Hi everybody! I'd like to preface this by saying if you have a weak stomach for wounds, can't handle graphic and gross medical descriptions/situations, or don't want to read general whining about pain, this blog entry is not for you. So, here's your potential Not Safe For Lunch text warning. It didn't occur to me until a a few days too late that maybe I should take daily progress pics with my camera to show my healing, so there are no graphic pictures in this post, just icky descriptions. Unless you count the one of me pre-op in my hospital garb, that's rather humanizing and some might find it disturbing, but it's not gross or gory. ;)
I'd also like to say that, as some readers may know, I am a spiritual healer, so my healing progress was faster than average. On the flip side, my pain tolerance is like a 3 out of 100, so it was dreadful even if it was short lived. I feel like I should include this disclaimer: As a healer, I've always found it much, much easier for heal other people than it is to heal myself, so I'm very happy with the progress I made. I couldn't have done it without the compassion of my loved ones, especially my Royal Triad, with Mum being the shining star on this painful journey. And to all of my friends who has sent me good vibes or well wishes in my recovery, thank you all so much! <3 Every get well soon message or check up email really makes me feel good to know you care. :)
After a year or so of dealing with tonsil stones, Stephen finally convinced me to see an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. I admit I was really tired of the stones, especially towards the end, but he gave me the extra push I needed to see the ENT.
The stones kept getting bigger and more frequent in their flair ups. Eventually it got to the point where there were always huge ones no matter what I did, (gargling with salt water can help reduce them forming but doesn't get rid of them), and they were disrupting my happy/healthy living. They were DISGUSTING. I was always self-conscious because they were smelly and sometimes gave me bad breath despite brushing and gargling. When they got too big for the tonsil crypt and would peak out or start to dislodge, they would unpleasantly tickle my throat like something was stuck down there. Really an icky feeling.
Another problem was that the stones would occasionally dislodge (or half dislodge) at the worst possible time and gag me, causing me to have to run off to a bathroom to deal with them. 'Twas especially sucky if I had to sneak off to a public bathroom, yuck. Dealing with the dislodged stones was gross and makes me gag a little to think about it. Sometimes I got lucky and I could dislodge big ones manually, think popping a zit, but I generally encountered problems with that. One, my nails were usually too long to go poking around in my throat, two, STRONG GAG REFLEX BLEGH, three, I couldn't always see them to dislodge them. The whole process of dislodging them was literally retch inducing, whether they came out themselves or I forced them out.
Eventually the stones made my tonsils so swollen that they were cutting off air in my throat. This not only made it hard to breath, but was taking a negative toll on my singing, which was depressing me on top of everything else. So glad that's over!
Tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies very commonly go hand in hand, and it was a no brainer for me to get them both done at once. I've had terrible sinuses all my life, something that affected so many things, especially and most notably my singing. My awful sinuses were genetic, and a gift from both sides of parents. Well, I got lucky with the rest of the genetic lottery, I'd say, and this flaw was easily corrected, so I'll accept it. ;)
Anyway! Sometimes I physically could not breathe through my nose at during flair ups, I was prone to sinus headaches/migraines, and halfway through the night I would become a mouth breather. Interestingly enough, I can't fall asleep breathing through my mouth, but I almost almost always woke up doing it. Waking up in a puddle of drool was pretty standard each morning. I didn't routinely snore, but sometimes I would kind of snort myself awake. A single loud snort from blockage, loud enough to wake up me and JuJu at the same time. So ladylike! The typical day for me included mild to strong allergy-like symptoms, despite having no allergies or illness, worsening with the weather.
With these sinuses, singing was always a gamble. Would I be able to project that day? Would I be able to reach my high range, let alone access my whistle register? The answer was most commonly no, unless a series of things out of my control went exactly to plan. In all honesty, the best sinus day I ever had was when I almost drowned. Long story short, I got caught in the undertow in the ocean, and the sea water forced its was up my nose and all around my sinuses. It was a terrible, awful experience for another post, but my sinuses were SO clear afterwards. After the trauma died down, I was able to hit F6 with vibrato easily for a little until everything re-clogged. That moment gave me hope, and showed me a glimpse of potential that I've been clinging onto throughout the terrible sinus journey. I've never been able to replicate it with netti pots, sinus sprays, a wide variety of allergy meds, or anything else.
The doctor says that the adenoidectomy should help majorly clear up (or even eliminate!) these sinus issues. I'm SO excited! :D
I got to the hospital around 8:30am, accompanied by Mum, Dad, and Granny. It was pretty run of the mill. I got to do boring grown-up things like filling out medical history questionnaires on clipboards and signing consent forms. When I went into the pre-op area I was assigned a tiny little room where I got changed into full hospital garb, asked a million questions by some very nice nurses, and given a talk by the anesthesiologist, leading to signing a consent form for for that. I also got to pee in a cup for a pregnancy test...despite being currently on my period. Oh yeah, did I mention I was also menstruating for the first two or so days of pain? Another layer of fun! Woohoo! Needless to say, the test came back negative. Some of the nurses and I were joking back and forth about that.
