My name is James,I'm 18 and just had my tonsils removed.I thought I'd right this thing in hope other people who are going in for the operation can take something from this.Now the first time I had trouble with my tonsils was when i was about 8,I had glandular fever straight out.Ever since then I'd get a burst of tonsillitis at least twice a year.It wasn't until about a year ago when they just went ape sh*t,I was getting it at least once a month.My GP had always said I'd probably have to them removed eventually,but I've always had a fear with hospitals so it was basically out of the question.But around June this year i had another burst where it was just continuous and got to the point where i couldn't even kiss my boyfriend without my tonsils going into a panic and closing my airway.
So a tonsillectomy was now a definite.It's day 7 today and WOW,oh.my.god!I have never been through a more horrible experience in my life!You hear about the horror stories and the good ones..well mines definitely a horror one.I would even wish this on my worst enemy..so here we go,I'm going to give an in depth cos I'm quite bored and this will take up my time :-P
Monday 24/10; Was admitted to hospital at 11.30,there was about another 4 tonsillectomy's ahead of me,so there was a long wait ahead of me (which only made me more anxious). The nurse made her round and said I'd be going down about 3.30.So when that time came i was sh**ting myself,always had this fear that I'd either wake up during or not wake up at all.Nobody came,and the anxious was killing me.FINALLY at 5 they came to get me (which i was really angry about,would rather of gone in earlier..just in case i missed Home and Away haha) it was a quick bed wheel to theater with my mum by my side (who is also a nurse..thank god xD). When i was took into the actual operating room,my it was scary..watching shows like Grey's Anatomy and seeing people die did NOT help my situation,and i remember saying omg please don't let me die,I'm too young,haha pretty tragic i know,but there were all pretty awesome and made me feel a little more confident.I remeber the drip going in (I have THE lowest pain threshold and I'm the biggest p***y,i had to have numbing cream on my hand). Within about 3-4 minutes,i felt happy and weightless..next thing i knew it was 2 hours later and i was in recovery.Straight away the pain hit me like a truck,far out i could of cried..the nurse asked on a scale of 1-10 how bad the pain was...without a doubt it was an 8!So she put some pain killer into my drip and the pain went for about 20minutes.
I just remember feeling so drowsy and out of it,but the pain still pushed itself through.When i got back to my room (I missed Home and Away,was very angry aha) my nurse asked again how bad the pain was and it was a 6,so i was given Tramadol..WOW i felt so good!Now here in Australia you have to stay in hospital over night.I pretty much dozed in and out of sleep all night,waking up about every 30mins..didn't help with nurse coming in every hour to check my blood pressure -_- I'd gone to the toilet half way through the night and looked in the mirror to find these horrible welts on my body,it looked like i had chicken pox.When the surgeon made his rounds in the morning this rash had gotten so much worse,turned out i was allergic to the anesthetic...GREAT,this was just the start of my troubles. Was sent home with some much stuff,antibiotics,Tramadal,Panadol,Morphine and anti sickness tablets.I was told to go straight back to a normal diet,especially hard and rough foods (apparently it helps cleans the throat and the beds,also decreases the pain and risk of bleeding..who'd thunk it) and then to my horror i was told NOT to eat Ice-Cream OR Ice cold drinks,all because it burns the beds..well i was quite devastated.
When i got home,all i did was sleep,drink so much water and take the pain meds like clockwork every 4 hours.
Day 1 recovery; Whole night i woke up every hour,made sure i drank lots and took my meds.I still felt off,all i really did was sleep (which was freaking excellent) Tried to eat but just couldn't do it,i was just so sore..was heaving hurting swallowing my own saliva.I think i got down like 2 bits of chocloate and that was it.
Day 2; Still was the same during the night,and still the same though the whole day pretty much,the pain was just so unbearable..i couldn't move,i didn't want to do anything that involved my mouth.But my mum insisted i at least tried,so again i only really got like a few bits of sweet stuff down and then just fell asleep. Of course to add to my problems,the Tramadol i was taken didn't adjust to my body right,so then i had troubles going to the toilet (number 1) which just added to more frustration.
Day 3; Now my sleep was a little better,now i was only waking up when my alarm went off for my meds.But my was my throat going insane with pain when i tired to take it.I've found the pain is alot worse on a morning when your just waking up.This time I'd gotten a little more food down,mashed potato and some veggies which was just amazing!
Day 4; Was pretty much the same as the day before,but the meds had started to have the nausea effect..taking them on an empty stomach and not being able to the toilet to get rid of the previous ones, is the WORST combination.Everytime i sat up i wanted to vomit,and because i wanted to i was getting the hicciups which just scrapped my throat.The pain had gotten to the extreme,it was so bad i had to move onto the stronger med (morphine) and that knocked me out.
