Tonsillectomy – Day 11-15, THE FIRST WEEK BACK TO WORK

Day 11

Today is my first day back to work. I need to be coherent today so I’ve decided to not take the Percocet unless I absolutely have to. It was really cold outside and I had to scrape the car this morning. The cold triggered some ear pain.

I arrived at work in a lot of pain and I decided to take the percocet. The pain in my ears and throat is increasing. I put my Millenia oil in my ears and took a few licks off the numbing lollipop. Wow..the pain is getting worse…the oil seem to be helping, but over all, I feel horrible.

Why did I come back today? Why did I fax in my doctors note stating I could return? Boy was I wrong. Its one thing to feel this pain and be knocked out by pain meds with my kitten to keep me company. But dealing with this at work is a whole different story. UGH! I want to go home :(

I will be sitting all day…but I really need to lay down. I finally make it to lunch time and set-up camp in the spare office. I took a nap on the floor and used my coat as a blanket and my other jacket as a pillow. The napped helped – a lot...but I could’ve slept a lot longer. My head is pretty fuzzy and I’m thankful I have a job where I can sit down. By the afternoon the ear pain settled.

Finally I’m on my way home and dying to take another Percocet. I would compare today’s pain to what I was feeling on day 4. Wow, I felt pretty good Friday and now the pain is just as intense as a full week prior. Ugh…

 Day 11 Diet:

·         Cultured Coocnut Milk (creamy dairy free yogurt beverage)

·         Rice Protein Shake with borage oil and green superfoods

·         Beet Soup (liver cleansing)

·         Steamed veggies

·         Warm chocolate almond milk

·         Left over salmon avocado sushi with coconut aminos (it's a gluten free soy sauce replacement)

·         Coconut chocolate ice cream

Things I tried but was too painful:

·         Blueberry Herbal tea (too tangy)

·         Coconut date roll (soft but stuck to the roof of my mouth)

·         Buffered Vitamin C (it didn’t hurt yesterday)

Cultured Coconut Milk comes in three flavors: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry. It's not as thick as yogurt but tastes just like it. Actually coconut yogurt is very creamy I prefer it over dairy.

Day 12

I decided it may be better to set an alarm at 4AM and take my Percocet. That way I'll be sleeping when it hits me. Maybe that will make my day less painful. It will be wearing off about the time I’m driving to work.

7AM came too quickly….I must peel myself out of bed….ugh…today is not as bad as yesterday – that’s for sure.  When I arrived at work, it was struggling. I took another Percocet around 11AM. I was ready for another nap on my lunch break. This time I brought a small blanket I used it as a pillow and my coat as a blanket. Nap time...

Day 13

I took my Percocet at 3AM and getting out of bed was a little easier when 7AM came around. After I got to work I realized I’d forgotten my Percocet and panicked. I almost went back home to get it but I decided to wait it out. If the pain got really bad I could always go home if I had to. A co-worker gave me some ibuprofen and I made it through the day. I took a dose of percocet when I got home and since I made it through the day, I decided I could make it through the entire night.

Day 14

Yawn…grit….yawn…grit…..I’m sooo tired and I can’t stop yawning….but I can’t yawn….I have to grit my teeth to prevent a very painful yawn. I made it through the entire day without pain meds. That night I tried to sleep and had trouble. Around 1AM I gave in and took a Percocet and was able to fall asleep. Hmm....could that be sign of pain killer addiction?

Yep...sure enough....withdrawals from the percocet caused me to yawn all day and kept me from falling asleep.

Day 15

It’s been 2 weeks since the surgery and I’m sooo tired. The pain is minimal but not strong enough to take anything for it. I went to the grocery store this evening and was carrying 1 grocery bag and fell in the middle of the store. I didn’t slip or trip….it’s like my legs just gave out from underneath me. Embarrassing for sure but I got back up and pretended like it was no big deal. When I arrived home, it happened again, this time I dropped the food I’d just purchased all over the floor…and the glass platter it was all on. I guess I need more rest. You'd think after 2 weeks of doing nothing but laying around, you'd get back your strength and be normal....I feel anything but normal.

I feel like I can pretty much eat anything. I tried crackers and nuts today and it all went down ok. The only thing that bothered me was pineapple….it stung.

After falling twice today, I’m in pain all over. I took one last Percocet before bed– but it’s the last one I’m taking (I still have 1/3 of my bottle left).

Next: Tonsillectomy - If I Had To Do It All Over Again

Tonsillectomy - Day 8,9,10

Day 8

Today my goal is to ease off this medication a little more and try to be active and awake. I have to go back to work Monday so sleeping from 1-5pm isn’t going to work next week.

