ok. not really, but it was something i would not wish upon anyone....
t o n s i l l e c t o m y . . .
on december nineteenth, i was subject to tonsil removal. after years of struggling with my enlarged and rather disgusting tonsils, i finally was able to say goodbye. prior to the surgery i was warned of the awful and rather painful recovery. because of my high pain tolerance and stubborn attitude i wasn't intimidated by a little procedure.
. . . i thought wrong. very wrong. . .
day one i was quite positive and felt ok. i thought i had it in the bag! i was looking forward to a speedy and moderately mild week, filled with ice cream and endless chick flicks.
. . . i thought wrong. very wrong. . . again.
day three, four. five, and six my throat felt like a scorched burn victim being tortured with constant tiny needle punctures. but, actually looking at it was a completely different story. not a good story, however, a nightmare. i will spare you the actual image, but instead create one for your mind.
my uvula was swollen to about the size of a silver dollar. trying to swallow just about anything besides water was a painful disaster. on both sides of my uvula were the actual surgery sites. two gapping holes where my tonsils used to be, now hosted a wall of greenish, white scabs. ew, i'm sorry.
not being able to really eat or talk, my jaw locked itself pretty much closed. because of my jaw stiffness, it made it a pain (literally) to even check on my healing progress.
the worst part wasn't the "not eating", the jaw locking, or the enlarged uvula, but the drugs. one might wonder why the drugs were one of the worst parts, rather than the best. but let me inform you. the drug percocet is a narcotic which means it knocks you out, and backs you up. and which also means it requires food for you to take it.
how was i supposed to be wide awake enough to focus on eating just enough, to then choke down my narcotic? well apparently my stomach was just as confused as my head was...
remember how my throat was a burn victim? and it hurt to swallow? and i couldn't open my mouth wide? well my stomach decided that it disagreed with the amount of water i was consuming, my food choice, and my dosage of the pain medicine... because all of that, came back up. not once, not twice not even three times, but five. and not all at one time, but over the course of three days. so just as my throat would settle down from the last vomiting attack, it would start again.
now at day sixteen i can finally handle and stomach just about any food. don't get me wrong though, i still have those nasty, sore and scab-ridden holes on each side of my throat. even after the ten pounds that somehow easily slipped away from my body, i would never do it again.
so, if you are still wondering if you should say one final goodbye to those wonderful tonsils of yours . .
b e w a r e ! ! !
xo mccallrose
