et apres une semaine...

so, a week has gone by without my tonsils. there are just two large gaps in my throat where they once lived. i thought at this point i would feel better. however, despite waking up from recovery feeling only slightly under the weather, i have remained at the same point pretty much all week. it's been pretty depressing, but i thought i would share the good things i have done (and learned) over the last week:

1. how i met your mother. best. show. ever. oh, i had an inclination before surgery, but seriously. nothing pulls the family together like ted and the gang. even my mother (who hasn't enjoyed a sitcom this much since home improvement!) loves it! we've been having marathons of the show when she gets home from work. it's awesome. and, despite feeling like junk, it still makes me laugh.

if you're going to start watching, i beg of you, start at the beginning! there is too much good stuff (and too much insider information) that you'll miss if you start watching now. and you'll miss all the great early episodes, including my personal favorite, "slap bet." an episode which is not only hilarious, but also has resounding effects (affects...ha!) throughout the series. go forth, and watch comedy.

2. harry potter. awesome books. is there any more to say on this matter? i've put off reading the last ones for years now. so sorry that i did. love love love.

3. skinny cow mini fudge pops. delicious. go get some. they are only FIFTY calories a pop! they are totally replacing my normal summer treat, coldstone's milk and cookies shake, which i'm sure is like 6000 calories a glass. bonus! saving money too. double whammy, calories and cash. :)

4. liquid painkillers work quicker than pills.

5. doing nothing all day is not only boring, it's exhausting. my mom refuses to let me help with ANYTHING, which is both a blessing and a curse. i mean, i love not having to get out of bed, but then i really want to get out of bed. it's kind of frustrating, kind of awesome, but completely exhausting. i think i'm more tired nowadays than when i was working all the time. ok, probably untrue, but i do seem to be tuckered out at the end of the day, even with sitting around all the time.

i think those are the five lessons i can impart. i hope you all have learned as much as i have. also, i hope you never have to have your tonsils out. may your lymph nodes stay healthy. and stay put.

have a good weekend everyone!

au revoir amygdale!

ever since i had mono my freshman year of college (almost five years ago now...crazy!) i've had recurrent problems with my tonsils. every three months, i would have swollen tonsils, strep or end up coughing up pus. i really hope you're not eating right now...

so when i went for my physical in october, i talked to my doctor, who told me that i should visit an ENT specialist. so i did. and he took one look at me and told me my tonsils and adenoids were coming out. being me, i put it off for as long as possible. so finally, yesterday, january 8th, i had the first surgery of my entire life.

to be quite honest, i wasn't really nervous going in to the surgery. every appointment i had this week, everyone kept asking me if i was anxious, but all my questions were answered before i even asked them. so going in, i felt really good about the whole process. even once i was in the outpatient wing, i was pretty calm, chatting with my pre-op nurse (who was AMAZING), sassing my mom, and watching some CSI. i was totally cool with everything, even as they were wheeling me back to the surgery. (the scrub nurse asked me if i had ever had surgery before. i said "no, but i've seen grey's anatomy!" she laughed and told me their doctors weren't that pretty.) i was completely calm until they put that stupid oxygen mask over my face. that was when i started to freak out. i think the whole problem was that it made me feel claustrophobic with that stupid mask over my face. however, it only took about 30 seconds for the anesthesia to kick in, so i didn't have too much time freak out.

the worst part of the entire process was waking up. i was intubated, and waking up with the tube still in my throat was incredibly disorientating, and a little bit painful. after that though, it was pretty much smooth sailing. there was a little girl who came in to recovery after me, who was having a terrible time. she cried from the moment she got placed in her room from the moment she left. i felt really bad for her, and to be completely honest, if i were that young, i would have been freaking out like that too.

surgery only took about 20 minutes, and i was moved in to a private recovery room at around 10:15, when my mom met me. even as fast as all of that moved, we ended up being in the hospital until around 2:00, because they made me drink so much before i was allowed to leave. all of the nurses were great, and they were so helpful in answering all of our questions. i was really impressed with the entire staff and the amount of attention and care they gave to me.

i've been really happy with the way that i have felt after surgery. i'm so glad that i went ahead and did it, and i'm very glad that the recovery process has been better than i expected. the painkillers i've been prescribed don't make me overly drowsy, nor do they make me nauseous, which is definitely a huge plus. and the ice cream definitely doesn't hurt... :)

thank you all for your prayers and support! i really appreciate it! hope you are all basking in the joy of the weekend! :)

bonne annee!

hello friends!

it's now 2010. a new decade, with a whole new set of hopes and dreams. this year will be different for all of us. for some, it will change the way we see ourselves, some will begin to see others in a different life. some will change plans, some will solidify dreams, but all of us will be making changes. 2009 was full of ups and downs for this particular blogger, but i have hope that 2010 will be one of the best yet.

so good luck to you, in this new decade of life. may you find it filled with joy, hope, love and laughter (and some chinese food, every once in a while).

happy 2010!