My Drug- Induced Post

Well...surgery went ahead....barely! I'm not kidding. There was some serious deliberation going on in the hospital whether or not they were coming out. But Dr. made up his mind and the next thing I knew I was on that skinny little operating table with sleepy juice running into my veins and an oxygen mask coming over my face. I fell asleep thinking the words to a hymn hoping it would give me luck. And woke up feeling all kinds of awful. Words do not describe. After choking down some water I thought there was a slim chance I might live...and eventually my wonderful surgeon showed up to tell me all the gory details. The first thing he tells me is that I've shaved a couple years off of his life. Uh-oh. Even in my drug induced fog this isn't sounding good. But this is how the facts stacked up: 1. I have a very small mouth (just because I use it a lot doesn't mean it's big) - I actually already knew this but hadn't even thought of passing that information on. Duh. 2. My tonsils were really big and extremely (his word, not mine) rotten. 3. My right tonsil was attached to the back of my tongue which presented another layer of difficulty to the gong show already happening in my mouth. 4. Once he finally got the tonsils out he had a REALLY hard time getting me to stop bleeding. Which if you didn't already know, is one of the main reasons drs. don't like doing adult tonsillectomies. Apparently we bleed more. BUT I am now tonsil free. And a large part of me is really grateful about that. I have to admit that the pain-filled, still on heavy drugs and not quite capable of full mommy duties, had to cancel our Easter trip home side, might not be as joy/gratitude filled. But I'm working on it. The first 4 days are a blur of pain and Cliff doing such a good job of taking care of me. He would set his alarm and wake me up to take the pain meds, change out ice packs, do everything for me and the kids and kept the house running great! My tongue has been just as bad, if not worse than my throat. I'm not kidding. No one mentioned to me that they would be clamping and yarding on my poor little tongue until it swelled and bruised to the extent that I couldn't fully close my mouth and was afraid I was going to choke on it when I went to sleep. (no lie - I was literally terrified to fall asleep the first night) Most of the swelling has gone down, but my tongue still feels like the dentist shot it full of Novocaine and is in that constant frozen, but not quite painful stage. And now that the swelling on my tongue has gone down I'm getting the full effect of the throat pain - right up into both ears. It's really special. Sorry for whining. I knew it was going to hurt. But it's like childbirth. Until you've experienced it, there's just really no way to describe it or prepare someone for it. I told Cliff I'd rather push out a baby any day than do this again. (No, that's not an announcement, just a comparison) At least then the pain is intense and done in one day. Not this drawn out thing :( There are some small bright shining pieces to this mess though. 1. I have no more tonsils!!!!! And hopefully this will make me feel MUCH better! 2. I have lost a ridiculous amount of weight between the week of strep and post-surgery. I don't advocate this as a weight loss plan but if you have to do it, make sure you've got some you can stand to lose. As of yesterday I had lost 15 pounds. 3. I can eat cheesy pasta late at night and not feel guilty. 4. I'm starting to keep food down - when I can choke it past the hurt. 5. I am starting to feel better, really. I'm actually staying awake for most of the day now and only sleeping at night, and I can walk upright without feeling too dizzy or that the floor is going to meet my face. Hopefully by the end of the week the soreness is gone and I'm feeling much more like me again. I did decide to cancel our Easter trip to southern Alberta....just not healed enough for that yet. Sorry to friends and family :( The kids and I were really looking forward to coming but another time when I'm healthy will be much better! And a HUGE thankyou to my wonderful husband who was such a great Mr. Mom, and all my friends who have brought supper, watched kids, called, emailed, facebooked....It's been such a wonderful outpouring of love and support. Thanks! *Ok, disclaimer. I've gone through this post 3 times now and put returns and better spacing in it and blogger is determined to keep it all bunched up like this. Sorry, I know it makes it harder to read but I have to concede this one to blogger.