Life, The Universe, and Tonsils

[kiyakotari]

On February 22nd, I am scheduled to have a tonsillectomy. It's a very safe, very quick outpatient surgery. However, in adults it also has a very painful, relatively protracted recovery period. The ENT specialist who decided that I need the surgery informed me that I would not be able to talk for at least three days (which is a lot like when I got my tongue pierced, back in the day) and that for at least ten days my pain is going to be a 6/10 after I take the liquid Percocet he is going to prescribe me (apparently it will be a 9/10 without the painkillers). Thus, I am using up over half of my time off bank to spend 14 days recovering. It should be...interesting. Even more so if I hemorrhage when the scabs in my throat fall off around day nine. At least I'm double-insured, so the medical bills won't totally wipe out my bank account.

In other news, I just purchased my first sewing machine, a Brother CS-6000i. I've been using sewing machines since I was a child, but have never owned one before. I am excited.

Comments

[kiyakotari]

Thanks. (Dude, I owe you eMail. Two of them, even! Must get on that.)

I never had tonsil problems as a kid, but late 2008 they started acting up. I've been getting tonsillitis every 2-4 months since then, sometimes mild, sometimes very nasty. This most recent bout wasn't that bad, but I was unable to breathe if I rolled over onto my back in my sleep (which was new). So I kept waking up because I would start to suffocate, and ended up sleeping in my chair in the living room or propped up against the arm of the sofa. Went to see an ENT and he took one look at them and said they needed to come out.

My mom wants me to come stay with them while I recover, but I'm resisting. The only real danger is blood loss from hemorrhaging, and if that happens I'll need to get to the ER as quickly as possible. My apartment is 4 minutes from the hospital. My parents' house is 30 minutes away. Seems like a no-brainer. Plus, I have friends (one of whom is in nursing school, and all of whom are certified nursing assistants) who plan to check on me regularly. I should be okay. It's going to suck, but I'll live through it.