I feel pretty good today and I was awake the entire day – no nap. I did some things around the house and added some products to my web-site. I was able to take all of my vitamins today (except buffered c) and even added in a liver cleanser. Even though I’m eating more I think I will see some weight loss if I give my liver from assistance.  I’m also going to make sure I eat plenty of liver cleansing foods today.

Day 8 Diet

·         1 egg on top of roasted sweet potato mash

·         Coconut water and aloe juice diluted in water

·         Alexa’s detox broth.

·         Steamed kale, zucchini and onions with olive oil and turmeric.

·         Leftover marinated salmon

·         Canned beets

·         Brown rice protein shake with Green Superfoods and borage oil

·         Detox friendly pumpkin coconut cream pie

·         I tried to eat some coconut ice cream – mango passion fruit but it was way too tangy. Instead I had some mango sorbet.

Day 9

I’m wiped today, I pushed it a little too hard yesterday. I did a little more work on my web-site and a few things around the house.. The pain has increased but I will only take the doses once every 8 hours. I don’t seem to get dizzy and I’m having 1 BM each day. Reducing the dosage has really helped my body overall. A dose of pain killers every 4 hours (as prescribed) is way too much. Sure it’s takes the pain away but I felt like my insides were shutting down.

I stayed awake until 2pmish before I needed a nap and slept a few hours.  We’re meeting Alexa and Damian for sushi tonight. It’s my first time out in over a week except for my surgery and doctor appointment. It’s feels nice to get dressed up and go out.

By the time we arrived at the restaurant it had been 4 hours since my last percoset dose. I need to find soft foods that are low in sodium, no tangy fruits, nothing crunchy and nothing spicy. I ordered a Sunset roll without lemon slices and fresh spring rolls. The peanut sauce served with the spring rolls burns. I thought the low sodium soy sauce would burn but it was safe. I can’t open my mouth very wide without pain so I’m forced to eat my sushi pieces in two bites. I did try some edamame without salt and that worked too.

Day 9

·         Coconut water and aloe juice diluted in water

·         Brown rice protein shake with Green Superfoods and borage oil

·         Detox friendly Pumpkin coconut cream pie and coconut whip cream.

·         Vanilla coconut yogurt

·         Sunset roll without lemon slice

·         Fresh salad spring rolls

·         Edamame

·         Jasmine tea

·         Ice cream

Day 10

I didn’t sleep well last night, it must have been the icecream right before bed. I’m really wiped out today. I think I pushed it a little too hard the last 2 days. I’ll be working all week and I really need to rest today. I tried taking my buffered vitamin c powder in water. It didn’t burn so I can add that back in every day.

Overall my pain level is pretty high today. About the 6^th hour after my dose it starts to feel like a red hot poker in my throat. I feel like I could probably eat regular foods today as long as it’s within the hour of taking the percoset. But I’m going to stick to soft foods to avoid causing any damage while my throat is healing.

I have seen some weight loss the last few days. I think adding in my vitamins, the liver cleanser and reducing the percoset dosage has allowed my body to function properly so I can lose some weight.

Day 10 Diet

·         Coconut water and aloe juice

·         Vanilla coconut yogurt

·         Costco Veggie burger – plain, no bread

·         Left over sushi – Sunset roll with coconut aminos

·         Ice cream

Next: Days 11,12,13,14,15 - Tonsillectomy, The First Week Back to Work

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

Tonsillectomy - Day 5 & 6

Day 5

Today I felt really dizzy. When I get dizzy I have to lay down - sItting up still makes me dizzy. I have to stop what ever I'm doing and laydown. If I don't I worry that I may throw-up which would be very painful.

I have not had a BM since the morning of day 2 which could be contributing to the way I feel. I prefer to have one after every meal when I’m on my detox diet – or at least twice per day. I really haven’t had much to eat but even a nursing baby has BMs.  I’ve tried to avoid being constipated from the pain medication by drinking the aloe juice with prune juice. But I think taking the pain meds every 4 hours as prescribed is a little too much. Now that I’m at day 5, I’m hoping the worst is over. Today I’m changing the dosage to every 5 hours. Maybe this will reduce my dizziness and allow me to have a BM.

After sleeping the day I away, I woke up feeling some movement. Yes, it’s time…….I don’t know how long I was up there, but it seemed like an hour…..a very very painful hour.

The extra hour in between doses makes my throat very painful but I think it’s what allowed me to have a BM. Tomorrow I will try 6 hours between doses.

Another thing I’ve noticed today – the pain has all been on the left side. I can’t feel any pain on the right side. Is the right side healing quicker? Or is the pain delayed on the right and the worst is yet to come?

