Road to Recovery- Pt. 6

Still inching back to health! Now the throat pain has died down, but the ear pain has started up. Lovely. It hasn’t been too too bad, but I had a not-so-great episode yesterday afternoon which left me fighting tears on the way home. I came inside, took 2 spoonfuls of my pain meds, and spent the rest of the night in a drug-induced haze on the couch watching The Wire. That shit is strong, indeed!

Today I had my post-op visit with my surgeon. He checked out the throat, and pronounced me well on the way to a full recovery. About half the scabs have fallen off, and the other half should come off soon. By next week I should be good to go. I’m looking forward to it! I still have very little energy and little-to-no appetite. I’m hoping I get some more zip to my step, since I’d like to spend this weekend bouncing around Boston. It’s hard to do that when you feel like melting into a puddle of goo on the couch cushions.

Road to Recovery- Pt. 5

I’ve finally got my voice back. It fades out if I talk for a while, and my ears start hurting if I talk too much as well…. but it’s good not to sound like the Godfather. I’ll be interested to find out if my voice sounds the same as it did before the surgery, once I have full use of my vocal chords again.

The nights are still the worst– rather, the mornings are, after the medicine gulped down at 3 AM wears off. I lie in a fog of sleepiness, too tired to fire the neurons that should be telling my body to get up, rinse out my mouth, and take another dose of Tylenol. When I finally manage to do so, the meds hit me hard, and I have trouble opening my eyes to make it out of bed before noon.

All in all, I am pretty happy to be at this point– still tired, but feeling much healthier and improving every day. I emailed my boss to let him know that I would be back at work tomorrow, and he responded with a nice note, telling me he’d get ice cream for my throat. I doubt I’ll put in a full day’s work Tuesday, but it will be good to get out of the apartment for a while. I’ve been overdosing on Law and Order lately, and a change of scenery should do me good.

Road to Recovery- Pt. 4

Well I’m still hanging in there. I didn’t have the best night last night– for some reason I couldn’t fall asleep, and I think I only drifted off to la la land around 2 AM or so… then I woke up around 8 AM today with the most unbelievable pain in my throat, probably because my mouth was so dry. I was still groggy though, in that half-asleep stage where you know you should probably get up, and you want to get up, but the signals aren’t quite making it from your brain to your body. Anyway, once I actually dragged myself up and got some tylenol inside me, I felt much better, and went back to sleep for a few hours.

When I got up again around 11 AM, I was feeling much more like myself. I have more of a voice today, and I was feeling hungry– unusual! I got up, took a shower, put on some jeans and earrings (for the past few days I’ve been living in sweats), and once I had some Cream of Wheat for breakfast I headed outside for a nice long walk around JP. I brought my camera with me, and was able to get some nice shots of my neighborhood. It was pretty warm, and there were tons of people outside enjoying the weather. I came home around 2 PM, and couldn’t believe how long I’d been outside! It drained a lot of energy though, so I had some lunch and then settled in on the couch- my old friend.

I find it funny that some people have had such extreme issues with getting their tonsils out. While it definitely hasn’t been a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination, it hasn’t been anywhere near as bad as some people have painted it to be (i.e. “the worst pain of my life”, “it hurt so bad I cried, and then it hurt even more,” etc. etc.) Maybe I am just stumbling across the blogs and online descriptions of the few people out there who had really bad times, but I haven’t experienced many of the symptoms I was lead to believe were in store for me: no vomiting, no bad breath, no (real) issues with sleeping, pain levels have never been more than a 2-3 (and that was at the hospital)….. all in all I’m happy so far with how things have gone. I know I still have a good week or more before I will be fully recovered, but I guess I’m lucky that I’ve squeaked through so far in the shape that I’m in. Maybe it’s all the green tea I’ve practically inhaled on a continuous basis since arriving home from the hospital. (No joke– I’ve gone through 2 gallons in 5 days).

In fact, the only real problem I have right now is I’m getting bored! I’m currently finishing off Lost Season 3, and then I have an episode of The Beast to watch. I’ve been overdosing on Law & Order lately, and NCIS is getting tiring too. I’ve got my Jasper Fforde book that I’m re-reading, but it’s not terribly exciting to me right now. Sigh. The things we have to deal with, huh?

Road to Recovery- Pt. 3

I have not been feeling so sleepy lately, in comparison with how I felt on Tuesday and Wednesday, when it was a true struggle just to keep my eyes open and keep track of what was going on in the movies Mom and I were watching. (Hey, wait a second… weren’t we just watching a young hot Robert DeNiro? How did we get to Cuba?!)

