Pain, Pain, Go Away
So as to the details of my little tonsil ordeal,I will now try and tell you it. Warning: this may cause brain freeze...HAHHA...no but really...it's long, so you dont have to read it.
My tonsils have been bothering me for just over a year...a year april, and I was scheduled to get them out June 1. I called last week and they had a cancellation, so I took it. On Wednesday was the day of the surgery.
So Tuesday night, I have this dream. They were taking out my tonsils and my jaw was cranked open. They thought that I was asleep, but I really wasnt. Above my neck was frozen, but I was awake, I just kept my eyes closed so they didnt know. And then they went in, they were using some took that sounded like a chainsaw...it killed my ears. I kept trying to close my jaw but I couldnt. Then I woke up. Crazy thing, through the whole dream it felt like my mouth was actually cranked open...I was actually part of the dream...one of those crazy ones where your body is actually in it. It was like the one's I heard about in Psych 101 but I never experienced one, until then.
I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight. So I get to the hospital at 845 (St.Mary's is where they did it). I had to be there 2 hours early, and I was starved already. I give them my forms and sit and wait for a bit. Then they bring me to a hospital room, where I get to change into a hosiptal gown...OW OW. Here comes the worst part of the whole thing. So the nurse wants to put the IV in me. Well, I have really small veins that are really deep, so I don;t like needles at all. The nurse is like if I can't see a vein I will call another nurse, so I was like okay. Then she decided to be friggin smart, and tried to get it in anyway. But she didn't. ARGH!!!! So then I got a little pale and faint...lalala. Then the other nurse came and got it in..thank goodness. Then I just got to lay there for about an hour and a half like a real hospital patient. (Oh and my mom was there the whole time:)) Then at about 11, they roll me down to this hallway, my mom had to leave at that point. So Im laying in this bed in this hallway with pink and cream walls that I swear could drive a person crazy. Lots of different surgeons and nurses passed me. One surgeon was sooo nice he was like hey, good luck. And I smiled and he was on his way. I started to grow really impatient. My surgery time was supposed to be 11. This whole time nurses and people kept going into this room with supplies and coming out and talking and making lots of noise. So at 1140, a nurse came and got me and wheeled me into the operating room.
In the operating room. Well, there were 5 people, my surgeon (the throat specialist i previously saw), and the guy that does the anestetic, and 3 nurses. A lot of people for a small operation but whatever. So they transfer me onto the hard metal operating table from my nice comfy bed. The put a strap around my leg, and secured my one arm to my body. I felt like i was in a bloody mental institution, or about to be killed. Anyway, this one nurse just stayed by me holding my arm and talking to me. About school, and my cottage and stuff, she was nice. And they had the cutest fly swatter and were joking saying they would protect me if any blackflies or bees got in (im allergic to them). Then the anestetic guy is talking and is like I'm going to give you a pain drug first. I'm like ok. Then he's like you'll be going to sleep shortly. And I didnt actually think he put it in yet, then the nurse says ok this nurse is putting something really cold on your leg, and about 30 seconds after I was out, don't remember anything else. I wake up in another room, slowly coming in and out of sleep. Look to my right and there's this guy with his nose all bandaged up. The nurse comes over to me and is like Hello Jennifer, how are you? your throat sore?...then I realized it kind of was, and I could barely talk..fantastic. This other girl gets rolled in, about my age, shortly after I wake up. She had her tonsils out too, except she has asthma, so she had a really difficult time coming out of the anestetic, she kept calling for her mom, and screaming in pain, and moving her body a lot, it was sad to watch, but they drew the curtain. As I was leaving she was rolled beside me, looked better, had something to drink, and then I was on another journey through endless hallways.
I arrive in a hospital room. I forgot to mention that right before my surgery I had to go to the bathroom, so by this time I REALLY have to go...no jokes. So the nurse brings me some drinks and asked if she could do anything else for me. And in my quiet raspy voice I was like, you know, I really have to go to the bathroom. She waiting outside the door the whole time. And a few minutes later I was reunited with my mom, who sat in my room. I went through 2 bags of IV, and trying to go to the bathroom, when you're connected to IV is soooooo hard, let me tell you. And I drank a lot, and had a lime popsicle, and 2 tyelnol 3's. I thought I would be home by about 3, until I was informed that they had to keep me for a minimum of 6 hours after my surgery, because I'm an adult and it's alot harder, they had to make sure the bleeding didn't start again. So at about 7 I got to leave. Only to find out that there was a blackout in waterloo...GREAT!!! I couldn;t get a frosty from wendy;s which I really wanted. I went home and just layed in my bed. THe people in the hospital were great but it's been some experience.
