My Body Is Not Bionic.

I should have bought myself a silk robe with a matching silk eye mask for this period of recovery I'm going through. What with Logan bringing me food and medication on a tray all last week I could have really lived the part of Joan Crawford. The refried beans my friend Laura brought over and the slurpees my friend Jodi brought me along with the milkshake my friend Leslie brought me would have been a little incongruous with the glamorous convalescing but still.

Here's what I think about my tonsillectomy. I think you all had me (rightfully) scared shitless about the recovery. If you're here because you googled "Tonsillectomy How Bad Can It Be?" I think you should go and read the comments on this post. If you're still willing to get them removed, that means they've overstayed their welcome and should come out.

Words like "The worst pain...." "Months of recovery...." "Lost 20 pounds...." came up over and over and I still couldn't face another month of waking up and fearing the strep was back. Or that I was going to be down for the count yet again with a terrible sore throat.

I would not call this the worst pain I've ever been in. Then again my delivery and recovery from Madison's birth was particularly hellish. So hellish that even my c-section with Max was a walk in a field of daisies. I took the pain medication after that for just 3 days and was fine (with small annoying things like not being able to get out of bed without rolling off the side and then standing up).

I will say this probably the most annoying pain I've been in.

When I came home after the event and didn't feel like writhing and moaning, all before I'd even taken any pain medication, I thought it would only get better from there. It didn't really get worse, as some predicted it would. (If you don't count the first night where I laid on the bathroom floor alternately throwing up, sweating and praying for death) (This is a reaction I have to anesthesia...I did the same thing after my c-section). Aside from this, it never got worse. It just remained the same.

Usually when I get one of my many sore throats, the first day is intolerable, the second and third day feels like someone's punched me in the throat and by the fourth day I'm like new.

This surgery left me feeling punched in the throat, so I thought I'd feel punched in the throat for a day or two and then be getting slowly better. Instead I feel like I'm still being punched in the throat even six days later and I'm more than tired of it.

I'm also a little disappointed in myself. You see, I consider myself a Champion Sleeper, a Professional if you will. I thought if I just stayed in bed and didn't push myself too hard and slept 12-18 hours a day, my body would show it's Bionic Capabilities and fix me.

My body is not bionic. I have to accept that. But maybe if I just take one more nap I'll wake up and be better.

Comments

[Why Mom Drinks Rum]

I have long maintained that part of the whole surgery package should be a voluntary medically induced coma until you are 3/4 healed. I'm *this* close to actually forming a facebook group, which we ALL KNOW makes things happen. Damn straight if we get to a million by 2009 Bill Gate will pay our mortgages off.

Hope the throat of doom heals this week.

[Sarah]

I've always known that having tonsils out as an adult was worse than having them out as a child. I was 4 when my Dad had his tonsils removed. All I really recall from the experience was the story of his stitches breaking in a public washroom leading to a geyser of blood spraying on the sink and walls....

[dotty]

I still vividly remember the pain of having my tonsils out at the age of six. Can't and don't want to imagine it as an adult. My stitches also broke, so there was that horrific memory to go along with it.

Just rest as you have been doing. I wish you a speedy recovery!

[Paula]

My daughter (7) just had her tonsils and adenoids removed at the beginning of this year due to sleep issues. She had to be off of school for a week and I found myself looking at her wondering why it was that she had to be off. It didn't seem like anything was wrong what-so-ever. And the complaining that she couldn't eat whatever she wanted was just another reason I wanted to send her back to school.

I know surgeries get harder the older you get, but I think a lot has to do with your pain tolerance. Seems that you must have a higher threshold then even you thought you did.

Glad to hear that it isn't as awful as you thought it would be.

[K.B.]

Sounds like it'll all be worth it for you!

I considered getting mine removed for a short time after I realized those gross chunky things I have been hacking up for the last 10 years are TONSIL STONES (oh how I wish I never would have Googled them... so gross...), but maybe I will go with the classic treatment of douching my tonsils a couple of times a day.

Here's to a speedy recovery!

[AnEmily]

So glad you are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! Not THAT light.

[Cat]

I was considering an elective tonsilectomy, just for fun, but your ordeal has caused me to reconsider. I just don't want the attention badly enough to go through it. Thank you for saving me.

