Tuesday 29 October 2013

I had my tonsils out!

I thought I'd make a post about having my tonsils out, as i haven't posted in a while and this explains why! I doubt this is of any interest to anyone but it's a fairly significant event in my incredibly boring life so I thought I'd post about it!

Before:
I've always had big tonsils. Whenever a doctor/dentist saw my tonsils they'd comment on how large they were and I was always told they'd get smaller, but they never did. Surprisingly I've never actually had tonsillitis, so I never really noticed them. For about a year they started to regularly become swollen and annoying, and slightly painful (compared to what I'm experiencing at the moment, not painful at all!) My mum worried they'd get infected while we were on holiday so in July I went to the doctors about them. A nurse looked in my mouth and decided that as one was much bigger than the other I should see a specialist. To me this was just a lot of unnecessary effort as they weren't causing me much harm anyway, but in august we went to our local ENT department in hospital to have them checked. It was a traumatic appointment as I had a tube stuck up my nose (never want that again!) and I was shocked when the doctor said there was a risk of Lymphoma (a type of cancer) and I should have them out so they could check. This risk is tiny, and though I haven't yet heard for definite, it's highly unlikely that I do have lymphoma! I agreed to having them taken out and got a date (October 24th) as it was strongly advised that I did and it's better to be safe than sorry right!

On the day:
I got to hospital at 7.15 with my dad. As I'm 16 I was put on the adult ward which is male and female separate, and so my dad wouldn't be allowed to come in with me. Because of this they moved me to the children's ward and so he sat with me before going to work. This was much better as the children's ward had great films such as Monster's Inc., Elf and Nanny McPhee! I had to answer lots of questions, be weighed and even provide a urine sample for a pregnancy test! My dad had gone home so I lay on my bed and watched TV until the lovely nurse I had came to collect me for my op! During the morning they put numbing cream on my hands which was fab because I'm very scared of needles, and this was great as i didn't feel the needle at all.Then a man and the nurse wheeled me around the hospital which felt hilarious and as though I was in a film. I also felt a bit stupid because at that point I was fine! After a while I was taken into the theatre and greeted by about 8 people who all seemed to be involved with my operation! After a quick introduction I was injected with anesthetic and the weirdest thing ever is that you feel it move through you. It was so bizarre but then you're asleep!
Next thing I knew I was awake. It was like waking up in the morning on a school day; I was exhausted and wanted to go back to bed. There was an oxygen mask on my face which I took off as my face felt itchy and I'd got a heated blanket thing as my teeth were chattering. Something I found really bizarre was that during the op someone had put socks on me. I find it strange that I have no recollection whatsoever of this! I didn't feel much pain at this point and after a while was wheeled back to the ward, though this is a blur! The other patients (3 children) quickly went home, as you're able to leave sooner after having tonsils out when you're younger for some reason, and I spent the rest of the day chatting to the nurse and watching TV. I slept for a while too though this bit is all a bit blurry! I suddenly started to feel very, very sick, and I can't remember this very clearly but I think I cried?! I'm not sure, but the nurse injected something into me (this makes me feel sick now haha). And then I was brought the dinner I'd chosen; vegetable quiche, beans and a little cheesecake, and I nearly managed it all.
After dinner I fell asleep and when I woke up my dad was there, and I was allowed to go home. However, I started to feel very sick again so I was taken out of hospital in a wheelchair!

After:
That night I felt very ill but some of my friends had dropped round presents and it was so sweet and honestly cheered me up. Even so I fell asleep pretty early and woke at around 5 in sooo much pain, which sadly is becoming a regular thing. Friday went well, I watched films and TV and ate normally. Saturday was the same, although I started feeling sick in the evening, I was fine all day. Sunday was not the same. I woke up early feeling very sick and by 9 I'd been sick. This continued all day and I was sick a grand total of 8 times, twice where it came out of my nose (ew??). It was honestly one of the worst days of my life as I couldn't keep anything down including painkillers so I felt seriously awful. We went to an out of hours doctor who couldn't do anything and I carried on being sick until I went to bed.
Since then I've started to get much better. I felt sick on Monday but got something to stop me being sick from the doctor and some painkillers (as the morphine I'd had 5ml of may have been responsible for my throwing up) and I've started to get better. It's very, very painful and I wake up every few hours in the night literally crying in pain which is not at all nice! At least it's getting better now though :-)
This was very pointless but perhaps if you're going into hospital for anything this might reassure you as my nurse was lovely and everything on the day was fine! I was so nervous but it was so much better than I expected and the staff were helpful and kind!
So yeah sorry this was exceptionally long,
Laura x

2 comments:

  1. I'm glad you're doing well Laura! Remember what I said: plenty of water, ice cream and otherwise just plain food like spaghetti - I swear, spaghetti, butter, cheese & chopped tomatoes = heaven. Trust me on this one ;) my granny knows how to make someone feel tonnes better! She's also very adamant that people who have been sick have to build up the nutrients again, so orange juice helps! I'm starting to sound like someone's mother now so I'll stop, just get better soon my lovely, xoxoxo

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    1. aw I just saw this! Thanks so much :-)! I'm yet to try this spaghetti- may have to have it for dinner! Ah I wish I could have orange juice but I have to avoid citrus :-( Thanks for being so kind!!xxxx

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