Monday, February 20, 2012

out they came.

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just fyi, this post is going to be a mess. it probably won't make sense and will be all over the place and will be longer than needed but i am going to blame that on the fact that i am medicated and feeling like crap so... in other words this will most likely be like every other post i write where i ramble, don't make sense, and am all over the place. that being said, i knew getting my tonsils out at age 25 was going to be rough. i had been warned by tons of people that it is so much harder as an adult than it is for a child. some people told me not to go through with it. others told me it would be the best thing i ever did. some things about it have been harder than i thought and some things have been easier.

i was scheduled to get my tonsils out on friday morning. i had to be at the hospital to check in by 8:30 and the surgery was set for 10:10. i was already to go by 9:15. i had the IV in, the gown on. i had my remote and was watching tv with sean. actually he was playing games on my nook but anyway we were just hanging out... waiting. when i realized that in the curtain next to me, three patients had already come and gone and had their surgeries. then i noticed i had to keep getting up to pee (with sean carrying my iv bag and all to the bathroom with me). oh and my stomach growling was a dead giveaway. by the time i finally went in for surgery it was 3:30 and i hadn't eaten or had anything to drink in 21 hours.

it was frustrating. the doctor had a setback in his first surgery of the morning. it ended up taking 5 hours longer than he expected. then he had two more sets of tonsils he had to remove before getting to me. sean and i were patient though and the hospital staff was great to us. they gave us a $25 gift card for having to wait. they gave us a list of places and we chose ruby river since that is our favorite. hopefully someday i can eat there again. they also gave sean a free meal card to the cafeteria. it was hard watching him go and knowing he got to eat. i was dying. i wished i would have eaten dinner really late the night before. oh well...

the surgery was quick and they didn't have to take my adenoids. apparently the dr. said he cut the inside of my mouth with one of the tools so they had to put a stitch in on my right side. sean's mom and sean were brought back shortly after i was taken out of recovery. the pain wasn't as bad as i initially thought it would be. after sean's mom left i got a little loopy and thankfully she didn't have to be there for my truckers mouth because apparently i let some profanities fly when i heard the machine next to me going off. sean said i had him laughing like crazy but i'll spare you the rest of the stories. they let me have grape juice because it was all i wanted. shortly after drinking it though i got sick to my stomach. the nurse came in and gave me some zofran in my IV. right after that i puked. a lot. that did not feel good. they finally let me leave and it was about 6:30ish. it was dark out and they wheeled me out to the car where sean was waiting. when we got in the car i puked again, right before we were exiting the hospital. luckily they gave us a bunch of barf bags. i felt better after puking but ended up doing it 2 more times when i got home. luckily my parents were there with me one of the times. sean left to go get my prescriptions and they stayed with me while he was gone. they are the best.

i don't know why i have puked so much. it sucks puking with a scabby, bloody throat. this was my 7th surgery and for some reason my body didn't like the anesthesia this time. the nurse also said that this type of surgery causes more nausea than others because when you swallow some of the blood from your throat it makes you sick. also since i hadn't eaten in like 21 hours before i went into surgery my body must have freaked out when i finally got some food and was full of anesthesia. oh well. it has definitely been rough. i have taken percocet with all my other surgeries but this time is different. i am not handling it the same because i can barely eat anything. so if i take a percocet it makes me incredibly nauseous. even the zofran doesn't help. i have just been taking extra strength tylenol until i can get more food in my system.

they say days 1-2 of the surgery are moderately painful. days 3-5 are the worst. days 7-10 are hard but you are healing and the scabs might come off and bleed so i have to watch that. if they start to bleed i have to go back in and get my mouth cauterized. yikes. i am on day 3 and it was rough. i am not looking forward to the rest of this but i am excited to start feeling better.

i know this was just a minor surgery. i am not trying to turn this into a big deal or anything because it wasn't. but i have to say i feel so blessed for all the thoughts and prayers. all the texts and phone calls. all the soup and ice cream that has been brought my way. i have some pretty amazing friends, family, and neighbors. so thank you to everyone who has made sure that not only i was taken care of but sean as well. i think he has eaten better this past weekend than he ever has. sad to say i know.. but true.

