Wednesday, July 15, 2009 – Day # 7 of recovery

I went to bed late last night, so when I got up at 1:10am, I thought I wouldn’t feel too bad, but I about choked on my dose of Hycet, and my throat burned really badly. Thankfully, the pain did subside pretty quickly, and I drank my big glass of water and went back to bed. When I woke up next at 3am, my mouth was very swollen and the burning sensation was spreading to the top of my mouth (the palate) and I was very annoyed. I got up and drank some water, which made it feel worse, and pondered what to do. So I have a confession to make. I broke down and took two ibuprofen tablets. I know I know! That is a no-no, and can thin your blood and increase the risk of bleeding... True. But I haven’t bled at all so far, and I really felt like I needed the anti-inflammatory properties. My mouth is so swollen, and I was miserable. It’s a fact that you can stagger acetaminophen and ibuprofen with no ill effects because they work in different ways on the body. So I took the ibuprofen and went back to bed to lie down. Within an hour, my mouth and jaw felt less swollen, and I actually overslept when my alarm went off at 5:10am for my next dose of Hycet. I ended up not taking it until about 5:45am. I slept until 9am, then went to the bathroom and sat on the couch with ice packs until about 9:45am, when I took my medicine. It burned less going down, and I was able to drink a Slim-Fast and more water and then I napped on the couch until about 12noon. I have been letting myself sleep late because I know I need sleep to heal, but I have been thinking that I need to get on a less extreme sleeping schedule by the end of this week, or I am going to be really miserable when I have to go back to work at 7:45am on Monday.

I started feeling much better as the afternoon went on. After my dose at 1:30pm, I even went out of the house with my mom to run a few errands. First time I have been out of the house in a full week! I can now swallow with very minimal pain. It is a glorious feeling! This afternoon I had my first bowl of cereal since my surgery. I let it get soft in the milk for a while, and it was delicious! Didn’t hurt going down. I had most of dinner today: a small piece of marinated chicken with baked potato and peas. It was very good. I had a piece of carrot cake this evening. I did take another two ibuprofen tablets at about 7pm. It is really helping with the swelling. I don’t need to use the ice packs on my neck and jaw anymore if I take the ibuprofen. I still haven’t had a bit of bleeding. Every time I look in my mouth (and I can see better now that the swelling is down!) I see more and more pink spots. I got a good picture this evening for you (and a few not so good pics):

This evening, I actually lost track of time watching So You Think You Can Dance (Awesome show!) and didn’t take my dose of Hycet until 10pm. And I took less than I usually do. I normally take one tablespoon, or three teaspoons, or 15 mL, but at 10pm I only took about 2 ½ teaspoons, or roughly 12.5 mL. Not a lot less, but I am starting to wean myself off the Hycet. I can’t take it when I go back to work, and I don’t want it to be a shock to my system. Besides, I don’t want to be on a strong narcotic drug for any longer than I really need to. It’s not good for you, or safe. Hycet can become addicting, and I do NOT want that at all! So, time for me to start saying goodbye to my little pink savior. It was my best friend while I needed it, but I am starting to not need it anymore. Hallelujah! After my dose of medicine, I got the strong tickling sensation on my right side again. I coughed enough that my parents came in and asked me nervously that I shouldn’t be coughing, right? Right. I took deep breaths and drank more water, and resisted the urge to cough more. It is still noticeable, but I am ignoring it successfully. I am happy to proclaim that today has, by far, been my best day so far! Yay!

Thursday, July 16, 2009 – Day # 8 of recovery

I went to bed last night at about 11pm. I woke up at 2am and took about two teaspoons of Hycet. My throat hurt, but not even close to how it usually hurts at night. I went back to bed and didn’t get up again until 6:30am. I took about 2 ½ teaspoons this time, because my throat and ears were hurting more. The pain went away quickly though, and I was able to drink my glass of water without having to wait for the medicine to kick in enough to swallow. Actually now after I take the Hycet, I can swallow without feeling hardly any pain. It is wonderful! I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but I’ve switched to drinking cool or room temperature water now, instead of freezing ice water. The ice water feels like needles are jabbing me in the throat, I guess because the healing tissue is still very sensitive. But cool water feels good.