Day 5; The pain was so bad,for the first time since the operation,i just layed there and cried.Even taken the meds was bad,i couldn't swallow enough to get em down.I pretty much slept that whole day because i couldn't bear being awake.I was starting to just get absolutely fed up!This was then the second full day of not eating anything,just drinking loads of water and with the amount of meds in my stomach and STILL not being able to go to the toilet,the nausea was just so bad,i actually wanted to die..as extreme as that sounds,I'd gotten to the point of where i was just over being so ill and just wanted it to all end.
Day 6; Starting to feel a little bit better,the pain is still there but sort of goes with the meds,I'm trying to ween myself off them because i dont wanna be dependent,so Ive only being taken panadol which surprisingly has taken a big amount of pain away.I went outside for the first time since i got back and basked up the air which made me feel pretty good.The heat was brilliant! Sunday roast was on the menu for dinner and i actually felt up to it,but just before it was dinner the pain returned worse than ever,even the meds didn't wanna help so i was crushed.I was craving actual food and even trying to swallow mashed potato..NUP!But after a really long nap i felt better,more panadol in me and i actually ate the whole lot (with a tiny bit of pain)..:D
Day 7..today; Same amount of pain on the morning BUT a different kind,like it wasn't dry like usual,i wasn't in a HUGE amount as usual.The thing that was pissing me off though is i can feel bits of food stuck at the back and it won't budge,and i want to cough it up but have been advised not to haha.I've ate full bits of chicken today and could actually get it all down without fuss,so happy :D I weighed myself and shockingly I've lost 10kgs,Even happier about that!I haven't seen anyone but my mum and sister in a week,so I've been craving social attention,especially when I'm home alone during the day..i got a knock at the door this morning,to see my boyfriend who I havn't seen in about 6 weeks because he works in Sydney (We're from Perth) to see how i am ,coming back for the day especially..that has just lightened my spirits up so much!And with Qantas being grounded he's stuck here for another 24 hours :D Now I'm in somewhat pain at the moment(mainly because i got punched in the throat during sex haha) but it's pretty much usual now :)
NOW THE ONE THING I WANT PEOPLE TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS IS,DRINK LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER!I mean like ocean's worth!Since the op I've seriously drank about 60litres.being nearly 10litres a day.IMPORTANT thing,you don't want your beds becoming dry because i can tell you,you'll be crying for ya mum!As soon as you wake up from surgery START eating,that's what i regret,not eating straight up...it'll help you out so much,get straight into the rough foods like potato chips and toast :)
Anyways,if i've bored you having to read the WHOLE thing,I'm sorry..but it's taking up about an hours worth of time and now Home and Away is on :D HAHA thanks for reading guys,and good luck!It's worth it in the long run :) x
So a tonsillectomy was now a definite.It's day 7 today and WOW,oh.my.god!I have never been through a more horrible experience in my life!You hear about the horror stories and the good ones..well mines definitely a horror one.I would even wish this on my worst enemy..so here we go,I'm going to give an in depth cos I'm quite bored and this will take up my time :-P
Monday 24/10; Was admitted to hospital at 11.30,there was about another 4 tonsillectomy's ahead of me,so there was a long wait ahead of me (which only made me more anxious). The nurse made her round and said I'd be going down about 3.30.So when that time came i was sh**ting myself,always had this fear that I'd either wake up during or not wake up at all.Nobody came,and the anxious was killing me.FINALLY at 5 they came to get me (which i was really angry about,would rather of gone in earlier..just in case i missed Home and Away haha) it was a quick bed wheel to theater with my mum by my side (who is also a nurse..thank god xD). When i was took into the actual operating room,my it was scary..watching shows like Grey's Anatomy and seeing people die did NOT help my situation,and i remember saying omg please don't let me die,I'm too young,haha pretty tragic i know,but there were all pretty awesome and made me feel a little more confident.I remeber the drip going in (I have THE lowest pain threshold and I'm the biggest p***y,i had to have numbing cream on my hand). Within about 3-4 minutes,i felt happy and weightless..next thing i knew it was 2 hours later and i was in recovery.Straight away the pain hit me like a truck,far out i could of cried..the nurse asked on a scale of 1-10 how bad the pain was...without a doubt it was an 8!So she put some pain killer into my drip and the pain went for about 20minutes.