Thursday and Friday the pain was almost unbearable. The pain medication takes about 30-40 minutes to kick in, works pretty good for about 2, and then I'm in pain, trying to drink and distract myself until it had been 4 hours so I could take it again, and then suffer through 30 more minutes until it would kick in and so on. The first 2 nights I slept like crap, waking up a lot and such. I went to my cottage with my parents this weekend, and today I've only taken medication 4 times, with about 5.5 hrs in between each dosage, this compared to 6 times the first 2 days. The pain is still a lot worse then I thought it would be at this point, talking too loud hurts, my jaw hurts, i get headaches here and there, sometimes my ear aches, and I'm running low on drugs. It takes me forever to eat anything. A baked potato, really soft and scrambled eggs, took me about an hour to eat today, so I'm sure you can imagine. The first few days were mostly liquids, now im on to soft foods, but it is most frustrating how long they take to consume. Today in the car ride home from the cottage I swallowed water down the wrong tube, which caused a lot of coughing. And then i had some uncontrollable laughter with some funny moments on the car....both of these combined caused tremendous pain. My pain level went from a 2 to a 7 in a matter of minutes...I swear I just about broke my stitches open....then I popped the drugs. And I tried sucking and really chomping some chips before I swallowed them, that lasted for about 3, because they still scratched my throat the whole way down even though I swore they were soft enough. It has been quite the experience but I know I will feel better soon. Not being able to laugh or talk to people that much is what bothers me the most. But I have survived, and I am on the road to recovery. I am due back at work on Wednesday unless I wont be able to handle it, and in about 2 weeks I'll be able to excercise again.
THE TONSILS ARE FINALLY GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEE HAW!!!!
That's all I have to say for now..love you all:)
My tonsils have been bothering me for just over a year...a year april, and I was scheduled to get them out June 1. I called last week and they had a cancellation, so I took it. On Wednesday was the day of the surgery.
So Tuesday night, I have this dream. They were taking out my tonsils and my jaw was cranked open. They thought that I was asleep, but I really wasnt. Above my neck was frozen, but I was awake, I just kept my eyes closed so they didnt know. And then they went in, they were using some took that sounded like a chainsaw...it killed my ears. I kept trying to close my jaw but I couldnt. Then I woke up. Crazy thing, through the whole dream it felt like my mouth was actually cranked open...I was actually part of the dream...one of those crazy ones where your body is actually in it. It was like the one's I heard about in Psych 101 but I never experienced one, until then.
I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight. So I get to the hospital at 845 (St.Mary's is where they did it). I had to be there 2 hours early, and I was starved already. I give them my forms and sit and wait for a bit. Then they bring me to a hospital room, where I get to change into a hosiptal gown...OW OW. Here comes the worst part of the whole thing. So the nurse wants to put the IV in me. Well, I have really small veins that are really deep, so I don;t like needles at all. The nurse is like if I can't see a vein I will call another nurse, so I was like okay. Then she decided to be friggin smart, and tried to get it in anyway. But she didn't. ARGH!!!! So then I got a little pale and faint...lalala. Then the other nurse came and got it in..thank goodness. Then I just got to lay there for about an hour and a half like a real hospital patient. (Oh and my mom was there the whole time:)) Then at about 11, they roll me down to this hallway, my mom had to leave at that point. So Im laying in this bed in this hallway with pink and cream walls that I swear could drive a person crazy. Lots of different surgeons and nurses passed me. One surgeon was sooo nice he was like hey, good luck. And I smiled and he was on his way. I started to grow really impatient. My surgery time was supposed to be 11. This whole time nurses and people kept going into this room with supplies and coming out and talking and making lots of noise. So at 1140, a nurse came and got me and wheeled me into the operating room.