Then I was moved to another little room in the pre-op area, and I got an IV in my hand for some fluids, since I was forbidden from eating or drinking anything after midnight the night before. I actually think that was the worst part. I HATE IVs. I'm hypersensitive, especially in my sense of touch, and I could feel the needle in my vein, and I could feel both the fluid entering and my heartbeat pumping around the needle. It was nauseating to feel and very unsettling to look at. I covered it up with a tissue, haha. Mum was allowed to come in and chat for a bit before surgery, and we chatted with a couple of nurses also. Everybody was super nice, I felt very comfortable.
Shortly after I was escorted into the surgery room. Everybody was super nice there too, especially my ENT, Dr Clayton. Apparently he'd been telling people about me and they got excited when I came in at last. Everybody chatted with me for about two minutes, talking amongst themselves and repeating things to new nurses and doctors that entered the room. As I laid down on the operating table, one of the nurses was asking me about my hairless cat.
I remember laying on the table telling them a bit about JuJu, feeling very comfortable, and then waking up in the recovery. WHEW the anesthesia really worked! Hahaha, as I was just starting to come out of dreamland I could hear myself talking to the nurse about being an opera singer, (she was asking questions that I no longer remember) and she jestfully encouraged me to sing a little bit. I got a line or two terribly done and then drunkenly apologized for it being crappy. I wish I'd gotten that on tape, I'm sure it was hilarious. I remember being very dizzy and seeing double, unable to concentrate, typical drugged up feeling, and I was given a lovely purple ice pop already opened by a friendly nurse. I was lucid within two or three minutes of eating the ice pop. I was still groggy, but awake and I could think almost normally. Mum was allowed to come back after a few minutes. Orion texted her asking to record me if I was still saying silly stuff in lala land, but unfortunately, I was lucid by the time she got back. HA! :P Dad and Gran came back too, one at a time shortly after Mum, since I think only 2 visitors were allowed at once. Once I got my phone I texted Stephen and Orion telling them I made it, and I continued to text them every day all throughout my journey, which majorly helped me stay in good spirits. Thanks, guys!
The nurses made me feel really at home. They said they'd never worked with a mermaid before ;) I showed a couple a video of me swimming and handed out cards to those that showed particular interest. I had a small crowd around me at all times, or nurses popping back just to chat when they finished a duty, and that made me feel very loved. After an hour or two of waiting for the anesthesia to wear off (and being fawned over, hehehe!) I was escorted by Mum, Gran, and a nurse to a private room where I changed back into my regular clothes. I could walk, but I was popped in a wheelchair (which was a lot nicer) and, after saying goodbye to the nurses, I was wheeled out to the curb where Gran drove the car around. I had a great hospital experience! I think I'm going to make a thank-you card for everybody that showed me such kindness and love. <3 :)
I was fed some ice cream and given some meds, the hydromorphone from my prescription and some Dr Clayton approved liquid medicine to help with the swelling. I was still in a good bit of pain even with the meds, but I was in good spirits. I had tons of friends and fans wishing me well on Facebook, and that was very encouraging. <3
Mum and I basically laid around in bed for the rest of the day watching nature documentaries (one of our favourite pastimes), and I ate nothing but ice cream. French Vanilla, yum yum! I tried very hard to drink even though it hurt. Surprisingly, I had zero nausea at all, not even coming out after surgery. Nausea is common after anesthesia, but I got lucky. I was so happy about that!
The REAL problem came that night when it came time to sleep. I shared Mum's bed, and we left one of the documentaries on in the background. I can say, with all honesty and 100% certainty, that night was the worst sleep of my life. :( The pain was getting worse, but the main obstacle was the swollen uvula. It felt like a flap of skin that wold completely seal off my nose's outgoing holes unless I laid exactly correct. Even slipping down the pillow and changing the angle by a couple degrees would cover up the holes, leaving me unable to breathe out and basically startling me awake by sudden suffocation. That happened every 10 minutes or so for the first few hours as I tried to doze off. Sometimes I'd wake up and try to force some water to stay hydrated. Mum put on another documentary at one point when that one ended. I got more meds from her and eventually I was able to sleep for two or three hours.
Besides the occasional suffocating awake thing, I would wake up at intervals of every two hours or so in pain, tried to force some water, and every other time (every four hours) I'd force down some meds and ice cream. When I finally "woke up for real" that day around 9am (remember: I normally get up around noon) the meds had completely worn off, and the pain was EXCRUCIATING. Swallowing water, saliva, or even breathing at certain angles hurt. I was expecting strep throat level of pain, this was like strep throat on steroids covered in rusty needles. My neck was now really stiff from sleeping pretty much sitting up, and I was running a fever too. Ugh. Oh, and nobody told me how gassy I'd be. Since I wasn't able to properly swallow food or water, I'd gulp down tons of air that would just sit in my stomach and bloat me. I'm not talking about "*toot* Hehehe, excuse me! ^^" gassy, I'm talking, "If I don't belch within the next five minutes I feel like my stomach might explode".
Going through the day was torture. I spent most of the day rotating between trying to sleep, forcing ice cream (or soup, occasionally) and then meds, and watching TV with Mum. The pain was fullblown. The scabs were about halfway formed by now, dotted with black. Icky!
This was the worst day, in my opinion. The pain was still a 10/10 when the hydromorphone would wear off, and when it was active, I was in maybe a 3/10 pain static and a 6/10 when eating or drinking, all while flying high on drugs that made me loopy and sleepy. I didn't have a fever anymore, though.
