Recovery

So prior to my tonsillectomy - I did something very stupid, I decided to read about other adult tonsillectomies - and it scared me. So I decided to keep a recovery journal about my tonsillectomy.

For starters the history:
When I 13 white balls formed on my tonsils that I would have to pick off (I originally I thought this was puss but later I learned this is actually a mixture of bacteria and food) and it smells terrible. I used to get them occasionally, possibly monthly. As I got older they became more frequent (up to the day of the surgery I was getting them daily). But to be honest, I was really embarrassed by them so I told no one.

When I was 18, still dealing with the white balls -but by this point I had a few big pits in my tonsils - this is where the white stuff would come out. I went to get my wisdom teeth out. During my first visit the oral surgeon said to me, "Your tonsils are huge, those will need to come out eventually." Still I did nothing, because they really weren't bugging me.

About 6 months ago I started feeling my throat swell, nothing terrible but I could feel my tonsils inflamed. My throat aches became frequent but nothing I missed work for; I would just drink a lot of ice ice cold water to alleviate the pain. Then the lymph nodes behind my hear started swelling - this was a pain I hated. I could deal with a sore throat by ear pain I have a hard time tolerating. I would sleep with ice packs to feel relief.

Then in those 6 months I noticed I would get the beginning signs of a head cold - but nothing more. I never put this with the tonsils until I told the doctor.

Anyway, I just so happen to work with a retired ENT (who is one of my favorite doctors) and I called him up one day to get his take on it. His verdict: I need to get them out. He said your tonsils don't get better. The pits that are there will never go away they'll just get worse. He referred me to a great ENT and now I am on my second day of recovery.

So the days of my recovery (and I'm really sorry to bore or disgust you with these details but I thought they could be helpful for some).

Day 1: Terrible. I was dealing with the effects of the anesthesia (as you can watch the video below - honestly, at the time I was making perfect sense). The anesthesia made me shaky and very nauseated. I was in terrible pain and extremely nauseous. I vomited three times yesterday which is normal. The nurse who called to check on me today told me it was the anesthesia as well as the blood in my stomach from the surgery. I didn't have an appetite. The only thing I ate was 3 soggy crackers and a creamsicle. Also the hospital sent me home with a ice pack for my neck - it is wonderful.

Day 2: Much better. The nausea has worn off, however the pain has increased. But I'd much rather have pain than nausea- pain I can tolerate nausea I can't. My throat is more swollen it's more difficult to talk, and swallowing is the most painful part. I've read that drinking cold liquids is the best you can do because it helps with the scabs. I've been drinking water like crazy to avoid any other unnecessary pain. The best thing I found is ice chips. Today, I woke up with an achy body and I little sick of being in bed. I took the dogs for a brief walk to move around and get some air - I think it did a world of wonders. I've been able to check email, and make some invitations - nothing I would have been able to do yesterday. This morning I froze some slim fast to eat for breakfast and it was wonderful. I'm actually looking forward to room temperature chicken broth with soggy crackers. The meds I have been given are: Percocet, a steroid (for swelling) and an anti-biotic. I've noticed the percocet makes me a little on the nauseous side but I ate my frozen slim fast 15 minutes before taking it, then I took it and laid flat for 15 minutes (also I only took half) and it seemed to do the trick. Also I'm still suing my ice pack - along with the ice chips it is wonderful.

Anway, extremely boring. But after some of the recoveries I read about I needed to share mine.