The pain has been getting slightly better every day, but it is still significant. I have started wearing my ice collars for most of the day, switching them when the ice melts or the gel takes on too much heat from my neck. I have also been sleeping better, but I still am waking up pretty consistently around 3 AM for another dose of medicine. This morning I decided to take Tylenol instead of the narcotics, and I think that worked pretty well. I had a crazy dream though, in which I was eating a delicious, crunchy, crusty sandwich. I woke up in a panic before I realized it was just a dream. That’s the last kind of thing I need to be putting in my body right now!

A came by yesterday night and brought me flowers, and they are sitting cheerfully on my kitchen counter right now. I was really happy that he came, because I’m getting a little stir-crazy here. It’s only been a few days, but it was nice to see both him and T last night. I don’t trust myself to drive yet, but I might try to take a walk around JP tomorrow if the weather holds up.

I still have practically no voice, and it hurts to talk. Continuing my Godfather theme from above, I do sound a little bit like the Godfather himself. I should start telling people I’ll make them offers they can’t refuse. I have also definitely lost weight– about 1 lb a day so far. I’m not complaining, but this is not the most ideal way to go about losing weight, let me tell you.

Anyway, I started watching Lost Season 3 last night, since I was feeling mentally competent enough to keep up with all the plot twists and craziness. I just finished a delicious bowl of Cream of Farina, so I’m off to watch some more Jack and Sawyer.

Road to Recovery- Pt. 2

So it’s been about two and a half days now since the surgery. I was really nervous when preparing for the surgery, because I wasn’t sure what symptoms I’d be feeling or what I would need to eat, etc. Essentially, what you need to keep in your fridge/pantry are soft foods and lots of liquids. Stay away from the dairy-based items like ice cream and yogurt, because those will only cause more mucus to build up in your throat, and you don’t need that– at least not right away.

What I’ve ended up craving (when I actually have had an appetite, which has been rare) is Arizona Green Tea with honey and ginseng, jello, rice pudding, and mashed potatoes. I also bought some Ensure based on the recommendation of someone online, but it hasn’t been that interesting to my post-op appetite. The other item I would highly recommend to buy is popsicles or sherbert.

And last but not least, a cold pack for your neck– this will definitely help soothe the aches. I found one at CVS that is made especially for the neck and shoulder, and it has been a great help. I put it on after breakfast when the throat hurts a lot (from the eating), and stick it back in the fridge once the fake pea-gels have lost their chill.

Things I bought that I wish I hadn’t– yogurt, dairy-based drinks, ice cream, pudding, eggs (the doctor suggested not to eat eggs until later in the recovery process, since scrambled eggs will break apart in your mouth and make it harder to swallow). I did buy some butternut squash that was already mashed, but to my surprise I haven’t been eating that much of it. Normally I would devour something like this since it’s a mainstay of my winter grocery list. I’m sure I’ll probably eat more once I start feeling a little better.

Otherwise, I had a much better night last night. I still woke up around 3 AM again for another dose of medicine, but I actually was able to get a bit more uninterrupted sleep, and no dry mouth! This morning I also didn’t feel as bad as I had Wednesday morning. Let’s hope that I continue to feel an improvement each day.

Road to Recovery- Pt. 1

So the dreaded day finally arrived. I’ve been resisting the idea of getting my tonsils removed for quite some time now, but considering that I’d gotten chronic tonsillitis five times over the past two years, I decided it was time to bite the bullet (so to speak). In January I went to see the surgeon, and we scheduled the surgery for March 24th (yesterday).

Mom came up to stay with me and take me to the hospital. Monday evening we drove around Boston, and I got to show her BU’s campus, and the building where I’ll be spending the majority of my next two years. We poked around the neighborhood for a little while, tried not to hit parked cars while maneuvering amidst the cramped streets, and even did a drive-by of the apartment building I’m really interested in. Once we’d exhausted the sightseeing, we headed back to JP and drove over to the Alchemist for my ‘last meal.’ I was joking that the choice of locale for dinner would be really important, because I wouldn’t be able to eat anything normal for quite some time. Honestly, I’d probably have preferred Indian food, but I thought it might not sit in my stomach too well.

We each had a lovely meal at the Alchemist– asparagus, mashed potatoes, and steak tips for me, and pesto penne with chicken for Mom. A few glasses of wine later and our bellies full, we went home, watched some NCIS and Law & Order, and went to sleep early.