My spirits were doing well until I took too much medicine with too little food and puked. I was SO surprised and traumatized. I haven't vomited in years until that moment. I have horrible memories from my childhood when I was prone to awful stomach problems thanks to my bad sinus' drainage that interfered with my daily life. Oh, and I went through a terrible stomach flu when I was around 6 where I was puking my brains out constantly andhoped wondered if I was going to die. So, I have a strong anxiety/fear of feeling sick and vomiting now, so needless to say this was a very unpleasant curveball. It was terrible, since the acid burned my fresh scabs on top of the objective nastiness of puking. :(
It was such a shock, I didn't feel sick to my stomach or anything, it kind of came on all at once. I was in bed watching TV, and Mum was in the room doing something. I got hit with an all too familiar wave, an enemy that I hoped would never rear its ugly head again. I tried to brush it off, but a couple seconds later a stronger wave came over me and I told Mum that I think I might vomit. Luckily, Mum was there to hold my hair and tut-tut over me, but my vibes took a HUGE dip afterwards. I bawled, which made my nose/throat swell and get worse, and I'm pretty sure the stress gave me another short-lived fever. Oops.
It happened again a few hours later, right after I started to feel a little better mentally. As I was puking I seriously had death wish for about 30 seconds. The second time I was so weak that Mum had to help me stand up off the bathroom floor and help me back into bed. I didn't have enough energy to cry that time, but I tried to force some water. I was really scared to take any more meds (I puked because I was taking them on a nearly empty stomach), so mum started giving me half a dose of the hydromorphone, and cutting out the liquid meds completely.
My scabs had fully formed by now, much to my delight. That night was really rough too. Not as bad as the previous nights, but bad.
By now I was SUPER paranoid about puking again, so I'd try to force any food I could sort of handle before taking the applesauce spiked with my half dose of meds. These two days, just more pure torture, kind of blended together with the same sleep, force eat, meds, repeat routine. Around this time, not sure which day exactly, my head also started to pound. I got a huge pressure headache in my sinuses, like my temples were clamped in a vice. And my ears clogged, kind of like they really, really need to pop, couldn't. My hearing and balance got a little wonky as a result of the head issues.
On day four I did start sleeping in my own bed in the night with JuJu. It was especially rough since I didn't have Mum right beside me for comfort. She pre-fixed the half dose meds into a couple spoonfuls of applesauce and left them in the fridge for me to minimize my labor. She said I could wake her up if I needed her, but I didn't think it was worth waking her up every four hours to ask for a piece of bread I could easily get myself. The pain was always a 10/10 whether or not she was there, why interrupt her sleeping? She already waited on me hand and foot while she was awake, dear Mum.
I'd wake up every 4 hours in excruciating pain when the meds would wear off. That was the part I dreaded the most. The pain was so bad that not only would it wake me up, but I also couldn't fall asleep with it. I'd drag myelf downstairs, get two piece of soft white bread and cut off the crusts, smush the bread on together, make little bite-sized chunks, put a chunk into my mouth and take a sip of water. Let me tell you, and I know I keep saying it, but this was TORTURE. Geez. SO much pain. I found myself pacing around the kitchen unable to sit down and eat. After all or the majority of the bread was down (depending on how tired/sore I was) I'd eat the spiked applesauce, drink some water, and go back to bed for four more hours and repeat.
The day portion of day six wasn't too bad! :) When on my meds, the pain was about 2/10 (when not eating) and I was in really good spirits. I spent the day up and sort of active, walking around with Mum doing small things. I was flying high and feeling good, but it was a short lived victory.
But when that night came, a whole new world of pain was unleashed upon me. Sometime when I was sleeping and my meds wearing off, the scabs decided that now would be a great time to start coming off! When I woke up that night and tried to take a sip I had to force myself not to cry. Shambling down the stairs to play the usual force-the-bread-take-the-meds game, I followed the usual routine. But this time, when I took a bite and tried to swallow it, it was SO painful that I almost peed myself a little. :( I managed to catch it before the floodgates opened fully, but it was just that painful. After a trip to the bathroom I tried again. SO. MUCH. PAIN.
When I looked in the mirror there were blatant reddish pink spots where the scabs had come off. I tried my hardest to go back to sleep after the meds wore off to try and avoid forcing more bread (and the pain that came with it), but after waking up every hour or two afterwards, I couldn't take it anymore. That was not a fun night.
I didn't do much in the daytime today, but I finally made it over to Gran's in the evening. Mum had taken off work Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to take care of me, but come next Wednesday she'd have to return. Gran came to pick me up, and promised she'd make me a special batch of her famous healing chicken soup. Mmm. Gran and Poppy of course were very kind and eager to help. <3
It was also wonderful to see Stephen on Skype for the first time since Tuesday. Naturally, we texted back and forth all week and he called me twice to see how I was doing, but I really couldn't talk much so we switched back to text. I felt so comforted in his presence even that night.
Granny made some fresh, soft salmon for me, my first "real" food after days of soup, bread, and ice cream. She said she had something for me, and when I came into the kitchen to see this big slab of fresh fish, beautiful salmon coloured with that shimmery silver skin, I legitimately had to stop myself from crying out of happiness. It was still painful on my meds (maybe a 4/10) but I could eat the salmon, and it was SOOOOO good!
