Day 5

Today is the first time I've felt it. True pain.

The last few days have kind of been a breeze. My throat was sore.

Today I woke up and actually felt pain. Stabbing throbbing pain that went down under my tongue, through my lower jaw into the back of my throat and head and into my ears.

Thank god for the internet so I knew to expect this.

I've been spending my days on sites like www.tonsillectomyrecovery.com which are such an amazing resource because they pool the collective experiences of everyone who has gone through this (and felt the need to post). I recognize now though that those who are vocal about it are the ones having the most awful experiences with recovery.

Late last night I think I felt my first scab. You know what it's like to have a scab peel off right? Well imagine one in the back of your throat. Now imagine several in your throat. Now imagine they just kind of hang there and you can feel them every time you swallow and they might kind of rip off slightly (causing you some pain) but for the most part stay there and you have to just wait for them to fall off naturally over the course of a few days because they are helping you heal.

Yup it is the worst.

I took my meds and over the course of typing this out my pain has subsided a little. Thank god.

I found this on the internet. This is not a picture of my own mouth. But it's basically what my mouth/throat looks like. (I have much prettier teeth, of course.)

Tonsils Day 4 Night

Most of the day went ok. It is noticeably harder and more painful to swallow today.

My friend Brian came over to visit and after 10 minutes I just wanted him to leave because talking was too painful and exhausting.

I took a tiny bit of a nap this evening and when I woke up it felt like someone had stuck a dagger under my tongue and pushed. It feels like that right now.

I'm not due for pain meds for another 2 hours. This must be what everyone talks about when they say Day 5 is the worst.

I'm glad I was somewhat prepared for it otherwise this would be totally freaking me out.

Eeeeeeeeeeeek...

In other news, Jihan sent me some beautiful balloons today and it was the highlight of my day. Thank you Jihan!!! 

Excuse me, I'm going to go try not to die now.

Tonsils Day 4

I guess this is the beginning of Day 4.

My throat is starting to hurt more. Up until now it has only felt sore. Today for the first time I swallowed and it felt a little like razor blades. I've been expecting this. And I think it will probably get worse. There's a ton of mucus/scabbing at the back of my throat that I can't cough out and can't swallow. It just kind of sits there. And everytime I swallow water I feel it kind of shifting around, occassionally it makes me gag a little. It is so gross. It also makes it hard to sleep. Not that I've really been sleeping at all.

Last night/yesterday I took a couple of half-hour naps.

I'm starting to run low on my tylenol/codeine mix which worries me a little, but I haven't had to resort to my super pain med hydrocodone yet.

Also there's a constant bitter nasty-tasting film on my tongue that won't go away and I taste it all day and especially anytime I swallow.

Still staying hydrated, still on top of the pain meds, still trying to eat a bit everytime I have to medicate.

Am actually getting a bit of work done, reorganizing my hard drive and stuff. Wheeee.

Tonsils: Day Three, Morning

Well...it happened.

Exhaustion took over. After 48 hours of being awake or waking up after a 40-minute nap, I finally just passed out and slept through one of my alarms sometime between around 7am to 10am. I think I was only out for about 2 hours, but the second I woke up, I was in much greater pain than ever before...my throat had dried out.

Luckily...I think I caught it just barely in time. It was right before my next scheduled pain medicine intake. I immediately drank several gulps of water to re-moisten my throat. Ate a mouthful of mashed potatoes. And drank my medicine. Now I'm just trying to rehydrate constantly.

I've heard Day 3 and 5 are both tough ones. Will probably update again later today. Will see how it goes...shudder...

Tonsils: Day Two

Day Two of my tonsil recovery was similar to Day One.

Again it was mostly just soreness. I was sticking to my schedule of not allowing myself to sleep more than an hour straight and keeping myself medicated and hydrated. (I read several times online that allowing yourself to sleep for an extended period of time would dry out your tonsils which would lead to EXTREME PAIN.)

I was surprised I was able to eat quite a bit of "food". I had some scrambled eggs, some mashed potatoes, some chicken noodle soup. I had also ordered $80 of baby food last night to be next-day delivered off Amazon.com (I blame the meds and lack of sleep).

The second I had my first "sip" I deeply regretted my decision. It was revolting.

Thank god I know a couple babies I can hand this off to...

Near the end of the day I started to feel mucus in the back of my throat...just hanging there.

The annoying thing is there's not much I can do about it. It's too painful/impossible to cough it up. And it's part of the scabbing/healing...so I have to just let it sit there and wait it out...for the next several days. Ughhh...

I've heard from everywhere that even when things start out great, they get worse...and Day 5 of recovery is supposed to be torture.

We shall see... I'm bracing myself for the worst but hoping for the best. 

Tonsils Day One:

I went to the hospital at 6am. Went into the operating room at 7:30am.

Was out of surgery around 9am. Sat in the recovery room for a bit with a sore throat. It didn't feel all that awful. Just a little loopy. Must've been the drugs.

Left the hospital around noon.

I hear the next few days is when it starts to get worse and worse as the meds wear off and the burn sites (they burn out the tonsils) start to heal. Bracing myself for the worst but hoping for the best.

I've been sitting up at home doing a little bit of work and just watching TV. Sipping iced water. And eating a little jello and applesauce.

I've heard lots of horror stories. This is supposedly one of the most painful recoveries ever. Some say it's worse than childbirth. Some say Day 5 is when you descend into misery. Hoping I'm one of those rare cases where it's not so bad. Trying to stay on top my med schedule to keep the pain away. I created this little chart to track my food and medicine intake and have set up a bunch of timers to keep me on track.

Hope hope hope this recovery isn't so awful. OK I'm going to focus on trying to watch TV.

Byebye. I love you.