the chronicling of an adult tonsilectomy, part 1
ah, part one, july 9.
the part where they shuffle you from waiting room to hallway to pre-anaesthesia bed is the annoying part up until then, where they shove a dozen people into a waiting room in their surgery pjs and the television is permanently set to the weather channel (thank be to the heavens for small favors and isn’t the fox news channel) and it’s five in the fracking morning. (because this is walter reed and it’s all about the fantastic quality of the medical care from the docs, and they try to cover up the cattle call from the angry godawful staff who would spit in your eye as soon as look at you – now there’s a story the washington post should cover.)
but by the time they get you to your anaesthesia beds and the evil staff trolls have moved on to torment other patients, the nurses come by to check your paperwork and witness your living wills and call you “honey” and “sugar” and pat your leg and tell you everything’s looking good.
then the fun begins, though, because wally world is a teaching hospital, and for every anaethesiologist there’s his young resident and for every surgeon there’s his young resident, and when the residents as me if i have any questions, well, yes, i do.
“how old are you?”
“and in what year of your residency?”
“how many of these procedures have you done?”
“how many patients have you killed?”
well, no, i don’t ask that last question, and to be honest it doesn’t even occur to me to, because i remember when g was a resident and on the rare occasion he’d lose a patient on the sicu or micu it would tear him apart. so that’s not the sort of thing you joke about.
but then the time came and they wheeled me down the hall with a minimum of bashing into the walls (which i more than i can say for the george washington university hospital), and we got me moved from the gurney to the operating table without dropping me (again, more than i can say for gwu).
and then the easy part.
they start the anaesthesia and the next thing i knew i was groggy in the recovery room, about an hour and a half after the banging down the hallway started. the easy part’s where they knock you out, intubate you, slice and dice and cauterize and fill your system up with percocet and heavens knows what else.
as yet, there was no pain, although they gave me ice chips to help with dehydration.
the pain was to come later. oh, yes. yes, it was. (and another photo for your viewing pleasure.)
July 11th, 2007 at 12:40 am
My first experience with a resident younger than me was on July 2nd (I didn’t know at the time that residents started on July 1st) in Ann Arbor’s UM hospital. The kid had the task of, um, lavashing my stomach via a tube thrust up my nose and… well. I was nervous. So I asked the kid how many times he’d done the procedure. “Seven.” He replied. I told him it was my first and I’d appreciate being talked through it.
Afterwards, he confided in me. “Thanks for being such a great patient. I feel like I need to tell you that while I had practiced the procedure… this was the first time I’d ever done it on a LIVE person.”
June 6th, 2008 at 2:50 am
Not happy jan. i had my tonsillectomy 7 days ago, im still at home holding my throat
im in so much pain, i hold ice to my throat all day, in attempt to numb the pain. and when i swallow it feels like i actually have a razor stuck in my throat, so they say keep drinking water, and eating. for the first 4 days i was ok with my water.. now i have this razor in my throat which litterally droppes me to the ground in pain throughout my whole face,head when i take a sip of water, and oh dear dont even try food. i have panadole, which doesnt subsiquently do alot for me. i have this feeling, were i would litterally kill someone to eat 2 hotdogs and drink 2-3 litres of cola and 4 litres of water, i think i would like that. i have eaten 3 peices of toast in thelast 5 days. ddont tell me to eat ice cream and pudding and jelly and custard, its worse.
Tonsillectomy No No’s
Dairy- or to much of
icecream- promotes flem, and bacteria
spicy food- just no!
nice breath- uh uh ur breath goes after 2 days you probally smell like shit
What to do-
make ice in your freezer, in those little icecube makers, or alternitavly go buy a bag of 3kgs of ice for about $6 easy. then get some, and crush it up! so you have lots of little chips, so u can put them in your mouth and it helps NUMB your mouth, then u can swallow them.
also get some ice in a handtowel or soemthin and put it on your neck, on your glands, helps numb them.. both of these methods reduce pain immensly
eat a peice of toast a day minimum! you must eat toast, it might hurt a little but you can suck ice straight after… if you dont you can end up bleeding from the mouth for hours. also eat your other food, but make sure u eat that toast or something of the same texture.
take your meds. pleaseeeeeeeee! even if your feeling a whole lot better that one day.. take your meds on time, or the next day you will wake up in tears..
i wouldnt reccommend this surgery to my worst enemy, i dont see the worth in it. its just 2-3 weeks worth of EXCRUSHIATING pain for what? to miss out on a cold every year… or to miss out on tonsillitis, yeah ide rather get tonsilitis every year for the rest of my life. than go thru this again.
my mother had the same surgery and has 5 children, all natural birth.. and says shed rather give birth to quadrouplets than do the surgery again. now THAT is saying something :|
anyhow. if you have had this surgery.. here is some advice. and if you are having it soon, i wish you luck and i feel your pain. remember: ICE
GOOD LUCK ALL x
June 10th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
I had a tonsilectomy 2 weeks ago and am fine. Popsicles were great as well as eggs and pancakes. After 4 days the pain was virtually gone and after 8 days I was out hiking. If you are about to have this done, don’t worry about it…it’s not that bad. I’ already chugging down the wine!!! Don’t be a complete wuss! Being a sissy is for boys!