My scabs are about 35% of the way off at this point, the left one progressing faster. Being able to fall asleep with Stephen on Skype made resting a lot easier, and really soothed me, allowing my vibes to stay high and thus heal faster. I still forced bread every few hours that night.
Today wasn't too bad. I was maybe an 7.5/10 when my pain meds would wear off. I napped a LOT. Stephen picked out a movie for us to watch, Big Hero 6, which is now one of my favourites. It's hilarious, and adorable. What a good choice!
Talking was much easier today, which was good, because Ms Carolyn and Mr Wes came over to watch "Survivor" with us, like almost every Wednesday. Although the problem was a huge thunderstorm knocked out our power! :( It was kind of an adventure, though. We got to see the last ten minutes of the show, so at least we got to see who got kicked off. :P Oh, and Ms Carolyn brought me a real coconut bra from her trip to Hawaii! Hahaha, I LOVE it :D Vibes raised even higher. It was great to see my friends.
That night, I had some more salmon, and other soft foods like soup and mac & cheese. My scabs were about 50% of the way off when I went to bed.
Things are starting to look up, friends! I woke up with very minimal pain. :) I felt so good waking up, maybe a 3/10, that I didn't take ANY pain meds today! WOOHOO! :D
I had a follow up appointment with Dr Clayton at his ENT building, and he said I'm days ahead in the healing progress. It was really nice to get confirmation from him. He gave me the greenlight to start eating regular food as long as I chew it up really well, and that made me happy. He's such a nice guy, I was happy to see him again. He has really good energy and it was a pleasure to work with him.
After the appointment, Mum took me to Chic-fil-A where I got 6 nuggets and a small pack of waffle fries, with a ton of mayo for both of them (my favourite fast food...*drool*). I know plenty of you think mayo is gross, and to you I say...Neener neener! :P :) I was able to eat my food with minimal pain, which filled me with glee! Chewing it up really wore me out surprisingly quick, though. I went back to Gran's house and took a long nap, and when I woke up, I was in even less pain! Maybe only a 2/10 when eating or drinking. :) I'm still very dizzy/loopy/tired, probably from not eating or resting much, but I remind myself that it's not forever.
I picked at some Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes with gravy for dinner, but eating was exhausting so I didn't get too much down. Oh, and my scabs are about 80% off at this point! :) My only problem today was the super thick saliva my mouth is producing, but that forces me to sip water constantly or rinse, so maybe it's a blessing in disguise.
I felt SO good yesterday that I decided to try to fall asleep last night without my meds, despite small amounts of pain slowly creeping back. That was an optimistic mistake. As the night went on the pain got worse, back to being about a 7/10, and sleep was difficult. Early in the morning around 9am when I woke up yet again, I finally went downstairs to force some meds. I was exhausted and didn't have the energy/motivation to make any "real" food, so I grabbed a hamburger bun and ate that in the same style as bread. I ended up choking on it at the second to last bite. THAT was not fun. The coughing/choking took the pain straight back up to 10/10 and I was miserable. :( I took my spiked applesauce and crawled back into bed, sleeping as long as I possibly could.
When I finally decided to get up, many hours later, the pain was still there, but maybe at a 5/10. Very disappointing compared to yesterday. At least I'm not as gassy anymore, and the pressure in my head is letting up a little. Every now and then an ear will pop, and for a few minutes it will feel like heaven.
After hours went on in the day, the throat pain itself decreased and remained very little without taking more meds. It stayed around a 1/10, (unless I yawned, causing the pain to momentarily spike sharply), but the main probably was the thick saliva and that uber run down feeling. My head was spinning all day and I couldn't concentrate on anything, while being constantly tired. No energy to really do anything, I just sat tight and tried to heal. Since I didn't eat much today besides soft foods, my scabs didn't progress too much further.
Not much else new to report, same old same old. Woke up with a painfully sore throat, but it felt better after drinking some water and sitting upright a bit. I took some pain meds before trying to sleep last night, and it made a huge difference. More scabs came off today, painfully, so I had to take another dose about halfway through the day. I feel better mentally, still exhausted, but getting up and doing more. Good spirits! :)
I can feel myself healing and my condition improving. At this point, I expect pretty much more of the same, getting better and better, until it heals completely, so I decided to publish this early. In order to prevent this novel of a post from being unnecessarily longer with daily posts of "same as yesterday, not much happened", I'll edit it if anything significant happens from here on out. My scabs are about 90% of the way off at this point.
I'm still exhausted, kind of dizzy when I stand, and unable to focus on anything, and I cannot deal with socializing at the moment. I'll be staying Gran's with Stephen on skype and taking it easy for another week. Surely I'll get back on my feet after next weekend and start getting back in the saddle. :)
Now, I'll do what I can artistic-wise, but I can't make promises much will get done due to my lack of concentration/motivation. I've managed to write all this up, along with some hearty product reviews on Amazon, so I'm proud of being able to do something productive. I'll keep in touch! Thanks for reading all this so far :)
Everything is pretty much healed up now! :D The scabs are totally gone and my throat doesn't hurt, except when I yawn, which is still a little sore. I think this is the last edit to the post I will do. From here on out it's pretty normal, just recovering strength and finishing up the last bit of healing. I'm still not back to my usual self or ready to deal with the public, but I'm out of the woods. Now I just have to re-strengthen my vocals. They've gotten rusty since I haven't been singing much the last few months because of the throat/sinus issues, and now my throat feels difference. Just practicing, I guess, I'll get there! :)
Thanks for sticking with me the entire journey, reading this long post, and sending good vibes. Another thanks to the doctors and nurses for doing such a wonderful job and being so kind to me, and another thanks to God for healing me up so quickly.
