Tonsillectomy - Day 7

Day 7

Today I had to get up at 9AM to go to my ENT follow-up appointment. Normally it’s scheduled 3 weeks after the surgery but I need a return to work letter from my doctor so I can return on Monday. I’m hoping I’ll be ready by Monday which will be day 11.

It was rough getting up this morning and I knew I wouldn’t be able to drive because I was dizzy from my 7AM percoset. I asked the doctor why I was only feeling pain on one side. The doctor said it’s called “asymmetrical pain”. It can happen after surgery when one side hurts more than the other. It doesn’t mean the other side is not hurting, it just means the side I feel hurts more. The scabs are still on and he said they should fall off slowly, a little bit at a time. It’s possible that the same pain I’m experiencing today, may still be just as strong 3 weeks from now. Hopefully I can function at work Monday because I can’t take 3 weeks off of work unpaid.

After the drive home I felt a little nauseous from the ride home. I cooked an egg and topped it my sweet mashed potatoes.  My Percocet was wearing off but I wanted to go 7 hours in between doses. At about the 6^th hour I started getting a headache. Then I napped for 3 hours…..I won’t be able to do that when I return to work. Sure I still need to rest this week but need to be coherent for 11 straight hours on Monday and every day next week. I can’t go from sleeping all the time to 11 hours of working (8 hours of work, 1 hour lunch, 30 minutes getting ready for work and 1 ½ hours total drive time).

When I woke from my nap it had been 9 hours since my last Percocet. For dinner I decided to try some real food. I made a marinated salmon, carrot ginger soup and steamed kale and onions. The carrot ginger soup was good but I could feel the tangy ginger on my throat. I ate ½ a cup before it became to painful. I thought the marinated salmon would be too spicy, but I couldn’t feel it. (maybe the ginger already did the damage?). The difficult part about eating that food was not swallowing it. As you chew some food gets caught between the cheek and gums. Normally you use your tongue to dislodge that food so you can continue chewing or swallow it. Yikes!! Can’t use the tongue like that…WAY too painful. I have to take a sip of water and swish it to dislodge the food.

Another shock of throat pain happened when I accidently dropped a lid on the floor. No big deal, the lid was plastic but it slipped and my body tensed up when I dropped it. YIKES! OUCH! That’s painful.

As week 1 ends, I’m experiencing the following problems:

·         I can talk, but softly.

·         The throat pain is greatly minimized with the Percocet for about 3 hours. The 4^th hour the pain gradually increases. The pain has not been as intense as other has described…at least not yet….

·         I’m eating soft foods but I prefer the clear liquids. If I eat anything, I have to drink a bunch of water and swish it around to rise all the food particles out of my mouth and throat.

·         I am now taking all of my vitamins and supplements except for buffered vitamin c and I’m no longer crushing up the Percocet.

·         I’m still pretty wiped out and I get dizzy at times. If I push it too hard around the house I start to get a headache or get dizzy and have to lay down. Sometimes even sitting up and typing is too much.

Day 7 Diet

·         1 egg on top of roasted sweet potato mash.

·         Coconut water and aloe juice diluted in water.

·         Alexa’s healing broth (warm).

·         Carrot & Ginger Soup, Pacific brand (the ginger was to tangy for my throat).

·         Steamed kale and onions with turmeric and olive oil.

·         Morrey’s marinated Wild Alaskan Salmon from Costco.

·         Detox friendly Pumpkin Coconut Cream Pie and coconut whip cream.

·         Coconut yogurt, vanilla flavored mixed with Green Superfoods.

Next: Days 8,9,10 - Tonsillectomy