[melissaS]

Oh no no no no Cat. Please do not misunderstand.

I mean this is worth all the flowers and iTunes gift cards and refried beans and slurpees. All by itself. People don't just bring you that shit for nothing.

[rbiggs]

Hopefully this will be the end of being punched in the throat for you. It really is all worth it in the end!

[Jules]

Yeah, the recovery DOES take a while. But I haven't had a sore throat since those puss-filled nodes of doom were removed from my throat TEN YEARS AGO. Just think about that.

Totally worth it.

[BOSSY]

Yeah, Bossy had her tonsils out at 18. No fun, but of course the forced down-time sounds great to Bossy from this vantage point, which doesn't say a great deal about Bossy's life.

[BOSSY]

And Bossy agrees with Jules: totally worth it. No more issues. At least of the throat variety.

[Lisa V]

Had my tonsils out at 18 months. But I had my wisdom teeth at 34. The nerve damage in my jaw, cheeks and ear aches lasted for three weeks. I was pampered, babied, yada, yada. Still wasn't worth it.

I think surgery as an adult is worse than as a kid. I seriously would rather push a human being out of my body. But I would rather have my wisdom teeth out than go through 5 months of morning sickness again.

Sorry you feel so crummy still. Hope soon all you have is the good feeling that you are not going to catch strep every time it comes around.

[bridget]

i'm sorry your still in pain!
But what are watching on tv? Do you get to lay there and take vicodin?
sounds like fun to me today.

[melissaS]

The break was nice for the first 3 days last week. Then I became starving.

Now I'm not ill enough to justify doing nothing and all I can think about is eating without pain.

Hopefully soon. The left side of my throat is the side giving me trouble. Hopefully that will heal soon.

[Katie]

Like I think I said in the previous post, I had mine out at age 12. I don't remember it being a big deal (other than the puking after the surgery but you've been through that part).

For me, I think the worst pain was kidney stones and preterm labor while 26 weeks pregnant with twins (the twins hung in there to 33 weeks, *whew*) Although my root canal and then abscess and catching the stomach flu with 5 kids under 6 and husband out of town kinda ranks up there as "worst weekend of my life."

Don't you just love it when random internet people overshare? LOL

Wishing you a speedier recovery!

[jana]

You'll turn the corner soon; I promise! Start sipping luke-warm broth, it'll help. It's totally worth it too, BTW.

[plumwin]

Just so you have something to look forward to: I had mine out at 25 (10 years ago!) and still remember the exact time I felt like eating again after feeling the starvation you're feeling now. Eighth day, 2pm. No one was around so I got in my car (sort of jacked up on painkillers still) and drove to McDonalds as it was the closest thing that sounded good. I ate a Big Mac, fish sandwich, two large fries, and a vanila shake. I know, disgusting. It's the most I've ever eaten in one sitting in my entire life and was the BEST meal I've ever eaten since. Please pick something better than I did when you're ready for the big hog fest though. :)

[melissaS]

Oh my god this made me tear up.

I would love to eat french fries right now so badly.

I cried through dinner tonight.

Tomorrow is day 7. God help me I like your story more than so many I've heard.

[plumwin]

Yeah! My goal was to cheer you up. Trust me, the fact that you are even joking about it at this point makes you a way better person than me. Honestly, I bitched and moaned for the first week and was a raging bitch beyond anything you can imagine. Also? I am barely over five feet and weigh about 105 soaking wet so stuffing all that food into myself was beyond disgusting but so worth it as was the surgery to begin with. No sore throats since!

[TheHans]

Chicken and Stars soup, man. BEST FOOD EVAR. It counts as food and is totally soft and good. Just don't heat it to boiling and you'll be ok. That was my post-tonsillectomy real food, eaten the night of surgery (post-hurl). Followed closely by a Whopper Jr (took an hour to eat, but sooooo worth it) on day two. If you chew chew chew chew chew and drink plenty of water/other fluids, you can eat fries. The faster you start eating solid food, I think, the faster you will heal. Itty bitty bites. Like the bites your kids take when you are trying new food out on them. HA!
(I AM NOT A REAL DOCTOR - JUST ONE OF THOSE PHD DOCTORS. TOTALLY DIFFERENT.)
Rest, fluids, take your pain meds on cycle. It's easier to keep the pain in check than try to knock it back down.
It's worth it. 12 years tonsil-free and nary a sore throat. I was 20 when I had them out.
Have you noticed your voice sounds different, too? My friends found that totally hysterical.