Love,
Queen Werandra
I'd also like to say that, as some readers may know, I am a spiritual healer, so my healing progress was faster than average. On the flip side, my pain tolerance is like a 3 out of 100, so it was dreadful even if it was short lived. I feel like I should include this disclaimer: As a healer, I've always found it much, much easier for heal other people than it is to heal myself, so I'm very happy with the progress I made. I couldn't have done it without the compassion of my loved ones, especially my Royal Triad, with Mum being the shining star on this painful journey. And to all of my friends who has sent me good vibes or well wishes in my recovery, thank you all so much! <3 Every get well soon message or check up email really makes me feel good to know you care. :)
Prologue part I- Why I had the operation: tonsillectomy
After a year or so of dealing with tonsil stones, Stephen finally convinced me to see an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. I admit I was really tired of the stones, especially towards the end, but he gave me the extra push I needed to see the ENT.
The stones kept getting bigger and more frequent in their flair ups. Eventually it got to the point where there were always huge ones no matter what I did, (gargling with salt water can help reduce them forming but doesn't get rid of them), and they were disrupting my happy/healthy living. They were DISGUSTING. I was always self-conscious because they were smelly and sometimes gave me bad breath despite brushing and gargling. When they got too big for the tonsil crypt and would peak out or start to dislodge, they would unpleasantly tickle my throat like something was stuck down there. Really an icky feeling.
Another problem was that the stones would occasionally dislodge (or half dislodge) at the worst possible time and gag me, causing me to have to run off to a bathroom to deal with them. 'Twas especially sucky if I had to sneak off to a public bathroom, yuck. Dealing with the dislodged stones was gross and makes me gag a little to think about it. Sometimes I got lucky and I could dislodge big ones manually, think popping a zit, but I generally encountered problems with that. One, my nails were usually too long to go poking around in my throat, two, STRONG GAG REFLEX BLEGH, three, I couldn't always see them to dislodge them. The whole process of dislodging them was literally retch inducing, whether they came out themselves or I forced them out.
Eventually the stones made my tonsils so swollen that they were cutting off air in my throat. This not only made it hard to breath, but was taking a negative toll on my singing, which was depressing me on top of everything else. So glad that's over!
Prologue part II: Why I had the operation: adenoidectomy
Tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies very commonly go hand in hand, and it was a no brainer for me to get them both done at once. I've had terrible sinuses all my life, something that affected so many things, especially and most notably my singing. My awful sinuses were genetic, and a gift from both sides of parents. Well, I got lucky with the rest of the genetic lottery, I'd say, and this flaw was easily corrected, so I'll accept it. ;)
Anyway! Sometimes I physically could not breathe through my nose at during flair ups, I was prone to sinus headaches/migraines, and halfway through the night I would become a mouth breather. Interestingly enough, I can't fall asleep breathing through my mouth, but I almost almost always woke up doing it. Waking up in a puddle of drool was pretty standard each morning. I didn't routinely snore, but sometimes I would kind of snort myself awake. A single loud snort from blockage, loud enough to wake up me and JuJu at the same time. So ladylike! The typical day for me included mild to strong allergy-like symptoms, despite having no allergies or illness, worsening with the weather.
With these sinuses, singing was always a gamble. Would I be able to project that day? Would I be able to reach my high range, let alone access my whistle register? The answer was most commonly no, unless a series of things out of my control went exactly to plan. In all honesty, the best sinus day I ever had was when I almost drowned. Long story short, I got caught in the undertow in the ocean, and the sea water forced its was up my nose and all around my sinuses. It was a terrible, awful experience for another post, but my sinuses were SO clear afterwards. After the trauma died down, I was able to hit F6 with vibrato easily for a little until everything re-clogged. That moment gave me hope, and showed me a glimpse of potential that I've been clinging onto throughout the terrible sinus journey. I've never been able to replicate it with netti pots, sinus sprays, a wide variety of allergy meds, or anything else.
The doctor says that the adenoidectomy should help majorly clear up (or even eliminate!) these sinus issues. I'm SO excited! :D
Day one: (Pre-op)
Ah, February 17th. The day I had been both anticipating and dreading. Mostly dreading. I wasn't scared of the surgery itself, I trust the doctors and the surgery is pretty itself mundane. What I was really dreading was the legendarily painful recovery. :(I got to the hospital around 8:30am, accompanied by Mum, Dad, and Granny. It was pretty run of the mill. I got to do boring grown-up things like filling out medical history questionnaires on clipboards and signing consent forms. When I went into the pre-op area I was assigned a tiny little room where I got changed into full hospital garb, asked a million questions by some very nice nurses, and given a talk by the anesthesiologist, leading to signing a consent form for for that. I also got to pee in a cup for a pregnancy test...despite being currently on my period. Oh yeah, did I mention I was also menstruating for the first two or so days of pain? Another layer of fun! Woohoo! Needless to say, the test came back negative. Some of the nurses and I were joking back and forth about that.
