Post-op - Update
First of all, a public thank you to Sarah, who's e-mail advice to me over the past 48 hours from her own tonsillectomy a couple of years ago, has been invaluable. Her quick answers to some of my concerns were a godsend. Thank you Sarah! I thanked you before, and I thank you again!
Some highlights from the weekend:
- If I am laying face up on the bed, I cannot exhale through my nose. Waaaa. I will continue to sleep at a 90 degree angle for a few more days until the swelling subsides.
- Remember the water? My doctor wasn't kidding. By Saturday, I realized that yes, I cannot swallow properly after all, even water. What's worse, if I don't swallow repeatedly, the water (or other substance) causes me to cough! I have now employed the triple swallow techinique to make sure everything goes down: swallow, swallow, SWALLOW
- I panicked last Saturday, but thankfully, I am not dehydrated like I thought. In fact, I've been sweating out the fever I had over the weekend. Sweet.
- I'm doubly pain medicated! I've been taking two painkillers and one anti-biotic. Painkillers every four hours. I'm going to cut down on the pain medicine since it's probably not a good idea to be stoned 24/7. I have not felt any real pain and don't intend to, but what I'm taking might be too much at this point. I walked to the bank three blocks away this afternoon and I couldn't walk straight!
- I'm on 4-6 hour sleeping cycles. Partly due to the meds, but this is really neat. I feel like my body's on schedule.
- I've brushed my teeth and taken showers, so I'm clean as a button
- Food ratings (so far):
Sugar-Free Jell-O - Tasted awful after a while. I also need calories, so these kinda defeated the purpose
Flan - Go flan! I bought two brands, the store brand sucked, but the Kozy was good
Trader Joe's Tapoica Pudding - We love the tapoica pudding! Our favorite food for the weekend
Cream of Mushroom Soup - Good!
Chicken and Rice baby food - I didn't choke on this, but it did taste bad after a while like the Jell-O.
Gatorade - Despite the citric acid content, it was easy to drink -- electrolytes are good for you, my doctor friend advises
Ensure - No. For some reason, choked on this immediately. Will try again sometime this week.
Yogurt Smoothie - Again, like the Ensure, choked immediately on contact.
Yogurt - Tried once only, before I started choking on everything I ate
Soy Milk - Stopped in favor of water, but will bring back to diet soon
Acetaminophen with Codeine (liquid) - Good stuff (hahaha)
Amoxicillin (oral suspension) - Great taste, goes down easy -- it's perfect
- There's good advice and obviously bad advice. My roommates had some visitors over the weekend, and one them suggested that I either gargle with salt and hot water or vinegar and hot water to help with the swelling. Since I'm a nice guy I couldn't say this directly to her face: It's a friggin' open wound lady -- are you nuts?
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I feel really good today. I believe I'm on a good path to recovery. Thanks for all the nice messages.