Tonsillectomy Recovery: Day 5

Weight: 220
Change from yesterday: -1
Change overall: -5

Ear pain. Wow. It can really be intense! But it's also strange how it comes and goes seemingly at random.

And why must I be awake in the middle of the night? Maybe I'm timing my meals and meds wrong or something. I don't know. But it seems like I sleep on and off most of the day, then end up wide awake in the middle of the night. My poor body is going to be so confused when this is all over.

I finally managed to get some decent sleep last night, and the morning went reasonably well. Pain was manageable and I progressed through breakfast (scrambled eggs) and meds. Then I took a late-morning nap, and woke up from that in a ton of pain, most of it in my ears. It felt like forever before I was able to eat (Ramen) and take more meds, and once they kicked in, they got rid of the throat and ear pain but left behind that mysterious headache that came back. Annoying. There wasn't much I could do but sleep it off. That nap eased the headache, but brought back some of the throat and ear pain. I couldn't win!

I think that overall this was my worst day for pain. On the bright side, I managed to take a shower, which was desperately needed. After the shower, my dinner (mashed potatoes) and meds routine went well and left me feeling good enough to read for a while. So it might have been the worst day for pain, but it ended on a good note.

My doctor told me that most people take about 10 days to get through the worst of the recovery, and most stuff I've read online seems to support that too. So, surviving today puts me about halfway through the process. Yay! I have no idea how much worse it's going to get before it gets better, but I feel confident that I can get through. I still have plenty of percocet, plus the zofran if the nausea comes back, and my mental game is strong. What I've learned is that nothing is consistent -- a food that goes down well one time might sting like hell the next, a pain that defies the meds might go away on its own, etc. So there is no trick to feeling good all the time, but no bad feeling is going to last forever. If I just keep eating, drinking, using my ice packs on my neck, sleeping when I can, and taking my meds, I will get through whatever discomforts come my way.

Another thing I learned today is how weak I am. Though I'm eating more than I did after my abscess was drained, it's nowhere near enough to keep me at full strength. Plus I'm not exactly getting consistent sleep. The shower this evening really wore me out. I'm eager to get back to swimming, biking, and running....but realizing that the energy for all that is not going to come back right away. I need to be prepared to take my time and build my strength gradually. Over the next week, I will need to ponder that and figure out what it means for my early-season race plans.