Then I was moved to another little room in the pre-op area, and I got an IV in my hand for some fluids, since I was forbidden from eating or drinking anything after midnight the night before. I actually think that was the worst part. I HATE IVs. I'm hypersensitive, especially in my sense of touch, and I could feel the needle in my vein, and I could feel both the fluid entering and my heartbeat pumping around the needle. It was nauseating to feel and very unsettling to look at. I covered it up with a tissue, haha. Mum was allowed to come in and chat for a bit before surgery, and we chatted with a couple of nurses also. Everybody was super nice, I felt very comfortable.
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| Here I am in my hospital garb, in the first little room. :) |
Shortly after I was escorted into the surgery room. Everybody was super nice there too, especially my ENT, Dr Clayton. Apparently he'd been telling people about me and they got excited when I came in at last. Everybody chatted with me for about two minutes, talking amongst themselves and repeating things to new nurses and doctors that entered the room. As I laid down on the operating table, one of the nurses was asking me about my hairless cat.
I remember laying on the table telling them a bit about JuJu, feeling very comfortable, and then waking up in the recovery. WHEW the anesthesia really worked! Hahaha, as I was just starting to come out of dreamland I could hear myself talking to the nurse about being an opera singer, (she was asking questions that I no longer remember) and she jestfully encouraged me to sing a little bit. I got a line or two terribly done and then drunkenly apologized for it being crappy. I wish I'd gotten that on tape, I'm sure it was hilarious. I remember being very dizzy and seeing double, unable to concentrate, typical drugged up feeling, and I was given a lovely purple ice pop already opened by a friendly nurse. I was lucid within two or three minutes of eating the ice pop. I was still groggy, but awake and I could think almost normally. Mum was allowed to come back after a few minutes. Orion texted her asking to record me if I was still saying silly stuff in lala land, but unfortunately, I was lucid by the time she got back. HA! :P Dad and Gran came back too, one at a time shortly after Mum, since I think only 2 visitors were allowed at once. Once I got my phone I texted Stephen and Orion telling them I made it, and I continued to text them every day all throughout my journey, which majorly helped me stay in good spirits. Thanks, guys!
The nurses made me feel really at home. They said they'd never worked with a mermaid before ;) I showed a couple a video of me swimming and handed out cards to those that showed particular interest. I had a small crowd around me at all times, or nurses popping back just to chat when they finished a duty, and that made me feel very loved. After an hour or two of waiting for the anesthesia to wear off (and being fawned over, hehehe!) I was escorted by Mum, Gran, and a nurse to a private room where I changed back into my regular clothes. I could walk, but I was popped in a wheelchair (which was a lot nicer) and, after saying goodbye to the nurses, I was wheeled out to the curb where Gran drove the car around. I had a great hospital experience! I think I'm going to make a thank-you card for everybody that showed me such kindness and love. <3 :)
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| Here I am at home post-op, drugged up but with JuJu trying to make me feel better <3 |
Day one:
I wasn't in much pain immediately after the surgery since I was still wearing off the uber heavy duty stuff from the hospital. I got some wonton soup on the way home and ate some of that, delicious. By the time I finally got home after everything, I was pretty tired. Mum promised me that a nap would be the best nap ever because of the anesthesia tidbits, but really, it wasn't. :( I found it hard to find a position where I could breathe; since my uvula was swollen, if I didn't lay at the correct angle it would block off my throat and totally prevent me from breathing out through my nose. It was a really weird and awful sensation. The meds had already started to wear off so I was in pain at this point. I took an hour or two nap and when I woke up the pain was much worse. Yikes. I finally looked at my throat in the mirror with a light as best I could (I couldn't open my mouth too wide), and there were big cratered where my tonsils used to live, filled with white dotted with black gunk. Those were the cauterized scabs. Disgusting looking!I was fed some ice cream and given some meds, the hydromorphone from my prescription and some Dr Clayton approved liquid medicine to help with the swelling. I was still in a good bit of pain even with the meds, but I was in good spirits. I had tons of friends and fans wishing me well on Facebook, and that was very encouraging. <3
Mum and I basically laid around in bed for the rest of the day watching nature documentaries (one of our favourite pastimes), and I ate nothing but ice cream. French Vanilla, yum yum! I tried very hard to drink even though it hurt. Surprisingly, I had zero nausea at all, not even coming out after surgery. Nausea is common after anesthesia, but I got lucky. I was so happy about that!
The REAL problem came that night when it came time to sleep. I shared Mum's bed, and we left one of the documentaries on in the background. I can say, with all honesty and 100% certainty, that night was the worst sleep of my life. :( The pain was getting worse, but the main obstacle was the swollen uvula. It felt like a flap of skin that wold completely seal off my nose's outgoing holes unless I laid exactly correct. Even slipping down the pillow and changing the angle by a couple degrees would cover up the holes, leaving me unable to breathe out and basically startling me awake by sudden suffocation. That happened every 10 minutes or so for the first few hours as I tried to doze off. Sometimes I'd wake up and try to force some water to stay hydrated. Mum put on another documentary at one point when that one ended. I got more meds from her and eventually I was able to sleep for two or three hours.
