Tonsils Gone- It's Over!!

I am no longer the owner of a pair of tonsils (...or an appendix ...and I only have 3/4 parathyroids.)  After 7 tonsil abscesses (4 in the 4 months previous to having to get them out,) they wouldn't stop getting infected and so out they came.  I have to say that the pain wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting, and yet, everything else was much worse!  Here is my experience... and although I'll try to spare you the gross descriptions, I do plan to document the truth for my own remembrance.  (It's interesting to me that everyone I have talked to, has a completely different story about their recovery-- I have found that having your tonsils removed is SO completely different for each and every person.)

Pre-Surgery
Every time Netra (Dr. Jensen's nurse) called me, or I called her, to get all the details clear she would say to me, "Now you have lots of help right??  Because you are going to need it!!"  over and over!!  Luckily, my wonderful friend offered to arrange all of it for me.  I let her know what I needed and she went way above and beyond for us!!  I honestly thought it was going to be way more than we needed but it ended up being exactly right.  She must've been inspired!  What an incredible blessing it was to have all that help!  It saved me from going insane, and from tons and tons of tears.  (I really don't know what I would've done without her arranging all that.  I never could've done that for myself.)

The night before my surgery, we went out to eat.  I ordered a huge yummy hamburger with all the trimmings, fries, and a tasty drink.  Then for dessert... a huge, warm chocolate chip cookie with ice cream and chocolate sauce.  (So glad I did that!!)

Day 1 and 2- April 26th and 27th
Surgery was over and done in about an hour and I was waking up.  Immediately, I was in a state of panic.  My throat was so swollen that it felt like I had a hundred cotton balls in the back of my throat and I realized quickly that the more I talked, the more it swelled.  It was horrible!  I kept gagging over and over and ended up later throwing up several times because of it.  I must've still had a ton of meds in me because I asked for ice to suck on (which helped) and it gave me a false sense of hope to eat cold things.

I took my narcotics (roxicet) every 4 hours on the dot, to make sure it never even had the chance to wear off (so glad I did that!)  I also noticed that I couldn't lay down (and ended up sleeping in our recliner, only half reclined, for a week.  Also, I couldn't sleep longer than 3-4 hours at a time, then I would lay awake for an hour or two until I could take my drugs and they would kick in again.)  Even though I was quite drugged, I was actually quite with it (sleepy but not spacey) and I'm sure due to the drugs, I was feeling way better than I was expecting to.  I even mentioned to Grant, "This is easy!  I don't know what people were complaining about!"  (Of course, I ended up eating those words later!!  In fact, that was about all I could eat!  LOL!)  I tried a drink of ice water and ended up in tears from the pain- excruciating!!!  Lesson learned.  About all I could do (eat/drink) for the first 3 days, was to sip lukewarm water, lukewarm gatorade, and lukewarm protein shakes.  I couldn't even handle any noise (luckily, my Mom had our kids, except Calyssa.)  It was totally quiet in our house that whole day (I think that was hard on Grant.)

I tried so hard to religiously follow my Doctors advice to drink, drink, drink!!  Even though I had no desire to eat or drink, and it actually caused me more pain.  I was constantly sipping something- Netra told me to try to down 12-16 ounces every hour that I was awake and believe me, it took the whole hour to sip it down.  (But I am so glad that I did it!)  Between that and pumping milk for Calyssa (we threw the first 36 hours of milk away and Grant fed her frozen milk), that is about all I did when I was awake the first 2-3 days.  (Miraculously, Calyssa took a bottle, when she had been refusing only days before.  I really feel that is was because of everyone's prayers.  I truly felt the strength of everyone's prayers in our behalf.  What an incredible feeling it was to feel that!!)  

Day 3-7
I spent a lot of time on Facebook and catching up on my blog.  Facebook posts...
April 29- "Almost 4 days w/o my tonsils... I am so thankful for ice packs, really strong pain relievers, gatorades & protein shakes, an amazing baby (who has been perfect and took a bottle when we needed her to), my friend's wonderful breast pump, a recliner to sleep in, Grant's work for letting him take a few days off, incredibly supportive friends and family (for taking care of me/us), and especially for all the prayers on my behalf- I have truly felt strengthened through this trial... Thank you!! Keep 'em coming! Hopefully, I will be all better in about a week or two. :)"
April 30- "Tonight was hard... but I will try to focus on my many blessings. I am thankful for KFC mashed potatoes, pretty sunflowers from a friend, good friends/family who snuggle with my girls, a meal from a friend, and Daddy's who braid hair."
May 2- "I was able to brush all the teeth in my mouth tonight for the first time in a week!!! I can't tell you how happy that makes me!! :)"
Although I still wasn't in a lot of pain, thanks to the drugs, I was totally overwhelmed by all sensations- light, sound, touch, smell, etc.  I think it was because there were so many sensations going on in my body that I wasn't used to.  Most of the week, my girls were gone, which was really good.  I remember the one day we had them home for a couple of hours, I had to go upstairs, by myself, and turn off the lights in my room, cover my ears, and just sit there and cry.  I just couldn't handle my normal life at all.

I was finally able to eat a bit more but still preferred room temperature foods- jello, applesauce, pudding, and I started having some yogurt, which was a bit cold.  (In that first week, I lost 7 pounds!)

Day 8
Was my worst day by far!!  Since my pain was down quite a bit, I thought I could go without pain meds.  Unforunately, I realized that there are worse things than pain.  The taste in my mouth was so horrible- if I had to describe it, I would say it was like sucking on old bandaids- it was seriously torture!!  Then to make matters worse, I kept gagging and having choaking/coughing fits.  The feelings, tastes, smells, etc. in my mouth were just too much to bare!!  I thought I was going to go crazy!!  I'm not sure that I ate, drank, or did much at all that day.

