Post Tonsillectomy update...

Well surprisingly my surgery went very well and I'm actually feeling pretty darn good considering the fact and good enough to blog. My throat is absolutely disgusting but I'm doing better than expected. Surgery went well my Doctor told Clinton that this was the worst Tonsil he has seen in a long time and possibly the worst EVER. So here is what happened.... when he was removing the tonsil on the left side behind it he found a HUGE hole that had been eroded away from the abscess. I guess the abscess ate away the tissue and muscle during its stay so i now have a huge void/hole on the left side of my throat. The right side there is a hole as well but not as big. Having surgery is always so interesting. I remember the anaesthesiologist coming in and putting medicine in my IV and Clinton says "how long does that take?" and i looked over at him as my eyes were starting to droop and I said "fast" and next thing i know I'm being waken up by my wonderful sweet nurse. Who tells me "Erin its time to wake up" and asks me how my pain is. It was like she flipped a switch. The moment the sleepy meds wore off enough for me to realize what had just happened i was in extreme pain. I remember my first swallow, it was horrible. I felt like i had something stuck in my throat again and i could feel the stitches. It didn't make me sick but just felt weird. I rated my pain at an 8.... for those of you have have listened or seen Brian Regan you will know that if you want some good pain meds "SAY 8, SAY 8 "!!!! and of course she gave me morphine!! It was awesome. I spent about 2 hours in the post-op area before they let me go home. Clinton was their waiting for me and came back when i was out of surgery. He was so wonderful and so sweet. He took me home and has been here with me all day jumping to my every need and call. Its so sweet how wonderful he has been getting me anything and not even letting me walk to the bathroom by myself. For most of the day i was like a zombie in my bed half passed out watching movies and eating Popsicles. So far i have eaten 6 since i got home. My pain is manageable and I'm not too worried about taking pain meds so much b/c i feel pretty good. But I have been told that it will get worse. So I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that this recovery will go well. I wasn't sure if i was going to attach a pic but i am.... I apologize to those with weak stomachs.... if so DON'T look. My throat has two giant holes and is green and black, the large thing in the middle is the Uvula and yes its a little swollen! But nothing compared to what my tonsils where when they were intact. I have a really old pic of my throat back in may that i will put up so you can see my normal/sick tonsils intact. This throat pic was not the worst my throat was during my sickness, but it was the only one i had. Until i write again. thanks everyone for all your comments and thoughts.

top pic post surgery> bottom pic tonsils in May

Hospitals Do Make You Go CRAZY!!

So for about 5 years i have been working in hospitals and never had the chance to see what it was like to be a patient. You always hear about how horrible they are and they make you go crazy. This is ALL TRUE. Two weeks ago I was feeling sick. It was a sunday afternoon and Clinton and I were in Flagstaff, AZ. We were actually headed to UT for a wedding and our car broke down in Flag so we ended up staying there for the entire weekend with his Aunt and Uncle. They are AWESOME!! So it was sunday night and i was saying to Clinton my throat is feeling funny and Im having aches. I just blew it off and went to bed. Come Monday morning i woke up and i knew something was wrong. (.... going back to April/May of this year> I got REALLY sick with a crazy throat problem which took 5 weeks to find out what it was. After 5 Dr's and ER visits i finally went to an ENT Dr. and she told me i had a abcess in my throat behind my tonsills. So she poked it with a needle and drained it. IT HURT but felt sooooooooo much better. So after that i was on the road to recovery. Not to mention i was EXTREEMLY ill. I coulndt swallow b/c my tonsills where the size of golf balls and the amount of infection in my body was killing me but i was treated with anti-biotics and all that good stuff to fix me. It was about 8 weeks later that my throat was better i was back to normal..... BACK TO PRESENT TIME> so Monday morning i wake up feeling achy and sick. My throat is really sore and i take a look sure enough it was red/swollen and forming white pockets kind of like strep. (which i have NEVER had). So the day went on and i began to get worse. We got our car back and headed back to Mesa. on the way home I started running a fever and not doing well at all. Clinton looked in my throat and now my tonsils were huge and white. It was late so we decided to go to the ER b/c i new exactly what this was... THE ABSCESS and it was back. I didn't want to go through 6 weeks of torture again so i thought i would catch this early. Well in the ER the Dr. didn't think i had an abscess and felt i was okay and to follow up with my Dr. So I was sent home. I woke up at 2am Tuesday morning in so pain and b/c i couldn't swallow my spit and i was drooling like a teething baby.... it was horrible. I went into the bathroom and looked inside my mouth and saw what looked like 2 white golf balls! No they were just my tonsils. So I mustard down some Ibuprofen and got back in bed to only lay there until 6a.m. I then called my mom and attempted to tell her i was dying. By this time i couldn't talk b/c my tonsils were GINORMOUS.....Miraculously i got into see my ENT Dr. and at her office i was on the verge of Dying so she decided to admit me to the Hospital b/c i was so dehydrated and my tonsils where so HUGE i was having trouble breathing. So I was put in the hospital Tuesday morning and released on Wednesday night. I thought i was doing better and feeling good. Thursday came and it was horrible i some how managed to sleep the entire day but when Friday morning came that was not good....I woke up at 1am. b/c i couldn't breath again and i had so much pressure on my ear that i was passing out. So my sister-in-law Shelly (heaven sent!!) ,told me i was on the verge of death after all of this of course, took me back to the ER and this is where the fun began. I spent 12 hours in the ER. Is that even possible?? I think i may have set the longest ER record! While i was there they started an IV, ran blood tests, and did a CT scan and this is when we found the ABBY, i have just named my abscess b/c it has been with me and part of me for so long i thought she deserves a proper name. What they found was an abscess in my throat that was 2.5x2.5x4.5cm. which is HUGE considering the space it was in. So that meant you are going back into the hospital. But i had to be transferred to another hospital where there was an ENT on staff. So this is why i spent 12 hours in the ER. I did get to ride in an ambulance which was kind of fun. They are not really exciting but its a cool story to say i have ridden in one. So from Friday- Sunday i was back in the hospital and i wanted to die. These places really makes a person go crazy. I felt like I was in jail attached to a pole. Every time i had to go to the bathroom i had to drag around that darn IV pole and the beds are worse than sleeping on the ground. I just have to say that I was SO incredibly happy to be going home no matter how miserable i felt. I just wanted to take a shower and clean up and i couldn't even do that. I would find myself crying over nothing..... i was just so mentally/physically/emotionally exhausted no one or nothing could make me feel good. No matter how many doses of medicine i was given nothing helped i just wanted to be OUT. So Sunday afternoon i was sent home. That week was the longest week of my life. I was off work so i was just home trying to get well and it was almost as bad as being in the hospital. But now i am feeling wonderful and i have one more day of this b/c Thursday i go in for surgery. They are going in to take out those NASTY tonsils and ABBY! GONE they will be. The best or i mean worst part of this is having a tonsillectomy at my age is probably the WORST thing you can do. Those of you who have had you tonsils out you may know what i am about to go through. But i see it as I was pretty darn sick for a week and i don't know what could be worse so this may be a snap compared!! Well I am hoping at least. So this is why I haven't updated my blog in a while. After my surgery i will try and post how things are. My mom will be staying with me so maybe i can talk her into writing a little post. Well I'm off for now until post surgery. Wish me luck.

Engagement Photos!!

Yesterday Clinton and I took our engagement pics. I had a blast b/c i just love being with my honey and taking funny pictures. Clinton was great but for him this was nothing near fun....I was trying to make this a memorable experience for him, taking pics is like having to eat raw liver!! He really HATES getting his picture taken... not sure why b/c he is so photogenic and adorable!! But we had a great time and as you can see these are a few of our funny photos I wont spoil the surprise pic. you will all just have to wait until you get an announcement or when i post my announcement on my blog.

I loved this pic. we were at the Temple just standing talking and didn't even remember we were getting our picture taken it was the greatest. Being in love is wonderful.... you have your own little bubble and most of the time you don't notice whats going on around.
Clinton's sister-in-law Amber was our "professional" mother of 2/photographer (not really!!) but as you can see she did an awesome job. Thanks Amber you are AWESOME!!