[joaaanna]

I think you've summed it up correctly. Annoying Pain. Yeah - it hurts, alot, but when will it STOP? I remember it being just a constant raw, soreness. And of course it goes away - just not as quickly as you'd like.

My seven year old neice had her tonsils and adnoids out last Thursday. I talked to her on the phone four hours after surgery and she was just fine. Perky even. Note to parents - If they are having problems at a young age - get 'em yanked out - it will eliminate years of suffering.

I, too, agree with Chicken & Stars... it cures everything.

[Candi]

I thought for sure you'd be bionic by association from Logan! It does get better...so much better. Had mine out 15 years ago and have barely had a cold. And yea, your voice might change too. We laughed about my change and how I couldn't say "hole"...oh, the good memories of surgery. You can make it and will love that you did it!

[Jen]

You mean there are refried beans and iTunes included? Sign me up!

Seriously, hope you feel better. I did the c-section thing and couldn't imagine a more annoying surgery so I'm feeling for you right now. Must be pretty annoying to conquer a c-section recovery.

[Lena]

I had mine out in my twenties and although yes it was painful and yes even a week after the operation I was so weak I fainted just from slowly walking up the stairs I am still so grateful for having had the operation. The lack of fear when you wake up after a big night and you go - drank too much, check, talked rubbish, check, headache, check, dodgy tonsils - NO! Because somebody took them out and threw them in a bin. Hurrah!

[Kimmers]

Ok, I voted for you over at Velveeta! Your recipe looks awesome, and if my boyfriend wasn't the world's pickiest eater and particularly opposed to anything vaguely casserole-ish, I'd make it in a heartbeat. Next time we have some people over I'll give it a shot.

Sorry you're feeling so lousy... if it's any consolation, when I had my tonsils out it was awful the first week or so BUT then overnight it suddenly got a lot better. So take heart... you may be closer to the end than you think. :)

[TrishNotChris]

Oh, I feel for you! My DD had her "very, very fried-looking" tonsils removed last winter. Her recovery took a long time..and she's only 5! The first couple of days were the calm before the storm. Not only was she in pain, we were in pain because her voice became so high-pitched that even the dog ran for cover. We used a vaporizer in her room for a long time to help her sleep at night. It worked like a charm...I highly recommend it!

I had the "most awful baddest type you can get" flu last winter(right after her surgery). I actually asked my hubs to shoot me...and I'd delivered a child without medication. It took my body SOOO long to catch up with my mind's ideas. Hang in there!

[KYouell]

I'm just glad that the eye patch thing was part of a Joan Crawford costume reverie and not that something had happened to your eye.

[Kathy]

This refers to your most recent post entry--Just needed to let you know I voted for you in the velvetta challenge..we tried the recipe and it was so yummy! The kids and the hubby enjoyed it, we will be making this again too! Hope your recovering a little better today too.

[Lynnster]

I was 23 when I got mine out and it was two weeks before I could eat anything at all beyond having a milkshake or pudding, and three weeks before I was really okay again.

I had been told beforehand to keep drinking liquids after I got home. But you have to sleep SOMETIME, right? Once I fell asleep & woke up, it was all over. There might as well have been constantly moving shards of glass in my throat.

I haven't been through childbirth or had a kidney stone (which I don't want) but I have gallbladder flareups which have made me want to shoot myself from the pain at times. I would rather have a gallbladder attack every day for the rest of my life then go through another tonsillectomy. Thank goodness you only have to do it once.

The upside (and it is worth it) - I am 42 years old, the tonsillectomy was nearly 20 years, and I can probably count on one hand the number of bad sore throats I have had in the last 20 years. Going from having them constantly to never - it's worth it.

So note to Cat - really, do it. It really is worth it for that (but if it weren't for the fact you can only have it done once it might not be!).

[Bev]

butting in with my two cents, reactions like that to anesthesia usually means an allergy to one or more of the "mix" they give you, if they remove that or replace it with something else (this can be done and is not as difficult as some might think)you may never have another reaction at all. Demerol and morphine do that to me, without those in the mix, I wake up perky as anything.