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Wednesday, 29 October 2008

Gross!

I think I may have swallowed a scab...totally nasty!
Things are feeling and looking better for me. I've lost nine pounds since being on a liquid diet, and am so hungry it's not even funny. The plus side of it is someone said it looks like I've lost weight! I've also graduated to thinned cheddar soup and thinned mashed potatoes! Yay me! And I've gotten the feeling back in my tongue!!!!
My jaw is really hurting though. I think they clamped down my left side of my jaw and it's all scratched and sore. I don't sleep very well at night. I still have to get up every hour to drink water and then I can go back to bed. It is supposed to keep everything moving and moist...which is good so I don't have to go back and have them redo it. Then it would be another two weeks. So I set my alarm to wake up every hour just to take a swig of water. Around 2:00 a.m. I tend to hurt a lot and it takes me an hour to get back to sleep, even with medicine. That's when the ice comes out.
Today my sessionmates got me a little gift and a card. That was very nice of them. I can't eat the candy, but it looks pretty! I'm going to do some homework tonight and head to bed early because I'm exhausted.

Tuesday, 28 October 2008

Cream of Wheat Became My Savior

Today was the first day back to classes for me. It was rough. I had to leave class twice because I had to cough. Coughing you ask? Yes, something as simple as coughing made me leave because I can't cough. Coughing will tear my tissue in the back of my throat and then I'll have to go to the hospital.
I was way super tired too. I debated whether or not to go to class because I was so tired. I awoke from a pretty rough night from about 2:00 a.m. on and had to take some medicine to help me sleep and then I sucked on some ice. I knew I got tired pretty easily, but I thought I should try it. Yes, I did get tired right around the third class. I wanted to go though because this would be the day to go to class due to it only being a half day. I went and had a half cup of soup and a pudding cup for lunch and then I thought, "I'm totally going to take a nap."
No. I had a paper I had to write. I sat down and procrastinated, but I started reading a book and just finished it about 20 minutes ago. In between chapters, I decided to eat Cream of Wheat for dinner. I just had this epiphany that I needed to eat and that's why I've been so tired. Of course, Heather. No calories in mean no energy. No energy makes you tired and not want to do anything.
I can't eat any red jello because that's what the doctor said. I try not to drink or eat anything with milk in it because I get congested. That pretty much limits me to broth, soups, you get the point. I had two bowls of Cream of Wheat and I felt 10 times better!!! Cream of Wheat is my new best friend!
After I ate and sucked on ice for an hour, my throat felt so much better. I think the swelling has gone down quite a bit and tomorrow it will be even better than it was today. Slowly but surely I am coming along. The doctor said this wold be a miserable surgery, and it has been so far, but I find as long as I chomp on ice constantly, I'm okay.
Have a lovely evening.

Sunday, 26 October 2008

Day Four...Things are Looking Up!

Yes things are starting to look up for the girl with no tonsils!
Sleeping did not go very well last night. I've been elevating my head with three pillows and I finally just got frustrated and took away one. That seemed to help out a little more, but I really didn't sleep better until after I took my medicine again. I woke up around one in the morning and my throat just hurt. I took the medicine and sat on the couch sucking on ice until it was numb. I stayed there for about an hour where I fell asleep. I moved to the bed and that's when I started to get more sleep.
I woke up pretty early because I just couldn't sleep anymore. I still had to wake up every hour or so to keep my throat wet. I took a long shower. Showers seem to be my friend these days because the humidity from the shower keeps my throat moist. Gross, I know, but it makes me feel so much better. I'm having trouble with coughing I seem to be somewhat congested and it hurts to cough. My throat was pretty raw still from the day before. I talked, but not a lot, and that is what did me in.
I got fully dressed and leaned into the chair like it was a couch. I had gotten myself ice earlier that morning when Sheri came in and got me more. I seem to go through about 32 oz. of ice every three hours. It made the swelling go down more and that is good because I'm way super hungry. Three days of not eating, I'm about done. I had some chicken broth this morning for breakfast with maybe half of a yogurt smoothy. That didn't tide me over so I had a pudding cup. That held me until about noon and then I went into my fridge and watered down mashed potatoes from the previous evening with chicken broth.
This may seem like a whole lot of food, but it totally isn't when you haven't eaten for three days! For dinner, Sarah was kind enough to drive me to Jamba Juice and get me a chocolate smoothy with protein in it. I only ate about a 1/4 cup of it. I then got brave and decided to try Cream of Wheat....completely watered down. That was okay, but I have to be careful.
We will see about tomorrow. At this rate, I'll have to haul a cooler around with me for all the ice I eat. I just get tired really easily. I'm going stir crazy, but if I get up and even do laundry, I have to take a nap. My neck also gets swollen if I don't ice it. Things are getting better though because my appetite is back and I'm able to swallow 10 times better. I just can't talk, move and need ice at all times!

