There are few occasions in life where a big smile is the appropriate response to coughing up blood.
But hey, this is one. First: a quick update. Pain's been easing off quickly yesterday and today - jaw and earache down to very little, stabby throat pain and difficult swallowing much reduced, though I still can't sleep unless upright, and even then only for a couple of hours at a time. Each time I wake up and it's really hurty, and I have to give it 15 minutes, sipping water until it calms down, before going round again. I guess that will run until my uvula calms down. I don't know how well it came across in the last couple of posts, but days 3 and 4 were really, really bad. Easily the most pain I've ever been through, and I have watched the final series of Lost. There's no sugar coating that side of it, but coming out of that into (relative) comfort is a very good feeling.
There are lots of tonsillectomy blogs/threads/pages on the intertubes, and most of them describe the nasty white scabs falling off on days 7-10 after surgery. Well, this is the evening of day 6, and while I didn't feel or see any whiteness coming up into my mouth, I suddenly tasted blood out of the blue, dashed to the bathroom and let rip. I ate, but that was a good hour beforehand, so I don't think it was the direct cause.
Sorry to disappoint, but it wasn't an Exorcist-style event. More a constant but manageable flow that had me spitting it out every ten seconds or so, then coughing up the really good scarlet, phlegmy, meaty stuff three or four times total. The stuff that needs encouragement to go down the plug hole. Five minutes of it easing up steadily, couple of swills of water, and done. Not exactly pleasant. Definitely satisfying. And certainly a cakewalk compared to some of the horror stories you can find by Googling 'tonsillectomy scabs'. The dude who bled into his stomach all night and spent two days coughing up organ sized clots? Not the one.
I'm not sure what the standard volume measure for blood is in this scenario. I mean, if you're counting pints and you haven't rung A&E yet, you're gonna die, son. So something smaller: I'm going to go with mice, where one mouse is the amount of blood you'd find in one of god's smalliest, furriest wee beasties. Which, as any fule kno, is 1.46ml. So I reckon I've chundered about 60 mice down the sink over the last twenty minutes. Not bad going.
This is a big step in the recovery - apparently losing the scabs and the clotted blood behind them cuts out a great deal of the swallowing pain and general aches. I won't feel like I'm on the home straight until I can lie on my back and sleep a whole night, but I reckon if my uvula goes down a bit (it wasn't that shape before, let alone size) dreamland will be well within reach. So, progress!
I would have got a photo of the blood for you - I know you guys would have loved that - but I was a little preoccupied. With all the blood. So, as standard, here's my new, mostly-scab free throat.
Not a pretty sight, but a big step forward. Off to see the GP tomorrow morning to check up on everything. I was worried about whether or not they's be willing to top me up on the codeine as I'm about to run out, but you know what? Don't even need it any more; the paracetamol and liquid ibuprofen are seeing me sweet. They also gave me some 'Difflam', a benzydamine mouthwash for gargling that is excellent with the onsets of sharper throat pain and swallowing, and is pretty much instant in taking effect. Might see about another bottle of that.
But hey, this is one. First: a quick update. Pain's been easing off quickly yesterday and today - jaw and earache down to very little, stabby throat pain and difficult swallowing much reduced, though I still can't sleep unless upright, and even then only for a couple of hours at a time. Each time I wake up and it's really hurty, and I have to give it 15 minutes, sipping water until it calms down, before going round again. I guess that will run until my uvula calms down. I don't know how well it came across in the last couple of posts, but days 3 and 4 were really, really bad. Easily the most pain I've ever been through, and I have watched the final series of Lost. There's no sugar coating that side of it, but coming out of that into (relative) comfort is a very good feeling.
There are lots of tonsillectomy blogs/threads/pages on the intertubes, and most of them describe the nasty white scabs falling off on days 7-10 after surgery. Well, this is the evening of day 6, and while I didn't feel or see any whiteness coming up into my mouth, I suddenly tasted blood out of the blue, dashed to the bathroom and let rip. I ate, but that was a good hour beforehand, so I don't think it was the direct cause.
Sorry to disappoint, but it wasn't an Exorcist-style event. More a constant but manageable flow that had me spitting it out every ten seconds or so, then coughing up the really good scarlet, phlegmy, meaty stuff three or four times total. The stuff that needs encouragement to go down the plug hole. Five minutes of it easing up steadily, couple of swills of water, and done. Not exactly pleasant. Definitely satisfying. And certainly a cakewalk compared to some of the horror stories you can find by Googling 'tonsillectomy scabs'. The dude who bled into his stomach all night and spent two days coughing up organ sized clots? Not the one.
Except mine was red, of course.
I'm not sure what the standard volume measure for blood is in this scenario. I mean, if you're counting pints and you haven't rung A&E yet, you're gonna die, son. So something smaller: I'm going to go with mice, where one mouse is the amount of blood you'd find in one of god's smalliest, furriest wee beasties. Which, as any fule kno, is 1.46ml. So I reckon I've chundered about 60 mice down the sink over the last twenty minutes. Not bad going.
This is a big step in the recovery - apparently losing the scabs and the clotted blood behind them cuts out a great deal of the swallowing pain and general aches. I won't feel like I'm on the home straight until I can lie on my back and sleep a whole night, but I reckon if my uvula goes down a bit (it wasn't that shape before, let alone size) dreamland will be well within reach. So, progress!
I would have got a photo of the blood for you - I know you guys would have loved that - but I was a little preoccupied. With all the blood. So, as standard, here's my new, mostly-scab free throat.
Not a pretty sight, but a big step forward. Off to see the GP tomorrow morning to check up on everything. I was worried about whether or not they's be willing to top me up on the codeine as I'm about to run out, but you know what? Don't even need it any more; the paracetamol and liquid ibuprofen are seeing me sweet. They also gave me some 'Difflam', a benzydamine mouthwash for gargling that is excellent with the onsets of sharper throat pain and swallowing, and is pretty much instant in taking effect. Might see about another bottle of that.
Night, all.