Post-Surgical Experiences
Really, I have been anxious to have the surgery over with because i kept having sore throats and low-grade infections, couldn't breathe, and also was anxious to see my Momma, who came to take care of me after my surgery.
Now that it's over, I just can't wait to have the pain go away. Really. When does it go away? I am pretty sure I will run out of pain medication before the pain starts to subside at all. I can't wait to swallow w/out this spike of intense pain. I can feel my heart rate and blood pressure increase w/ the pain and I feel like I'm going to pass out from it sometimes it's so intense.
I was kept in the hospital overnight despite being told it would be outpatient surgery. Apparently, the doctor had always intended to keep me overnight and there had been a miscommunication. It was nice to have the IV - oh, how I miss the IV and the phenergan, which knocked me out completely. It was cool to drink fluids through my arm, including pain killer. My arm doesn't have that intense pain that my throat has, so yay!
I forced myself to drink lots of water anyways because I had been told to. I drank as much as possible because it helps my throat heal faster. I'm still doing this but it is torture.
Also, everything tastes kind of funny. It's probably all these dying tissues inside my nose and throat. Very gross. Minor detail. Not as major as I thought it would be. I'm trying to eat as much normal soft foods as I can, but it really is torture. The foods that help my stomach really hurt my throat and vice versa. It's a difficult thing to balance.
Believe it or not, I'm trying to be strong and not complain. I'm just having a hard time. My mom was proud of me for how well I handled everything. I miss her. She and her husband had to go home yesterday after being here for a week. It was lovely to have her taking care of me. She's such a good Momma.
I started out knowing that I would have to push through the pain and drink fluids each hour. I knew I would likely have a spike in pain a few days after I started to recover because everyone said so. It's when the scabs start to slough off after you've started to feel better. You start to feel worse than before. I was prepared because people who'd had their tonsils out before have experienced this. I was also prepared to feel a really intense earache because the pain is referred.
I was not prepared for the spikes to be unending, one after the other for days with very little relief. Maybe I'm pushing too hard, expecting too much? More likely it's because I had so much more than my tonsils removed and I have a series of sloughing off.... I have these times when I swallow and it doesn't hurt and then a couple minutes later when I swallow a sip of water or Pedialyte, I have a spike of searing pain that shoots through my ears. And then the pain doesn't go away when I stop swallowing, at least for a while.
I'm blessed that I can sleep in relatively no pain and don't feel anything until I wake up. If I prop myself up correctly, I don't even snore. But then when I wake up, I try to swallow and it hurts like hell because my throat had dried out while I was asleep. I can't believe how extreme the pain in my throat gets when I wake up. (Oh my god! I think 125 gods must be angry - I feel their wrath!) So I don't know if it's worth it to sleep for four hours, but of course, one must sleep.
So, what do I do? I'll get through this, but right now everything is very jumbled in my mind. I'm very fuzzy headed and I'm sure the structure of how this is written shows my thought process being disorganized. I have those moments when it's all ok and then those moments that are hell and I have no idea what I'm supposed to be focused on from one moment to the next. I need someone to take care of me because I don't remember simple instructions or solutions sometimes. I'm very lucky to have a sweet husband taking care of me now that Mom had to go home, but then I know he'll be at work tomorrow and school in the evenings... When can I just feel better?
Now that it's over, I just can't wait to have the pain go away. Really. When does it go away? I am pretty sure I will run out of pain medication before the pain starts to subside at all. I can't wait to swallow w/out this spike of intense pain. I can feel my heart rate and blood pressure increase w/ the pain and I feel like I'm going to pass out from it sometimes it's so intense.
I was kept in the hospital overnight despite being told it would be outpatient surgery. Apparently, the doctor had always intended to keep me overnight and there had been a miscommunication. It was nice to have the IV - oh, how I miss the IV and the phenergan, which knocked me out completely. It was cool to drink fluids through my arm, including pain killer. My arm doesn't have that intense pain that my throat has, so yay!
I forced myself to drink lots of water anyways because I had been told to. I drank as much as possible because it helps my throat heal faster. I'm still doing this but it is torture.
Also, everything tastes kind of funny. It's probably all these dying tissues inside my nose and throat. Very gross. Minor detail. Not as major as I thought it would be. I'm trying to eat as much normal soft foods as I can, but it really is torture. The foods that help my stomach really hurt my throat and vice versa. It's a difficult thing to balance.
Believe it or not, I'm trying to be strong and not complain. I'm just having a hard time. My mom was proud of me for how well I handled everything. I miss her. She and her husband had to go home yesterday after being here for a week. It was lovely to have her taking care of me. She's such a good Momma.
I started out knowing that I would have to push through the pain and drink fluids each hour. I knew I would likely have a spike in pain a few days after I started to recover because everyone said so. It's when the scabs start to slough off after you've started to feel better. You start to feel worse than before. I was prepared because people who'd had their tonsils out before have experienced this. I was also prepared to feel a really intense earache because the pain is referred.
I was not prepared for the spikes to be unending, one after the other for days with very little relief. Maybe I'm pushing too hard, expecting too much? More likely it's because I had so much more than my tonsils removed and I have a series of sloughing off.... I have these times when I swallow and it doesn't hurt and then a couple minutes later when I swallow a sip of water or Pedialyte, I have a spike of searing pain that shoots through my ears. And then the pain doesn't go away when I stop swallowing, at least for a while.
I'm blessed that I can sleep in relatively no pain and don't feel anything until I wake up. If I prop myself up correctly, I don't even snore. But then when I wake up, I try to swallow and it hurts like hell because my throat had dried out while I was asleep. I can't believe how extreme the pain in my throat gets when I wake up. (Oh my god! I think 125 gods must be angry - I feel their wrath!) So I don't know if it's worth it to sleep for four hours, but of course, one must sleep.
So, what do I do? I'll get through this, but right now everything is very jumbled in my mind. I'm very fuzzy headed and I'm sure the structure of how this is written shows my thought process being disorganized. I have those moments when it's all ok and then those moments that are hell and I have no idea what I'm supposed to be focused on from one moment to the next. I need someone to take care of me because I don't remember simple instructions or solutions sometimes. I'm very lucky to have a sweet husband taking care of me now that Mom had to go home, but then I know he'll be at work tomorrow and school in the evenings... When can I just feel better?