In addition, I was mentally exhausted from feeling this way.  I felt like I was running a race with no finish line.  It truly felt never-ending!  I didn't feel like I could finish strong when I couldn't see an end in sight.  It was incredibly discouraging.

After this day, I went back on my pain meds.

Day 9-13
Facebook- May 5- "We're having a- sit around, and eat popsicles, and watch TV/blog on the computer, kind of a day! :)"

It still really hurt to eat but I was branching out a bit- first, to soft scrambled eggs.  And then to a bit of heaven- my friend, brought me some homemade chicken noodle soup just like my Grandma used to make before she passed away.  What a special coincidence that was!  Definitely cheered me up!  :)  Other foods I was able to eat- soft pasta, soft breads, soft fruits like canned peaches, etc.  (And yet, rice and chicken hurt surprisingly bad!  And even certain liquids hurt because they were too acidic.)  I also started tolerating cold things during this time and they felt better and better (which meant smoothies, popscicles, etc.  So I stopped losing weight at such a rapid speed- I think I only lost 2-3 pounds that second week.) 

Somewhere in there, I had to up my pain meds due to terrible ear pain.  (I was extremely surprised to go through almost 3 bottles of pain meds- 1 large bottle of roxicet and 2 smallers ones of hydrocodone.  That is saying a lot for someone who hardly ever even takes Tylenol or Ibuprofen.)  I called the Doctor several times during these days, just to make sure all my symptoms were still normal.  They said that I was probably about a week behind normal recovery, probably because of how scarred my tonsils were, also because my immune system wasn't up to parr, and because a lot of my liquids were going to my baby through breastfeeding.  (I was so thankful that I was able to keep breastfeeding through it all.  Although, during these weeks, we did have to give her a bit of formula every 2-3 days, my milk came fully back when I was back to normal.)

2 Weeks!
Again, I felt pretty discouraged, as I thought it would be completely over by 2 weeks!  I wanted to be eating chips, cookies, hamburgers, etc.  Instead, I was still eating applesauce, yogurt, pudding, etc.  Just the very sight of these foods made me depressed!  So I made Grant go buy me lots of really expensive and yummy ice creams to cheer me up!  It totally helped!!  :)  PS- Those "Double Chocolate Magnum" bars are absolutely incredible!!  If you've never tried them, stop reading this blog and go to the store right now, and buy some!!  Oh, and eat them all yourself-- "Much too good for children!"  LOL!  ;)

2-6 Weeks
The pain of every day tasks gradually diminished.  Eventually, I was able to cry without pain, laugh without pain, eat hard foods without pain, eat hot/cold things without pain, sleep comfortably, and chug a bottle of gatorade again!!  :)  One of the last things that stopped hurting was yawning.  (I love to yawn, it seriously makes me happy!  I really missed it!)  It's amazing the simple things we take for granted every day! 

Also, my level of fatigue was pretty bad at 2 weeks, however, it gradually became better and better.

7 1/2 Weeks
Although I am still recovering my house and the girl's schooling from the last 5 1/2 months of sicknesses, a new baby, and surgery, I am physically all better!!  It is great to never have to worry about tonsil problems again!!  I can finally confidently say that I'm so glad I had my tonsils taken out!!

(Note- I wrote most of this post after 7 1/2 weeks, but am now finishing it.  It has now been almost 3 months and I'm feeling more energy then I have felt in a long time.  I haven't gotten sick, I think since before my surgery.  And I am starting to be able to clean/organize things in my house that have been on the back burner for a long time.  It feels great!!)

Lesson Learned--
About 2 years ago, when I partially tore my achilles, I said something to Grant about how I hated having to ask for help and that I didn't understand why I needed to let others help me- I just wanted to do everything by myself.  (Yup, just like a 2 year old!!  LOL!!)  It was a pretty prideful statement to make but I really, really didn't like asking/taking help from others. 

Well, God has a way of teaching us things and helping make our weaknesses into strengths.  In the last 2 years, I have had to rely on others a LOT!  (My achilles, pregnancy, the birth of Calyssa, many sicknesses, broken bones in my kids, and then my surgery.)  And though it hasn't been easy, it has been so good for me.  I now realize just how important letting others serve us is.  What a truly humbling thing it is, to let someone else do something for us, that we can't do for ourselves.  (I even had a few that thanked me for letting them serve me, or telling me that I made their day so much better.  It really helped me have a different perspective on service.)  I have truly come to appreciate what Christ-like people I have in my life, who love to serve God by serving their fellow men.  I have the best 3 families ever (the one I was born into, the one I married into, and my incredible ward family!!)  I love them all so much!

Just a few of the things others helped us with-- many, many, many yummy meals (I was touched at how many people tried to accommodate me and my needs), thoughtful gifts (like flowers, smoothies, jello, pudding, a foot massage, strawberry plants, etc.) (quite a few of the gifts came from one very sweet friend!), care for our children (and me), rides for our kids, sub for my calling as Primary Chorister, help with our house, etc.  One sister really went out of her way for us.  She signed up to watch our kids for 3 hours and then take them to another sister's house.  However, after dropping them off, she insisted on coming back.  She then cleaned my house, including sorting all my laundry, then washing a few loads, and coming back the next day just to switch the laundry over for me.  She truly went the extra mile.  My Mom also did a lot for us- taking the girls to their classes and dance (which takes all day Tuesday and most of Wednesday) for 3 weeks in a row!   

I now completely disagree with the statement that I made 2 years ago!  I will forever be thankful that I "let" others help me.  What an incredible blessing the service of others was during these trials.  Because of them, our family was not only able to make it through, we will look back on this time with fond memories of the love our family/ward showed to us.