More Of The Same

Things over the last few days haven't been much different. My poor little tummy's been on a roller coaster ride, but the vomiting's stopped, so I will not complain! Or at least I'll try not to, this has been rough. I felt terrible for my mom yesterday. She'd been with me throughout everything, and she ended up going home last night. She called to let me know she was home, and she couldn't have called at a worse time. I didn't get sick, but my poor tummy was in knots and I was not in the phone-talking mood! I could tell she was upset, feeling a little helpless that she couldn't do anything. It's okay Mom!

I did think this was funny...Tuesday night my brother called and asked my mom how I was doing, and at the time I was at one of my lower points so my brother said he'd call back with his technical question later. He called back on Wednesday and it just happened to be another time when I wasn't doing so hot, although it was better than I was on Tuesday. Mom jotted down his problem - he could get signed into his Hotmail account, but he couldn't see everything in his inbox, like the page wasn't fully loading. Is a tech support worker's work never done? Brother! I'm sick! Haha...I wrote out a few things for my mom to tell him to do, hoping that would fix the problem. I listened to them talk for a bit, and finally I decided to just suck it up and get on the phone and do the talking myself. How my brother managed to never upgrade his browser is beyond me, but he's good to go now! Just wait until he gets my bill...making me work while sick is going to cost you!

Gross Details

Well, things haven't been going so well since my last update. Monday was a very good day. The pain was tolerable and I was drinking like a champ. However, starting yesterday at noon things took a turn for the worse. I didn't sleep all that great Monday night, and I was woken by my phone at 7:22 Tuesday morning when the cable guy called. I bought a sexy new LCD tv on Sunday, and the cable dude wanted to know if he could come by early and setup my box instead of waiting until my scheduled time of 1:00 - 5:00. Lucky for me, but moreso lucky for him that he came by that early. During his scheduled time I was busy sitting in my bathroom on the toilet with a trash can in my hands.

We're not 100% sure what it is wrecking my stomach. At 3:00 this morning I quit taking my heavy-duty pain killer, thinking that might have been what was causing it, but when I threw up this afternoon I figured, nope, that wasn't it. Mom did call my doctor this afternoon and told her what's been going on, so now I'm no longer on my fucking $91 antibiotic. I am on a children's probiotic now. Awesome...children's meds for a child's surgery. The probiotic is meant to "maintain the balance of the intestinal flora." Whatever will keep food & fluids in me, I'm cool with it. The biggest problem right now I have is being dehydrated. I'm supposed to drink 8 oz. an hour, and that's just not happening.

My mom has to leave tomorrow, and she said if I wasn't feeling better she's taking me with her. I'm not down with that...I can't imagine being in the car for 2 hours. But at the same time I can't imagine throwing up and not having someone here to hold my hair back. Ugh...this is what I was so afraid of!

The Long Story

Kim is tonsil and adnoid free!! And thank you Mom for the lovely picture! Haha!

Yesterday went very well. Mom and I showed up a few minutes early before my 6:45 check-in time. We only had to sit in the main waiting room for about 5 minutes before they came and got me to go to Pre-Op. They weighed me and then showed me to my little "room". I say it that way because it was beds in a line separated by curtains. I was in Room 13. Nice. They told me to change out of my clothes and put on the gown...and they reminded me that meant everything off! I changed and hopped up on my bed and Nurse #1 came. She introduced herself, took my blood pressure, and then tried to draw some blood. She tried to get the vein on the side of my wrist, but it kept rolling and she couldn't stab it. It really did hurt, and she kept apologizing, saying she didn't want to have to stab me again. I told her if this was the worst pain I felt all day, I'd be good. She chuckled and said, "No, it's going to get worse!" Aw! Finally she gave up on the wrist and then decided to try for a vein in the bend of my elbow, which she got in no time! She drew some blood and then started my IV of fluids. Which made me pee. A lot.

Once the IV was started Nurse #2 stopped by to give me an EKG. My blood pressure was up and they wanted to make sure the ol' ticker was in good shape. After she left Mom and I just sat there and chatted for awhile. Next the anesthesiologist came by to chat. He started on his little speech and said that they would have to insert a breathing tube and that may cause a sore throat. Then he looked up at me, then at my paperwork and we all laughed...yep, I was going to have a sore throat anyways! My ENT stopped by and introduced herself to my mom. She is a peppy woman!

The last few things I remember were Nurses #3 and #4 that got me all tucked in and covered in warm blankets. As they rolled me to the OR we dropped my mom off in the waiting room. I remember getting into the OR, seeing the big lights above me, and that was it! It was only 25 minutes between the time my mom left us for the waiting room and the time that the ENT went out to see her. The doc said it was the worst set of tonsils she's ever seen. That's pretty bad, considering I was feeling well when I went in! She also decided to take out my adnoids. She told Mom that this week would be rough week for me, but this time next month I should feel like a new person. It almost makes me tear up to say that...how many times have you heard me complain that I am sick and tired of feeling sick and tired!