I decided to make my detox friendly Pumpkin Coconut Cream Pie. I was going to add some honey since I’m not detoxing but honestly – sweet stuff just does not sound very good. I can’t eat the date-walnut and flaked coconut crust either, so it will be pretty plain. But it’s healthy nutrients that are easy to eat.

Day 5 Diet

·         Aloe Juice and Coconut water, no ice

·         Alexa’s healing broth (warm)

·         Good Belly Berry Pro-biotic with borage oil, green machine juice (mixed the crushed percoset)

·         Butternut squash soup, Pacific brand

·         Roasted sweet potatoes (yams) and sweet onion drizzled with olive oil, blended in a food processor with fresh cilantro.

·         My detox friendly Pumpkin Coconut Cream Pie with coconut whip cream

Day 6

My kidden has been keeping me company while Simon is working. He can tell I’m not feeling well. The night before my surgery, he must have sensed my nervousness too, he was extra snuggly and loving.

I did sleep most of the day and its impossible to watch a movie or read a book because I fall asleep within 15 minutes and I’m out for a few hours.

Today’s goal – take the Percocet every 6 hours. I had a small BM today and my head seems to be a little clearer but I still feel absent minded at times.

Day 6 Diet

·         Coconut water diluted with ice. (Out of Aloe)

·         Alexa’s healing broth (warm)

·         Good Belly Berry Pro-biotic with borage oil, green machine juice (mixed the crushed percoset)

·         Butternut squash soup, Pacific brand

·         Roasted sweet potatoes (yams) and sweet onion drizzled with olive oil, blended in a food processor with fresh cilantro.

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

·         Coconut yogurt, vanilla flavored mixed with Green Superfood

Next: Day 7 - Tonsillectomy

Tonsillectomy - Day 4

I woke up with a massive headache – I feel about the same as I did last night. Crushed ice with aloe juice and coconut water still feels the best. My head really hurts when I am sitting, standing or walking……..back to bed. The Percocet doesn’t help the headache at all….but it does knock me out so I can sleep.

After napping well into the day, I woke up feeling much better. The headache is gone but my throat still hurts. It's very difficult to talk unless it's within 30 minutes of taking ther percocet. I still seem to be handling the percoset OK. I haven't thrown up and I don't feel totally out of it. But I do require several naps a day - it's still a bit of a roller coaster.

Is the worst part over? Or is the worst yet to come? I believe the Millennia oil worked on my ears.  My ears started aching with my headache last night but it stopped soon after I put the Millennia oil in. My ears are still sensitive to sound. I remember reading a blog post from someone recommending earmuffs after a tonsillectomy. She said it’s because air made her ears hurt. It’s not the air, it’s noise and sound. I wrapped a scarf over my ears and it really helped.

Alexa makes the best healing broth – she made me a bottle and brought me her favorite Aloe juice and some beautiful flowers. Thanks Alexa! The broth is so much better than store bought broth, it has tons flavor (heavy on the sweet potato…just the way I like it).  For the first time since the surgery, warm liquid felt good. Tonight I had some mashed sweet potato and butternut squash soup. The sweet potato seemed to stick to the back of the throat. I didn’t like the way that felt. The butternut squash soup was perfect.

Day 4 Diet

·         Aloe Juice and Coconut water over crushed ice

·         Spinach, pea and pear (baby food) it wasn’t very good…the broccoli apple yesterday was much better.

·         Alexa’s Healing Broth

·         Good Belly Berry Pro-biotic with borage oil, green machine juice (mixed the crushed percoset)

·         Butternut squash soup, Pacific brand

·         Roasted sweet potatoes (yams) and sweet onion drizzled with olive oil, blended in a food processor with fresh cilantro.

·         Mango Sorbet (Simon’s treat)

I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings. I really hope the worst is over.  I haven’t had any weight loss which is really disappointing….it’s amazing you can starve yourself on a liquid diet, eating less than 600 healthy calories and not lose any weight…..stupid thyroid.

Beautiful flowers from Symee and Alexa:

Next: Day 5 & 6 - Tonsillectomy

Tonsillectomy & Adenoidectomy - Day 3

Today I feel worse than the previous 2 days. My throat seems to hurt a little more and I have a huge headache….it won’t go away. If I try to do anything on my computer, read or do anything around the house, my head just throbs. If I try to watch a movie, I doze off.

I’m surprised the couch is still the most comfortable place to sleep. It keeps my head elevated and it’s cozy right next to the fire place.

I’m pretty cold most of the time. I would love to eat something hot…or at least warm…but the ice still feels the best on my throat. I’m still having issues with air going up the nose when I swallow. If I drink something room temp, it feels like it’s going up my nose. If it’s a cold beverage it seems to go down the throat instead of up.