Saturday, 25 October 2008

No Tonsils, Day Three

I'm going to say that half of surgery is elective. I did elect to have this surgery, but it was needed...that is what I have to keep telling myself.
Things are better today, but I overestimate my own stamina and want to just get up and go. Boy is that a bad idea. I got more sleep last night. I actually fell asleep on the couch around 10:00 p.m. and just gave in and went to bed altogether. This time I woke up approximately every hour and a half, give or take how I was feeling. Most of the time I slept through the full hour and a half, but sometimes I would wake up twice in the same time period. This is where the medication helps out quite a bit because it puts you to sleep just long enough for the next go 'round.
I finished my Green Tea Jamba Juice today. I tried to have little bits of scrambled eggs from someone's plate, but it still hurt to swallow, so it was gnawing on ice for me for the rest of the day. I had some cheddar broccoli soup for lunch which I watered down quite a bit and took small spoonfuls of. It equated about 3/4 of a cup. I fall asleep pretty easily, and that's where I overestimate what I can do. My couch is not the greatest for falling asleep on it though because I think it was meant to be an outdoor couch and it doesn't give under your weight because the material is so thick and it actually has air holes on the seat cushions.
So my nap was short lived, but well needed. I made a mistake and looked at the back of my throat today. My epiglottis is HUGE!! I must have overdone myself in talking yesterday because my throat felt pretty raw and swollen. I tried to keep it at a minimum today. Things are going down much easier, but it's still hard. I sometimes get sick from just talking or leaning my head over and feeling the stuff that's in my mouth.
The left side of my jaw is pretty sore and cut up. The only thing I feel really comfortable eating is ice, which gets old pretty quick. So ice and being tired. That is me. Sheri keeps reminding me that it's going to take my entire body to heal, which I can't seem to wrap my head around because the surgery just happened in my throat, and yet my entire body is screaming, "Go to bed! Just lay on the couch and rest!" My tongue still hurts, but I'm hoping that will pass pretty fast.
Back to the ice and laying there like a bump on a log...

Friday, 24 October 2008

Day Two of no Tonsils

So I'm going on day two of my tonsils finally being yanked out of me. That's exactly how it feels too...yanked out.
Yesterday was pretty uneventful. I awoke at 4:30 a.m. to take a shower before surgery. I had to be at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. and I still needed to finish some homework as well. Sheri came in around 5:40 a.m. and we were off. When you are having stuff done on yourself, I'm realizing the hospital is not as friendly as it used to be. That is a personal reflection really. Everyone was super friendly and nice, but needles aren't my friend and it was uncomfortable being in a gown that opens on the side.
I had a bad reaction to the anesthesia, which is what happens when I have a surgery. I've only had three in my lifetime, and all of them results the same: Me being very angry/super woman or throwing up and sleeping all the time. This time I just slept four hours after my surgery and I wanted to hurl the moment I stood up. They had to give me a shot to keep me from throwing up because it would make my throat bleed. Sheri brought me home and I promptly fell asleep for another hour and a half.
I took two showers last night because I felt gross and icky. My throat hurt and my tongue was so swollen. It was hard for me to swallow anything, but the doctor said I had to drink as much as I could. Sheri hung out with me all night to make sure I was okay. I laid on the couch for the majority of the evening and had a sleepless night because I had to get up every hour and drink something. That and it was hard to sleep regardless because everything was so swollen. I actually sat on the couch and cried a bit because I was so miserable. I text my dad right then and wished he was there to take care of me...it doesn't matter how old you are; you still want your mom and dad when you go through stuff like this.
I woke up and lounged on the couch, which was uncomfortable, so I moved to the floor. That was uncomfortable, so I took a shower. Good news! My tongue swelling went down, but everything else was swollen. It's hard to swallow anything and breathing is hard when you have some congestion because you can't gulp or cough very hard. So it was sucking on ice for me all day long.
Sheri came back and brought me a green tea Jamba Juice. I had some chicken broth for lunch and I felt like going outside after being cooped up for two days. We went to dinner and I had a chocolate milkshake. I got tired pretty fast though and pretty full from one milkshake. The Tylenol and codeine help out quite a bit in helping me swallow. I slept two hours this afternoon after I took it. The goal is to be back in class on Monday. We'll see...