So Much To Say: On the Mend

After three weeks of pure hell, I'm finally on the mend! I had my tonsils out on Tuesday, February 19th. After a bitter twenty-year battle with sore throats, strep and tonsillitis, I finally found a doctor to remove them. His take on why I had such a hard time was interesting. He went on to explain that eighty years ago, tonsils were removed as a matter of course, but in the last thirty to fifty years, medicinal advances with antibiotics conditioned physicians to treat the symptoms rather than fixing the cause. However, now everything in medicine is "evidence based." And based on the evidence, he said, "antiobiotics are poison in your body" so more and more doctors are doing the right thing by removing tonsils and adenoids.

So my first week was a painkiller induced breeze. However, they destroyed my stomach. On Sunday the 24th, I had some jello about mid-day. A few hours later I barfed that up along with some stomach acid.....yep, stomach acid. I did it again on Monday right before I went to see my primary doctor. Little did I know what that was about to do to my body... I went to see my primary because I wanted something other than liquid Lortab....I wanted something in pill form. They didn't quite grasp the depth of my problem, and neither did I, so I left with no pills, but my surgeon had sent me a script for some. Thank goodness.... By Wednesday I had developed the most painful canker sores I'd ever experienced in my life. That prevented me from eating or drinking much, and I nearly became dehydrated. Despite me crying on the phone to my surgeon's office during my explanation of what was going on, they did nothing. (More on that later!)

So I went back to my primary doctor on Friday who prescribed me liquid lidocaine to mix with Benedryl and Maalox. Since canker sores are a virus, there's not much you can do.....but what I'm calling the "magic mouth syrup" is working. I ate real food for the first time last Saturday...banana flavored oatmeal. Since then, I've graduated to chicken soup and pudding. My problem with the sores is that salt is murder on them....so I had to find some soft, sweet options. I dilute the chicken soup which helps.

During the course of my stay, I've emailed friends and family to keep them updated. Some even sent along flowers and cards...and the pics are below! After two days of somewhat normalcy and not nearly as much pain, I'll be able to go back to work on Monday. It'll be a welcome routine again!

Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive while I recovered....mostly Chris, Pooka, my Dad, Aunt Syl, Doni and the rest of my family and friends. Recovery is a really lonely place, and without them, I wouldn't have made it.

From my co-workers at the bank: