I am back, for a little while

It’s been several days since my last entry, reason being I was in hospital for a tonsillectomy. Yes, I finally got rid of my damned tonsils after several bouts of tonsillitis this year. I will be off work for the next two weeks so I am not too sure how often I will be able to update my blog. I will try to do so every few days or so next week.

Before the op, my tension and nervousness had surmounted quite a bit as I prepared for the worst. Paranoid freak that I am, I looked at the worst-case scenario: that I would bleed to death on the operating table. It wasn’t such an impossible outcome as I am quite the bleeder. Last two ops I had, I bled so much that my ear/nose/throat surgeon had to stick several tubes up my nose to remove all the blood clots. It was painful, indeed. I still do not know what is the cause of it but my current doctor warned me not to take any anti-inflammatories (like my beloved myprodol) prior to the op. That seemed to work.

I arrived at the clinic at the crack of dawn, or 6:30 as some might say, for the usual formalities of checking in, getting the nurses to pry into my medical history and changing into that awful hospital gown and hideous undies. The anesthetist soon followed, who looked like a dirty old man to me. He checked my breathing and off he went. While I waited for my turn to go to theatre I indulged in some reading and tried not to think too much about what awaited me. Every now and then a nurse would take my temperature and blood pressure readings, as is customary, but still much to my annoyance. But shame, they were all very friendly and helpful.

Eventually my turn came and my caretaker nurse, Elaine (bless her, she really calmed me down quite a bit) and an orderly wheeled me and bed to the theatre. I had to wait for what seemed like hours till I was prepped for surgery. In the meantime I had to endure listening to a child who had just come out of surgery, crying hysterically because she was in pain and could not swallow a tablet that the nurses were trying to force down her throat. I felt sorry for the little girl but needless to say, this did not help me much as my own fears resurfaced. Soon I was taken to the actual theatre where that dirty old man was ready to put me to sleep. I didn’t even get to see my doc as I was out like a light before he even arrived.

I awoke in what seemed like five minutes later, to the sounds of a loud nurse trying to get me to wake up, as I slipped in and out of consciousness. Why don’t they just let you sleep? I was happy to do that. I started to shiver so much that she thought I was having a fit so she put more blankets on me. That seemed to calm me down. I was then taken back to my ward. I was all alone, no other patients, so that was nice. I did not bleed to death like I had predicted but I did spit out quite a bit of blood. The nurses served me lunch immediately (even though I wanted nothing of it) and it included jelly, custard and ice-cream. I tried to swallow some of the custard but it would just come right back up. Custard and blood just don’t go together. So I spat it all out in the tub the nurses gave me.

Next I was given an injection on my ass and I was out like a light, finally getting some of the sleep I had been craving all month.

Stay tuned for what happened next…(hopefully in a few days’ time)…