Day 3 Diet:

·         Aloe Juice and Coconut water over crushed ice (if I could only have one beverage, this would be it)

·         Organic apples and broccoli (baby food)

·         Chocolate Rice Protein Energizer with Borage Oil, Green Superfoods, Chlorophyll and Chia seeds. (I could only drink 1/4 of it – the chia seeds get caught in the throat)

·         Organic Healing Vegetable Broth (cold)

·         Good Belly Berry Pro-biotic beverage (mixed with the crushed percoset)

·         Green Machine, Naked Juice (mixed the crushed percoset)

·         Mango Sorbet (Simon’s treat)

I like the beverages over crushed ice instead of making them into popsicles.

I still feel pretty bloated today…no weight loss yet.

My ears feel sensitive but they are not aching. I had Simon put one drop of my essential oil blend called Millennia, in each ear. It’s supposed to reduce inflammation in the ears. I’m also using another oil blend called Endo Relief on my throat.

I just broke open a magnesium capsule and poured it into my juice. It doesn’t dissolve at all and it won’t mix in. I accidently inhaled the powder causing me to cough… cough…ouch…hopefully this will make my headache go away.

Tomorrow I will avoid the rice protein, the chia seeds hurt. I thought the swollen seeds would be soothing but they are not. I think I will do a shot of borage and flax oil with my next dose of medicine.

Aloe should be a required part of the tonsillectomy recovery. It feels soooooo good on the throat and it's so healing. Read more about the Aloe Juice I'm drinking here: http://www.lakewoodjuices.com/product_detail/id-74/

NEXT: Day 4 - Tonsillectomy

Tonsillectomy & Adenoidectomy - Day 2

I tried to sleep partially sitting up, the nurse said to sleep at 45-30 degree angle. It didn’t work very well.  My head kept sliding to the left or right sending shocking razor like pain up my throat. After several throat shocks I realized it was 4 AM and time for another dose of Percocet. When I went back to sleep I removed the big pillow and laid back just slightly elevating my head. I slept much better.

For the most part I’m handling the pain medication OK. Simon can tell once I’m past the 4 hour mark. It’s really hard to talk and I’m always lying down, ½ asleep. He’ll mix up the crushed percoset with applesauce and within 20 minutes of taking the medication I’m sitting up. I can usually do some things around the house at that point or work on my computer. Then 1-2 hours after I’ve taken the medication, I get dizzy. I have to lay down until it passes – it’s a bit of a roller coaster. The ear pain has not started yet, so it’s still the calm before the storm. Here are some other things I’m experiencing:

·         My ears are sensitive to sound. Normally sounds like the washer don’t bother me but everything seems really loud.

·         My body is swollen like I’m retaining water. It must be the side effect of the Percocet. I read through the fine print and it could cause a problem with my thyroid too. I’ll be really upset if I don’t lose any weight over the next few weeks. With a thyroid problem you can starve yourself and not lose weight. I specifically started my detox 3 weeks ago and stayed on it for 2 weeks so I could shut off any thyroid issue that would prevent me from losing weight.

·         Another side effect of the Percocet is constipation. Normally I’m very regular – 2-3 times per day. Yesterday I didn’t have a movement. This morning I drank my Percocet with prune juice and aloe and it seemed to help because I had one movement.

·         The only thing that still feels good to eat is the crushed ice and the homemade popsicles. I don’t like the feeling of anything that coats the throat or gets little bits caught. (strawberry seeds or even soaked chia seeds). I’m also tired of sweet stuff. These popsicles are not very sweet compared to store bought popsicles but it’s still too much sweet. I’ve had a couple of glasses of organic vegetable broth to balance it. 

·         If I drink or eat anything that’s not a Popsicle or ice, I can feel it partially going up my nose when I swallow. Or I can feel the air up my nose when I swallow. I think that will go away when the swelling goes down….I hope.

·         Today I tried some organic baby food from Sprout – Roasted Apples and Blueberries. I liked it – it’s smooth, not grainy or pulpy like regular applesauce. I try to eat something that’s a little more substantial when I take the Percocet. So far the applesauce is working – it’s kept me from getting sick.

Day 2 Diet:

·         Peach-Apple-Prune-Aloe Juice popsicle

·         Coconut water popsicle

·         Applesauce (mixed with Percocet)

·         Organic Roasted Apples & Blueberries (baby food)

·         Chocolate Rice Protein Energizer with Borage Oil, Green Superfoods, Chlorophyll and Chia seeds. (I could only drink ¼ of it.)

·         Organic Healing Vegetable Broth (cold)

·         Sleepytime tea with a little honey (room temp)

·         Aloe Juice and Coconut water over crushed ice…..(I hated the taste of the Aloe juice at first but now I love it – it’s feels so good on my throat)

NEXT: Day 3 - Tonsillectomy