I just remember feeling so drowsy and out of it,but the pain still pushed itself through.When i got back to my room (I missed Home and Away,was very angry aha) my nurse asked again how bad the pain was and it was a 6,so i was given Tramadol..WOW i felt so good!Now here in Australia you have to stay in hospital over night.I pretty much dozed in and out of sleep all night,waking up about every 30mins..didn't help with nurse coming in every hour to check my blood pressure -_- I'd gone to the toilet half way through the night and looked in the mirror to find these horrible welts on my body,it looked like i had chicken pox.When the surgeon made his rounds in the morning this rash had gotten so much worse,turned out i was allergic to the anesthetic...GREAT,this was just the start of my troubles. Was sent home with some much stuff,antibiotics,Tramadal,Panadol,Morphine and anti sickness tablets.I was told to go straight back to a normal diet,especially hard and rough foods (apparently it helps cleans the throat and the beds,also decreases the pain and risk of bleeding..who'd thunk it) and then to my horror i was told NOT to eat Ice-Cream OR Ice cold drinks,all because it burns the beds..well i was quite devastated.
When i got home,all i did was sleep,drink so much water and take the pain meds like clockwork every 4 hours.
Day 1 recovery; Whole night i woke up every hour,made sure i drank lots and took my meds.I still felt off,all i really did was sleep (which was freaking excellent) Tried to eat but just couldn't do it,i was just so sore..was heaving hurting swallowing my own saliva.I think i got down like 2 bits of chocloate and that was it.
Day 2; Still was the same during the night,and still the same though the whole day pretty much,the pain was just so unbearable..i couldn't move,i didn't want to do anything that involved my mouth.But my mum insisted i at least tried,so again i only really got like a few bits of sweet stuff down and then just fell asleep. Of course to add to my problems,the Tramadol i was taken didn't adjust to my body right,so then i had troubles going to the toilet (number 1) which just added to more frustration.
Day 3; Now my sleep was a little better,now i was only waking up when my alarm went off for my meds.But my was my throat going insane with pain when i tired to take it.I've found the pain is alot worse on a morning when your just waking up.This time I'd gotten a little more food down,mashed potato and some veggies which was just amazing!
Day 4; Was pretty much the same as the day before,but the meds had started to have the nausea effect..taking them on an empty stomach and not being able to the toilet to get rid of the previous ones, is the WORST combination.Everytime i sat up i wanted to vomit,and because i wanted to i was getting the hicciups which just scrapped my throat.The pain had gotten to the extreme,it was so bad i had to move onto the stronger med (morphine) and that knocked me out.
Day 5; The pain was so bad,for the first time since the operation,i just layed there and cried.Even taken the meds was bad,i couldn't swallow enough to get em down.I pretty much slept that whole day because i couldn't bear being awake.I was starting to just get absolutely fed up!This was then the second full day of not eating anything,just drinking loads of water and with the amount of meds in my stomach and STILL not being able to go to the toilet,the nausea was just so bad,i actually wanted to die..as extreme as that sounds,I'd gotten to the point of where i was just over being so ill and just wanted it to all end.
Day 6; Starting to feel a little bit better,the pain is still there but sort of goes with the meds,I'm trying to ween myself off them because i dont wanna be dependent,so Ive only being taken panadol which surprisingly has taken a big amount of pain away.I went outside for the first time since i got back and basked up the air which made me feel pretty good.The heat was brilliant! Sunday roast was on the menu for dinner and i actually felt up to it,but just before it was dinner the pain returned worse than ever,even the meds didn't wanna help so i was crushed.I was craving actual food and even trying to swallow mashed potato..NUP!But after a really long nap i felt better,more panadol in me and i actually ate the whole lot (with a tiny bit of pain)..:D
Day 7..today; Same amount of pain on the morning BUT a different kind,like it wasn't dry like usual,i wasn't in a HUGE amount as usual.The thing that was pissing me off though is i can feel bits of food stuck at the back and it won't budge,and i want to cough it up but have been advised not to haha.I've ate full bits of chicken today and could actually get it all down without fuss,so happy :D I weighed myself and shockingly I've lost 10kgs,Even happier about that!I haven't seen anyone but my mum and sister in a week,so I've been craving social attention,especially when I'm home alone during the day..i got a knock at the door this morning,to see my boyfriend who I havn't seen in about 6 weeks because he works in Sydney (We're from Perth) to see how i am ,coming back for the day especially..that has just lightened my spirits up so much!And with Qantas being grounded he's stuck here for another 24 hours :D Now I'm in somewhat pain at the moment(mainly because i got punched in the throat during sex haha) but it's pretty much usual now :)
NOW THE ONE THING I WANT PEOPLE TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS IS,DRINK LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER!I mean like ocean's worth!Since the op I've seriously drank about 60litres.being nearly 10litres a day.IMPORTANT thing,you don't want your beds becoming dry because i can tell you,you'll be crying for ya mum!As soon as you wake up from surgery START eating,that's what i regret,not eating straight up...it'll help you out so much,get straight into the rough foods like potato chips and toast :)
Anyways,if i've bored you having to read the WHOLE thing,I'm sorry..but it's taking up about an hours worth of time and now Home and Away is on :D HAHA thanks for reading guys,and good luck!It's worth it in the long run :) x
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