sean has been amazing. i can't even explain how much it means to me. i knew he would be great. but i also knew he hates throw up. he hates dealing with gross stuff (my mouth is nasty and yellow and green and tastes like how i would think a port-a-potty tastes but he still looks at it anyway and then tells me i am beautiful.. such a great liar ;). however, he has held my hair back every time i have puked with sincere concern. he has made sure i always have enough ice, water. he started writing down and keeping track of when i had my medication and when i could have more. he set an alarm to wake him up then woke me up in the middle of the first night to take some zofran because he wanted to make sure my stomach was okay. he slept on the couch the first night to make sure i had all the space i needed. he came in and checked on me all the time though. he has been trying to make sure that i have been eating enough and that i don't lose too much weight (which has been really hard). he has made me omelets, oatmeal, soup, graham crackers mushed up in milk. and doesn't get upset when i can only have a few bites. he even promises me foot rubs if i can finish a certain amount. haha, gotta love the bribery. i guess if it works on kids it could work on me! he has gotten me popsicles and ice cream around the clock. he got me bendy straws. he walked me to the bathroom several nights the first night. he picked me up off the bathroom floor on the second day and carried me back to bed. he has helped me change my clothes. man i sound pathetic but i was really sick the first night.

he has really gone above and beyond and i feel so lucky. walgreens wouldn't take my new insurance card for some reason, so he had to pay $150 for my pills the first night because he didn't have my old card. which is cancelled. so stupid. anyway, he went back the next day with my old card and got our money back. still doesn't make sense to us but whatever. it was so nice of him to deal with that. he braved walmart went out and got me a dvd player for our bedroom along with some redbox dvds. when he got back he realized we needed a special cord for it because it was only playing in black and white. he immediately went back. today he went and got the oil changed in my car. he drew a bath for me yesterday. he could tell last night that i was getting sad and stir crazy so he suggested we go for a little drive to get out of the house. he makes sure i am gargling with salt water frequently to help soothe my throat and decrease the risk of infection. he gave me a blessing the night before the surgery and has checked in with my neighbor to make sure that i am checked on tomorrow since he has to go back to work and school. he did all this for me and made me feel so loved and special. it seems like it has been getting harder to talk as the days go on. it is hurting more. so i haven't really been able to express to him or others how grateful i am. but i want him and everyone else to know it! i feel so lucky. he has made this surgery a million times easier. he has been so good to me. better than i deserve. i can't lie, it has been so nice. not that he isn't always good to me. because he is. but i haven't seen him a whole lot this semester. it is his hardest one yet. so it was so nice this weekend to have him all to myself. i think that made this whole thing worth it. i love you so much sean!

moses has also been amazing as well. he has stayed by my side the entire time. here's to getting better soon! i can't wait to be able to eat a meal in under and hour and really enjoy it! i take way too many things for granted. i am hoping to get back to work by next monday. the dr. says i need to rest for 10-14 days but we will see how that goes. thanks again everyone for all your sweet words and to those who have brought food and treats. you guys are amazing! i feel so blessed and lucky. i don't feel like i deserve it. sorry for the long post. i haven't felt like writing much or doing anything but sleep and watch movies, but tonight i wanted to write this all down in case these next few days really are worse than the first. if you made it this far i'd be impressed.

5 comments:

crissy // mama boss said...

pretty sure you married a super-hero. such a sweet tribute to him. :)
i'm glad to hear that you have been so well taken care of by those around you. hope your recovery goes well, and you're not out/in pain for too long. sending prayers your way. :)

Whim Wham Life said...

phew. the things we have to do in life. hope you heal fast and as pain-free as possible! my hubs had to help me recoup from wisdom teeth. Definitely not my finest moment:-) xoxo

Anonymous said...

Aw Chloe! :( That sucks that you're hurting so bad! But wow, you have got one amazing angel of a husband :) Hope things get better very quickly and that this whole thing will make you better for the rest of your life! :) xo

Sam&Sarah said...

I hope your feeling better! Sean seriously does sound like super-hero! let me know if you need anything!

emily+brett said...

geeeez! that sounds aweful! not my thing all- it just all makes me cringe! rest up and enjoy your cute hubby's accommodations:) that's the best!