I’m one of those people who, if I know I need to be awake for something in particular, will wake up every hour to check the time, even if I know there is an alarm set. So after going to bed around 10, I woke up every hour until 4:45 AM. My alarm was set for 5:10, but I couldn’t get back to sleep so I just got up and started getting ready. The hospital recommends that you wear loose, comfortable clothing, so I pulled on some sweats, a t-shirt and my sweatshirt. We did a last-minute rundown of everything we needed to take with us, and then we drove over to the Brigham. At that hour there was practically no traffic (unheard of!) so we made it well in advance of our 6 AM scheduled arrival.

Once we reached the Day Surgery waiting area, I checked in and then settled in to wait. Right around this time, I started getting very nervous. I’ve never had any surgery before except for my wisdom teeth, and I will definitely admit to thinking how bad it would be if I were to just jump up and declare that I didn’t want to have my surgery anymore…. “I’m keeping my tonsils with me! These little gobs of bacteria aren’t going anywhere, buddy!” … but no, I meekly sat and waited until my name was called, and then followed the nurse to the pre-op prep room.

I was led to a small corner of the room, which was partitioned into roughly 10 changing and waiting areas, complete with hospital beds, IV drips, and computer monitors. The nurse gave me two plastic bags for my clothes, a hospital gown, and orders to strip completely. I also got a pair of beige totes to keep my feet warm. I disrobed, packed everything off, and settled down to wait with Mom. It was pretty busy, with tons of people coming in and out! Matt the anesthesiologist came by to inform me how that would happen, and I was visited by two other nurses to confirm my medical history and schedule procedure. I was also visited by Jeff, the surgical assistant, and my surgeon Dr. Saxon. At this point I was reassured by everyone and how nice they were, but I was definitely getting more and more nervous. As I was hooked up to the IV, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if the anesthesia didn’t work and I was still awake as they started to cut into me… or what would happen if I didn’t wake up… or what if I had an unknown reaction to the anesthesia and something went terribly wrong…

But before I could properly allow these fears to run rampant, I was given a cap for my hair and Matt took me on a wild bed ride through the corridors of the pre-op wing. I guess the anesthesia must have started to kick in, because I remember entering the operating room, being shifted to the operating table, and then… lights out. The next thing I knew I was lying in a different room and staring at yet another nurse who told me the operation had gone just fine. I was instructed to breathe deeply into the oxygen mask over my nose, but I was having problems breathing– I could breathe in through my nose just fine, but I couldn’t breathe out unless I breathed out through my nose. They poked and prodded, and told me it was nothing to worry about.

I drifted in and out of consciousness for a while, and then I was moved to a rolling chair version of my hospital bed, and transferred a few feet away to a different corner. Here I was tucked in with a warm blanket, given a cup with crushed ice and a spoon, and reunited with Mom. I was also given the first of my drug doses, and surprisingly enough I felt pretty good. Another nurse, Donna, sat with us and ran through all the instructions for the medicine and care I would need in the next week or two. She was pretty impressed with how well I was doing. (I was impressed, too). It actually didn’t seem that bad; the only issue I had was a buildup of mucus in my throat that I was too afraid to cough out for fear of disturbing the stitches.

After some time, I was pronounced ready to be released, and given the option of having a wheelchair take me or walk out myself. I chose to walk, even though I was feeling a little unsteady on my feet still. We gathered up all my prescriptions and took off. After running around to three different pharmacies to find the medicine I needed, Mom was finally able to get everything I needed, and we returned home.

It hurt a lot to swallow, but after I took the next dose of my pain medication it wasn’t so bad. I was advised not to talk very much so I could rest my throat. We ended up having a light dinner, continuing our crime show marathon, and started watching Godfather II. I think both of us were pretty beat, because we couldn’t keep our eyes open and had to abandon the movie to go to bed early.

During the night I again woke up every hour, but this time it was due to a severe case of dry mouth. When I got up this morning, my throat hurt a lot more than it had yesterday, and my neck and chest muscles were sore as well. However, it was no worse than what I had experienced with my strep outbreaks (before getting on medication), so I was actually pretty relieved. The pain medication is also a huge help, because it lets me swallow with minimal pain. It is also VERY strong and makes me very drowsy and tipsy-feeling.

In any case, I was feeling pretty good (all things considered) so Mom left around 1:30 pm, and I’ve been spending the day reading and napping. Here’s hoping that I won’t suddenly feel a lot worse tomorrow.