I woke up in recovery, with Nurse #3 shaking my arm. She asked if I wanted a drink, but the first thing I did was stick out my tongue and make a wiping motion. It felt like it was covered in slime, but as soon as I wiped it off I felt better. She gave me a little cup of apple juice. I drank it down in no time, stopping to burp after every sip. Nurse #3 laughed and said either end I felt like getting the air out was fine with them! I did have one of those oxygen tubes in my nose, and as soon as I realized it she took it out. It was making my nose uncomfortable. After I finished my drink she asked if I was ready to see my mom, which I was. As soon as Mom walked in I started to cry. When Sexy Coworker had surgery he said he woke up feeling depressed. Guess I did too! I got dressed and had another few cups of apple juice while the nurse explained my post-op instructions. No alcohol (so I said shots tomorrow!), get lots of rest, drink at least 8 oz. of fluid each hour, and absolutely no dairy products for 24 hours! The reason is for some people it causes phlegm and I should do as much as possible to avoid coughing and/or clearing my throat.

I haven't been in much pain. Yesterday and still today one of the most uncomfortable things is that my uvula is swollen, which makes it feel like I have something in the back of my throat, and I so desperately want to clear it. I've been drinking almost nonstop, which is not only good that I'm getting in my 8 oz, but it also feels good. I haven't had much to eat. I can have stuff to eat, but no ice cream until later today and I can't have anything hot, just lukewarm. I've managed to eat some applesauce, a few popsicles, and some sorbet. I'm going to try some of the soup from chicken noodle soup later. I'm really surprised I haven't slept much. I do get tired, but I can't get comfortable. How do you snore with your mouth closed?! I keep waking myself up! But after all of this typing, I think I'll give it a another shot, my eyes are getting heavy!

Getting Nervous

Well, tomorrow is the big day. I am ready to get this over with and for the next 2 weeks to go by. I'm not afraid or nervous about the surgery itself, but the way I'll feel afterward. A few posts I've read online say it's just like a bad sore throat when you're sick. One of my cousins had her tonsils out when she was 18, and she said it was the worst pain she's ever felt in her life. Gee...thanks for sharing that. I'm all stocked up on ice cream, popsicles, and Gatorade. I also have pudding, and even some tea to drink. The one constant thing I've seen online is to drink, drink, drink. Even one guy said that you're encouraged to sleep, but if you're sleeping you're not drinking, and drinking will do more to make you feel better. We'll see. Some of that drinking will be the drugs I'm taking. On the left is my antibiotic, Clindamycin. The drug facts on it are kinda scary! I could suffer severe digestive problems. I'll not go into details, but ew (paragraph 2). When the pharmacist was mixing it she said warned me that it smells like kitty litter. Yum! The other bottles are my mix of hydrocodone and acetaminophen. I'm a little worried that's going to have me knocked off of my rocker.

I did cry a little last night. I think it bothers me so much because the surgery is in my mouth. It's going to affect my eating and drinking. (Affect, right? Or is it effect? I never know!) Not only eating and drinking, but talking, swallowing, breathing! Let's just get this over with.

Everyone Else Is Doing It

So I decided to hop on the bandwagon and purchase a Guitar Hero game. A lot of my coworkers and friends have it and enjoy it, so I figured why not. I suck. Yep, I am not good at this game. Oh well, I know, it's going to take some practice. And larger hands might help - I have such short, fat fingers. I've just been doing the practice stuff so far (all 30 minutes that I've played), but I'm having a good time! Before you know it, I'll be playing an entire song on Easy hahahaa!

Huh, What?

I saw this article on MSN.com entitled "Why You Can't Pay Attention" and thought to myself, that would be a good article to read! I made it through the first two paragraphs and then my mind drifted off. If anyone wants to read it and give me a quick summary, that would be awesome!

Spare Any Change?

Me: can you give a girl $91?
Me: I need to buy drugs
Me: actually, 1 drug
BagelDave: that's one helluva drug
Me: fucking antibiotic for post surgery
BagelDave: i can find pot, coke, crack, mushrooms, lsd, really anything you want for cheaper than that

So yep, I dropped off my prescriptions today for use after my tonsillectomy. Fortunately for me the pharmacy called before they filled it. The antibiotic I was given has no generic equivalent at the Target Pharmacy, so they decided to call and ask before they filling anything. They wanted to make sure I was okay with forking over $91. And what makes me even more lucky is that medicine only has a 10 day shelf life, so had they not called I would have shelled out all of that money for medicine that wouldn't be good by the time I need it. I was just shocked when she said $91 freaking dollars. My insurance is typically really good! For generics I only pay 10%, so in the case of my pain medication, it's only $8. My birth control pills...$1.81! Freaking sweet! There is a different antibiotic they can give me, but we need to check with the doctor first. The one concern the pharmacist had was that it's rougher on the stomach, and I am not down with the idea of vomiting. Stupid tonsils!