Recovery is slow..

The last time I wrote here, I was getting ready for a tonsillectomy.
Well May 9 I had it done. I am 53. It was the most horrible physical experience I have ever had.

I knew it would be rough, but those words don’t really bring it into focus just what goes on with your body. The throat was as if a blow torch had been used down it.

The Dr. said, my tonsils were really bad, worse than he had thought at our initial meeting.. they were large with lots of folds and filled with tonsil stones .. the operation usually takes him about 20 min.. mine was a full hour.

I was in recovery getting the somewhat good, but could of been better pain meds, till 5pm.. when they kicked us out.

Then I was on liquid vicodin with tylenol, not all that effective for the pain I had. I still couldn’t use Advil because of the fear of hemorrhaging when the scabs come off 10 days or more later. So nothing for the head ache, the ear aches, which almost brought me too a withering blubbering idiot. (I probably was, according to Russel!).

Not to mention the neck ache and shoulders and back that always ache. And no food of course.. the first couple of days weren’t as bad as I thought they would be, I could get down some mashed potatoes, energy drinks, and such, but 3 days into it and I was just on ice water (for 8 days), and ice chips, with an ice pack around my neck.. and because the ice made the Eustachian(sp) tube hurt, the ears started really hurting so I used hot packs on them tied up with a scarf. And my circulation was low so I was wrapped up in a blanket and it was 92 in the shade here for a week!

And I didn’t really sleep..for 8 days I couldn’t lay down, or even recline much as I was so swollen inside that I couldn’t breathe out at all. My sinus was totally blocked. And if you mouth breathe in this condition the pain is so severe!! I would nod off and wake screaming, for meds, ice and heat..poor Russel he was my savior. He was at my side the whole time, which I thought would be 5 days…ended up being 2 weeks. I was using 10cc of the vicodin every 3 hours for over a week.

The main thing is to keep the throat moist..constantly be sipping water.

I did lose 10#s but most of it has come back on.

I still have trouble swallowing..things still don’t look right in there, and there is still swelling. I squeak when I swallow, but there is little pain. The sinus and upper palate in the back is where the sensation of having a big old glob of something in there ready to be expelled, is at. I am hoping that this too shall pass.

More info than you needed to know.
Would I do it again? Don’t know, haven’t healed enough to know if it was worth it yet. The one problem I had in my neck/throat area is gone though and that is great… I can once again look up at the stars and not hurt.

Facebooktwittermail