In the operating room. Well, there were 5 people, my surgeon (the throat specialist i previously saw), and the guy that does the anestetic, and 3 nurses. A lot of people for a small operation but whatever. So they transfer me onto the hard metal operating table from my nice comfy bed. The put a strap around my leg, and secured my one arm to my body. I felt like i was in a bloody mental institution, or about to be killed. Anyway, this one nurse just stayed by me holding my arm and talking to me. About school, and my cottage and stuff, she was nice. And they had the cutest fly swatter and were joking saying they would protect me if any blackflies or bees got in (im allergic to them). Then the anestetic guy is talking and is like I'm going to give you a pain drug first. I'm like ok. Then he's like you'll be going to sleep shortly. And I didnt actually think he put it in yet, then the nurse says ok this nurse is putting something really cold on your leg, and about 30 seconds after I was out, don't remember anything else. I wake up in another room, slowly coming in and out of sleep. Look to my right and there's this guy with his nose all bandaged up. The nurse comes over to me and is like Hello Jennifer, how are you? your throat sore?...then I realized it kind of was, and I could barely talk..fantastic. This other girl gets rolled in, about my age, shortly after I wake up. She had her tonsils out too, except she has asthma, so she had a really difficult time coming out of the anestetic, she kept calling for her mom, and screaming in pain, and moving her body a lot, it was sad to watch, but they drew the curtain. As I was leaving she was rolled beside me, looked better, had something to drink, and then I was on another journey through endless hallways.
I arrive in a hospital room. I forgot to mention that right before my surgery I had to go to the bathroom, so by this time I REALLY have to go...no jokes. So the nurse brings me some drinks and asked if she could do anything else for me. And in my quiet raspy voice I was like, you know, I really have to go to the bathroom. She waiting outside the door the whole time. And a few minutes later I was reunited with my mom, who sat in my room. I went through 2 bags of IV, and trying to go to the bathroom, when you're connected to IV is soooooo hard, let me tell you. And I drank a lot, and had a lime popsicle, and 2 tyelnol 3's. I thought I would be home by about 3, until I was informed that they had to keep me for a minimum of 6 hours after my surgery, because I'm an adult and it's alot harder, they had to make sure the bleeding didn't start again. So at about 7 I got to leave. Only to find out that there was a blackout in waterloo...GREAT!!! I couldn;t get a frosty from wendy;s which I really wanted. I went home and just layed in my bed. THe people in the hospital were great but it's been some experience.
Thursday and Friday the pain was almost unbearable. The pain medication takes about 30-40 minutes to kick in, works pretty good for about 2, and then I'm in pain, trying to drink and distract myself until it had been 4 hours so I could take it again, and then suffer through 30 more minutes until it would kick in and so on. The first 2 nights I slept like crap, waking up a lot and such. I went to my cottage with my parents this weekend, and today I've only taken medication 4 times, with about 5.5 hrs in between each dosage, this compared to 6 times the first 2 days. The pain is still a lot worse then I thought it would be at this point, talking too loud hurts, my jaw hurts, i get headaches here and there, sometimes my ear aches, and I'm running low on drugs. It takes me forever to eat anything. A baked potato, really soft and scrambled eggs, took me about an hour to eat today, so I'm sure you can imagine. The first few days were mostly liquids, now im on to soft foods, but it is most frustrating how long they take to consume. Today in the car ride home from the cottage I swallowed water down the wrong tube, which caused a lot of coughing. And then i had some uncontrollable laughter with some funny moments on the car....both of these combined caused tremendous pain. My pain level went from a 2 to a 7 in a matter of minutes...I swear I just about broke my stitches open....then I popped the drugs. And I tried sucking and really chomping some chips before I swallowed them, that lasted for about 3, because they still scratched my throat the whole way down even though I swore they were soft enough. It has been quite the experience but I know I will feel better soon. Not being able to laugh or talk to people that much is what bothers me the most. But I have survived, and I am on the road to recovery. I am due back at work on Wednesday unless I wont be able to handle it, and in about 2 weeks I'll be able to excercise again.
THE TONSILS ARE FINALLY GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEE HAW!!!!
That's all I have to say for now..love you all:)