A Lengthy Recovery

Hi to all my blog readers...I'm sitting in the LAX airport waiting for my flight back to Monterey. I spent the weekend in Denver, CO visiting one of my best friends, her husband, and their family. Her mom/dad live there and she had planned this huge *surprise* anniversary party for them...and I got the chance to be there to celebrate with them. Pics and a blog post about it to come...

I figured while I have this time to spare, I'd blog a little about my recovery after my tonsillectomy...

It will be 3 weeks tomorrow that I had my tonsils taking out. For those of you who don't know, getting tonsils out as an adult is NO FUN!! I was warned and I really wish my parents would have had mine taken out when I was a child. This surgery has been a long time coming...basically I have lots of breathing problems (especially when I wake up in the morning), I have some sleep apnea (determined by a sleep study), I get tonsillitis a couple of times a year, and I snore like a 'mad-woman'!! :)

Anyway, getting tonsils out as an adult can cause the recovery time to be up to 2-3 weeks (whereas kids usually bounce back in a few days to a week). My surgery went well...but 3 weeks later and I still don't feel COMPLETELY back to normal. The first week all I consumed were ice chips, water, and jello...seriously! Solid foods started to make a comeback last week, but mostly just soups, mashed potatoes and bread.

I want to say that the sore throat wasn't the worst part...I had some MAJOR earaches (the doctor told me this would happen because your ear canal is connected to the way your throat reacts and it will feel like you have an ear infection). So, my meds continued much longer than I would have liked due to horrible earaches.

Note: It is also really painful to yawn and sneeze soon after having tonsils out...try to avoid (like anyone can...) :)

But, I can already tell a difference in my breathing and supposedly my friends this weekend said they didn't hear me snore once!!!! :) Woohoooo...my hubby won't have to wear ear plugs at night anymore (yeah, I'm totally NOT joking...poor guy). So, I would definitely say that getting the surgery was a good decision, but something I wish I could have avoided, getting them out when I was younger. And I'm SO glad to be back to eating normal food again, although the liquid diet probably allowed me to lose a few pounds...it was not fun or appetizing!! My throat is still a bit sore when swallowing, but each day gets closer to being back to normal.

Tonsils are Gone

Well...they're OUT!

The surgery was this morning and everything went very well...the doctor just took out my tonsils, not the adenoids (he said there wasn't enough tissue to take out) and they shouldn't cause me any problems. I'm just so glad it is over with...I was literally done in about an hour and left the surgery center about an hour later.

This may sound funny, but I couldn't help but compare everything that happened to things I had seen on Grey's! ;) I am an avid Grey's Anatomy and even though I'm sure some things on Grey's aren't very accurate and where I was at was nothing like Seattle Grace, I still kept thinking of things I'd seen on the show. Wheeling in to the Operating Room was so strange...you breathe in and it immediately feels 10x cleaner!!

I'm not at home on the couch...not feeling too bad. The meds are definitely helping and I've just been consuming enormous amounts of water and ice! Oh, and popsicles! :) It basically just hurts to swallow, with stinks...but I definitely think I'll make it! :P

Well, I'll post more later...I'm sure my boredom and recover will lead to a few posts over the next few days...so stay tuned...

Surgery Scheduled!

Eek...so, I've been in the process of trying to get my tonsils out for quite some time now. I know, I know...I should have gotten them out as a kid...but I didn't. So, I woke up this past Fall with a bad case of tonsillitis and I just couldn't take it anymore! My doctor referred me to an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor and he couldn't believe that I hadn't had them taken out before now. Evidently they are very large!!

Needless to say, they're coming out! I will be having a tonsillectomy at the end of May and I really hope it helps me with my breathing, energy level, sleeping and (yes) snoring! Supposedly it takes a lot longer to recover than if you were to get them out as a child. So, this should be FUN (sarcasm)!! Nothing but ice cream, jello and liquids for about 2 weeks! BOO! Hehe, maybe I'll lose some weight though...that wouldn't be so bad! :)

Well, I definitely feel relieved that it is scheduled, but can't believe that it's not that far away. I'd like to say that I'm not nervous...I mean, it's basically a 1-hour outpatient procedure...no big deal! But, yeah...still a bit nervous about it! I hate IVs...I mean HATE them! Ugh, I'll be fine though, right! Breathe Kristin!! :0