Do you ever think you know the prefect job for your child when they grow up?! Princess P's would be in the medical field. She would be the brutally honest dealer of bad news. She does it with such grace, and after she gets the facts out, she turns to trying to smooth over the emotions she brought out.
Friday morning P was the first one I woke up to get ready for school. Our early morning conversation went like this...
P: Is today the day you go to the hospital?
Me: Yes.
P: Are you getting your tonsils out?
Me: Yes.
P: It's going to hurt REALLY REALLY bad when you wake up.
Me: That's what I hear.
P: Mia told me so.
Me: Uh-huh.
P: They are going to use a needle & it's going to feel like they are trying to take your brains out.
Me: (I couldn't even respond, it was before 6:30am, and I wasn't allowed coffee)
P: But they won't really take your brains out. I promise.
Now in fairness to the cute little girl, she had no clue I was having panic attacks the day before over this procedure. I don't do needles well, and I was terrified of the pain during recovery. All I had heard over & over again was how hard it was on adults.
I tried convincing myself that my Monster got his pain tolerance & ability to recover nearly instantly from me & I'd bounce right back just like he did last summer when he had his done. But I knew that wasn't likely to be the case at all.
Got the big kids to school, littles over to my parent's house & headed to the hospital. I cried on the way there. I was so scared. Checked in at 9:45am. And sat in a busy waiting area, in the only open areas, right in front of the coffee makers. Do you know what type of torture that is for a coffee addict who is allowed nothing pre-op?!?! I text my mother "waiting sucks". She responds "patience never was your thing"
Got called back for prep around 11. Cried walking back to my room. The nurse thought I was crazy. Told her IV pokes are not good, it has taken 5-6 sticks to get it the last several times I needed one. And there's a good chance that if I don't kick her while she was poking my arm, I would pass out.
Bless her heart. She offered to numb my arm first. No nurse has ever offered to numb it first. That was the best thing ever....although it still hurt & still took a long time because my veins roll away & I *almost* passed out, but I didnt! Small victories. (And she only had to prick me once!)
I text my mother. "I didn't pass out with the IV" She responds "because they already had you laying down"
Apparently my mom has been thru this with me a time or two. lol.
My husband came on back til they took me to surgery. Let me give a word of advice. If the anesthesiologist comes in & asks if you have any questions, just don't ask any, no matter how curious you are. At this point, the nurse had told me of her own adult tonsilectomy experience & how things would feel when I woke up (because I told her I was scared of pain & quick pain management) and then when I was bold enough to ask about the anasthesia, I wished I hadn't. Hearing about the breathing tube going down my throat did not help my fears calm at all.
I was assured the tube would go in after I was asleep & back out before I was awake. I was assured I would be given pain meds before I woke up as well & they would give me ice & drinks as soon as I woke.
Back to the OR I went. Then I was waking up. I'm a baby. A big baby. I didn't even wait to see if I could feel pain. As soon as I opened my eyes & saw a nurse right there, I asked for meds & a drink. They took good care of me. We hung out for a couple of hours to make sure there wasn't bleeding & then went home.
Honestly, pain is not nearly what I expected. But I haven't lessened my pain meds any either. It's no worse than having strep throat tho, and I am excited to know I won't experience that anymore. The meds make me sleepy & a little loopy but I've had lots of help with the kids (they've stayed with grandparents all weekend) , and D-man has catered to me around here.
I'm hoping to get out to church in the morning, provided I get some sleep & don't have a large amount of pain in the mornings (mornings are worst because the throat dries out during sleep)
I'm definitely glad it's over & I hope no more surgeries are in my future!
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