I slept in until 11am this morning. When I woke up, my throat felt dry, and it hurt to swallow, but not enough to make me wince like before. I took two teaspoons of the Hycet, and ate cereal for breakfast. I did not have a bowel movement at all yesterday, but I finally had a bowel movement today at around 12:30pm, but it was painful. I can’t remember if I took my stool softener last night… That may be why. I need to make sure to take it regularly. I did some paperwork to have my insurance apply the newly bought Hycet refill to my deductible, and I am going to try sending off for the $20 rebate again for the refill. I don’t see any small print that says you can only do it one time. It’s worth a shot to try. The worst they can say is that the refill is not eligible. But I’d like that $20 if I can get it!

My mom left this afternoon for her own doctor’s appointment, so I am home alone for a while. I spent the afternoon reading, and on the computer. I had cheese and crackers for lunch, and I think the rough edges of the crackers were good for scraping off more of the scabs. The right side has more pink spots than the left side, so I tried to swallow more on the left side to help it along. I took two more ibuprofen tablets at about 2pm. Its doing wonders for the swelling. I wish that I had plucked up the courage to take it before yesterday. I could have been a lot more comfortable. I did not take more Hycet until 4pm. That’s a whopping 5 hours in between doses! That’s a record for me. I only took two teaspoons again. I’m feeling quite good, and it is such a relief to not have to think about pain every single minute of the day.

My mom brought home some Buca di Beppo (Italian food) for dinner, and I ate some ravioli, cheese manicotti and garlic bread. The edges on the garlic bread were a little rough for my throat, so I only ate one piece. But I dipped some softer bread in balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and was pleasantly surprised that the vinegar did not really bother my throat. Score one for me! I also had a piece of carrot cake this evening, and another bowl of cereal before bed. I waited another 5 hours to take my next dose at 9pm. Again, I only took two teaspoons. My throat is looking better and better every day. Here are a few pictures we took tonight:

Friday, July 17, 2009 – Day # 9 of recovery

I didn’t go to bed last night until 12midnight. My tendency toward being a night owl is resurfacing again. I guess that means I’m getting back to my old self! I woke up at about 1:45am and took two teaspoons of Hycet. I did not sleep great; kept waking up, but was able to go back to sleep fairly quickly. When I got up next at 6am, I was hurting more, so I took 2 ½ teaspoons. I consoled myself with the reminder that nights are still the worst, and that I am still doing way better than before. One time after that, I woke up feeling like I was choking a little, but after I cleared my throat, I was okay. Just drainage getting caught in my throat I guess. I still haven’t had any bleeding at all, for which I am extremely grateful. I took two tablets of ibuprofen at 8am, and slept until 10am, when I got up for the day. I am really trying to get back to a normal sleep pattern in preparation for Monday when I go back to work. I took two teaspoons of Hycet at 10am. I have noticed that, besides the times that I am hurting more at night, or am overdue to take my medicine, I am not having the “normal” throat and ear pain that I have been enduring this whole time, but rather it is more that my throat muscles feel sore and tight and not used to the movements I want them to make. I’ve started yawning more the last few days, and that is painful. My throat muscles do not want to stretch like that. I know that it will just take time, and will probably not go away totally for several more weeks. I can live with it. My mom commented this morning that I am talking better. It’s true. Even during my worst pain now, I can still talk. During my worst pain before, I could not even think about talking. My mom would have to wait forever for me to be able to talk to her in the mornings, but now I don’t have a problem talking right away.