Day two:
Going through the day was torture. I spent most of the day rotating between trying to sleep, forcing ice cream (or soup, occasionally) and then meds, and watching TV with Mum. The pain was fullblown. The scabs were about halfway formed by now, dotted with black. Icky!
Day three:
My spirits were doing well until I took too much medicine with too little food and puked. I was SO surprised and traumatized. I haven't vomited in years until that moment. I have horrible memories from my childhood when I was prone to awful stomach problems thanks to my bad sinus' drainage that interfered with my daily life. Oh, and I went through a terrible stomach flu when I was around 6 where I was puking my brains out constantly and
It was such a shock, I didn't feel sick to my stomach or anything, it kind of came on all at once. I was in bed watching TV, and Mum was in the room doing something. I got hit with an all too familiar wave, an enemy that I hoped would never rear its ugly head again. I tried to brush it off, but a couple seconds later a stronger wave came over me and I told Mum that I think I might vomit. Luckily, Mum was there to hold my hair and tut-tut over me, but my vibes took a HUGE dip afterwards. I bawled, which made my nose/throat swell and get worse, and I'm pretty sure the stress gave me another short-lived fever. Oops.
It happened again a few hours later, right after I started to feel a little better mentally. As I was puking I seriously had death wish for about 30 seconds. The second time I was so weak that Mum had to help me stand up off the bathroom floor and help me back into bed. I didn't have enough energy to cry that time, but I tried to force some water. I was really scared to take any more meds (I puked because I was taking them on a nearly empty stomach), so mum started giving me half a dose of the hydromorphone, and cutting out the liquid meds completely.
My scabs had fully formed by now, much to my delight. That night was really rough too. Not as bad as the previous nights, but bad.
Day four & five:
On day four I did start sleeping in my own bed in the night with JuJu. It was especially rough since I didn't have Mum right beside me for comfort. She pre-fixed the half dose meds into a couple spoonfuls of applesauce and left them in the fridge for me to minimize my labor. She said I could wake her up if I needed her, but I didn't think it was worth waking her up every four hours to ask for a piece of bread I could easily get myself. The pain was always a 10/10 whether or not she was there, why interrupt her sleeping? She already waited on me hand and foot while she was awake, dear Mum.
I'd wake up every 4 hours in excruciating pain when the meds would wear off. That was the part I dreaded the most. The pain was so bad that not only would it wake me up, but I also couldn't fall asleep with it. I'd drag myelf downstairs, get two piece of soft white bread and cut off the crusts, smush the bread on together, make little bite-sized chunks, put a chunk into my mouth and take a sip of water. Let me tell you, and I know I keep saying it, but this was TORTURE. Geez. SO much pain. I found myself pacing around the kitchen unable to sit down and eat. After all or the majority of the bread was down (depending on how tired/sore I was) I'd eat the spiked applesauce, drink some water, and go back to bed for four more hours and repeat.
Day six:
The day portion of day six wasn't too bad! :) When on my meds, the pain was about 2/10 (when not eating) and I was in really good spirits. I spent the day up and sort of active, walking around with Mum doing small things. I was flying high and feeling good, but it was a short lived victory.
But when that night came, a whole new world of pain was unleashed upon me. Sometime when I was sleeping and my meds wearing off, the scabs decided that now would be a great time to start coming off! When I woke up that night and tried to take a sip I had to force myself not to cry. Shambling down the stairs to play the usual force-the-bread-take-the-meds game, I followed the usual routine. But this time, when I took a bite and tried to swallow it, it was SO painful that I almost peed myself a little. :( I managed to catch it before the floodgates opened fully, but it was just that painful. After a trip to the bathroom I tried again. SO. MUCH. PAIN.
When I looked in the mirror there were blatant reddish pink spots where the scabs had come off. I tried my hardest to go back to sleep after the meds wore off to try and avoid forcing more bread (and the pain that came with it), but after waking up every hour or two afterwards, I couldn't take it anymore. That was not a fun night.
Day seven:
I didn't do much in the daytime today, but I finally made it over to Gran's in the evening. Mum had taken off work Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to take care of me, but come next Wednesday she'd have to return. Gran came to pick me up, and promised she'd make me a special batch of her famous healing chicken soup. Mmm. Gran and Poppy of course were very kind and eager to help. <3
It was also wonderful to see Stephen on Skype for the first time since Tuesday. Naturally, we texted back and forth all week and he called me twice to see how I was doing, but I really couldn't talk much so we switched back to text. I felt so comforted in his presence even that night.
Granny made some fresh, soft salmon for me, my first "real" food after days of soup, bread, and ice cream. She said she had something for me, and when I came into the kitchen to see this big slab of fresh fish, beautiful salmon coloured with that shimmery silver skin, I legitimately had to stop myself from crying out of happiness. It was still painful on my meds (maybe a 4/10) but I could eat the salmon, and it was SOOOOO good!
My scabs are about 35% of the way off at this point, the left one progressing faster. Being able to fall asleep with Stephen on Skype made resting a lot easier, and really soothed me, allowing my vibes to stay high and thus heal faster. I still forced bread every few hours that night.