I had cereal for breakfast, and cheese and crackers again for lunch today. I took two more ibuprofen at about 12:30pm, but held off on the Hycet until 3:45pm. That’s almost 6 hours! And I only took 1 ½ teaspoons this time. I actually ate a ton for dinner – Pizza! I have been craving pizza the whole time was in excruciating pain and could not swallow anything. I had 2 pieces of pizza, strawberry shortcake dessert, and then later a piece of carrot cake. Yum! I did not take another two teaspoons of Hycet until 9pm. I am hoping that I will sleep better tonight… and maybe only get up once for medicine? We’ll see. I don’t want to rush things, but I am really feeling great and am doing sooo much better. It is like night and day. I just took two ibuprofen tablets at 11:30pm. The pictures for today show that my throat is looking good. Still have some patches of white, but hopefully it will be gone for good soon:

Saturday, July 18, 2009 – Day # 10 of recovery

Last night I went to bed at midnight again. I did not set my alarm to wake me up for my nightly doses of Hycet, hoping that I would get more sleep. Not so much. My body woke up automatically at 2am and 6am. Hmm, I wonder if that means my body has gotten used to waking up every 4 hours, or if it just wakes up because the medicine wears off? Either way, I got up and went to the bathroom as I assessed my pain level by swallowing a few times. Not horrible, but not great. I decided to go ahead and take more Hycet because I don’t want to force my body to deal with the pain on its own if it is not ready yet. And I don’t want to wake up in an hour or two in worse pain. So both times I took two teaspoons of the medicine, got a glass of water, and went back to bed. I tried to drink my water quickly, for fear I may fall asleep sitting up and spill the water everywhere. I was quite sleepy. I got up at about 10am, and after taking two teaspoons of Hycet, I had a Slim-Fast and a doughnut for breakfast, then took a shower. I ventured out of the house for recreational purposes for the first time today. My siblings picked me up at 12:30pm (still can’t drive myself while taking the hydrocodone!), and we went to lunch. At about 2:30pm, I took two tablets of ibuprofen but by the time we got back at 5:45pm, I was hurting again, but not too badly. It had been over 7 hours since I’d had the strong pain medicine! I took two teaspoons of the Hycet when I got home, and ate dinner (Fish sandwich and French fries). I was tired after having been out, but not as bad as I thought I would be. After my abdominal surgery in December, I was exhausted after performing only simple tasks. But that was a more major surgery than this one, and I was not admitted to the hospital this time. I am hoping the energy will stay relatively high, since I have to jump back into my normal schedule starting Monday. My throat is looking more red today, I think because I have been doing more, eating lots of normal food and not drinking as much water. Here are two pictures for today:

I still have to be conscious to eat carefully, and my throat and the corresponding muscles are still sore, but all in all I am on the mend and feeling good. I started using a straw again today, (Quite by accident, actually! I unwittingly started sucking from the straw of my restaurant drink at lunch. Took me several sips until I noticed what I was doing, but then I figured it was okay, since I am 10 days post-op now, and didn’t feel any pain.) and I blew my nose yesterday. Everything felt fine. I am looking forward to being pain free and have full range of motion, (i.e. to yawn, cough, sneeze, yell…) and I am especially looking forward being able to sing freely without any tightness or tenderness. I adore singing, and am eager to hear what I sound like without my late throat-blocking tonsils to interfere. Will the acoustics be different? We’ll see! I am most eagerly looking forward to never having tonsillitis or referred ear pain again, and never having anymore cursed tonsil stones!

I am already starting to forget the awful pain that I endured just a week ago. I am already nothing but happy that I had the surgery, and I definitely feel that it was worth it. I hope this blog has helped you in making your decision; or if you have already had the surgery, I hope it will help you to endure what you are experiencing by knowing that other people have gone through this just like you, and lived to tell their story! Hang in there! It will get better, I promise! If you have reached this life-changing milestone because of throat infections, or tonsil stones, please be assured that what you have gone through and are going through now is the absolute WORST of it all, and it will only get better from here! You won’t have to worry about any more strep infections, tonsillitis, or pick any more nasty stones out of your tonsils ever again. Congratulations! I wish you the best with your experience, and I hope that you will share your story with us someday. We would love to hear it! Thanks for listening to mine. :)