Day eight:
Today wasn't too bad. I was maybe an 7.5/10 when my pain meds would wear off. I napped a LOT. Stephen picked out a movie for us to watch, Big Hero 6, which is now one of my favourites. It's hilarious, and adorable. What a good choice!
Talking was much easier today, which was good, because Ms Carolyn and Mr Wes came over to watch "Survivor" with us, like almost every Wednesday. Although the problem was a huge thunderstorm knocked out our power! :( It was kind of an adventure, though. We got to see the last ten minutes of the show, so at least we got to see who got kicked off. :P Oh, and Ms Carolyn brought me a real coconut bra from her trip to Hawaii! Hahaha, I LOVE it :D Vibes raised even higher. It was great to see my friends.
That night, I had some more salmon, and other soft foods like soup and mac & cheese. My scabs were about 50% of the way off when I went to bed.
Day nine:
I had a follow up appointment with Dr Clayton at his ENT building, and he said I'm days ahead in the healing progress. It was really nice to get confirmation from him. He gave me the greenlight to start eating regular food as long as I chew it up really well, and that made me happy. He's such a nice guy, I was happy to see him again. He has really good energy and it was a pleasure to work with him.
After the appointment, Mum took me to Chic-fil-A where I got 6 nuggets and a small pack of waffle fries, with a ton of mayo for both of them (my favourite fast food...*drool*). I know plenty of you think mayo is gross, and to you I say...Neener neener! :P :) I was able to eat my food with minimal pain, which filled me with glee! Chewing it up really wore me out surprisingly quick, though. I went back to Gran's house and took a long nap, and when I woke up, I was in even less pain! Maybe only a 2/10 when eating or drinking. :) I'm still very dizzy/loopy/tired, probably from not eating or resting much, but I remind myself that it's not forever.
I picked at some Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes with gravy for dinner, but eating was exhausting so I didn't get too much down. Oh, and my scabs are about 80% off at this point! :) My only problem today was the super thick saliva my mouth is producing, but that forces me to sip water constantly or rinse, so maybe it's a blessing in disguise.
Day ten:
I felt SO good yesterday that I decided to try to fall asleep last night without my meds, despite small amounts of pain slowly creeping back. That was an optimistic mistake. As the night went on the pain got worse, back to being about a 7/10, and sleep was difficult. Early in the morning around 9am when I woke up yet again, I finally went downstairs to force some meds. I was exhausted and didn't have the energy/motivation to make any "real" food, so I grabbed a hamburger bun and ate that in the same style as bread. I ended up choking on it at the second to last bite. THAT was not fun. The coughing/choking took the pain straight back up to 10/10 and I was miserable. :( I took my spiked applesauce and crawled back into bed, sleeping as long as I possibly could.
When I finally decided to get up, many hours later, the pain was still there, but maybe at a 5/10. Very disappointing compared to yesterday. At least I'm not as gassy anymore, and the pressure in my head is letting up a little. Every now and then an ear will pop, and for a few minutes it will feel like heaven.
After hours went on in the day, the throat pain itself decreased and remained very little without taking more meds. It stayed around a 1/10, (unless I yawned, causing the pain to momentarily spike sharply), but the main probably was the thick saliva and that uber run down feeling. My head was spinning all day and I couldn't concentrate on anything, while being constantly tired. No energy to really do anything, I just sat tight and tried to heal. Since I didn't eat much today besides soft foods, my scabs didn't progress too much further.
Day eleven:
Not much else new to report, same old same old. Woke up with a painfully sore throat, but it felt better after drinking some water and sitting upright a bit. I took some pain meds before trying to sleep last night, and it made a huge difference. More scabs came off today, painfully, so I had to take another dose about halfway through the day. I feel better mentally, still exhausted, but getting up and doing more. Good spirits! :)
I can feel myself healing and my condition improving. At this point, I expect pretty much more of the same, getting better and better, until it heals completely, so I decided to publish this early. In order to prevent this novel of a post from being unnecessarily longer with daily posts of "same as yesterday, not much happened", I'll edit it if anything significant happens from here on out. My scabs are about 90% of the way off at this point.
I'm still exhausted, kind of dizzy when I stand, and unable to focus on anything, and I cannot deal with socializing at the moment. I'll be staying Gran's with Stephen on skype and taking it easy for another week. Surely I'll get back on my feet after next weekend and start getting back in the saddle. :)
Day fifteen:
Everything is pretty much healed up now! :D The scabs are totally gone and my throat doesn't hurt, except when I yawn, which is still a little sore. I think this is the last edit to the post I will do. From here on out it's pretty normal, just recovering strength and finishing up the last bit of healing. I'm still not back to my usual self or ready to deal with the public, but I'm out of the woods. Now I just have to re-strengthen my vocals. They've gotten rusty since I haven't been singing much the last few months because of the throat/sinus issues, and now my throat feels difference. Just practicing, I guess, I'll get there! :)
Thanks for sticking with me the entire journey, reading this long post, and sending good vibes. Another thanks to the doctors and nurses for doing such a wonderful job and being so kind to me, and another thanks to God for healing me up so quickly.
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| JuJu's been at my side or on my lap pretty much 24/7. Such a lovebug! |
Love,
Queen Werandra
Welcome to Hell: Adult tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy (My experience)
Reviewed by WerandRa
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4:59 PM
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Reviewed by WerandRa
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4:59 PM
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