Day 4 - recovery

So todays pretty much the same as day 3. Still very painful, very sore and full of mucus. So very attractive I know! Today was one of the slowest days of my life - not even exaggerating. There was more tears and frustration. I barely ate anything! I tried Jelly, soup, mash potato but no, nothing was doing it for me. I was staying away from diary as it can create more mucus and no one wants that! No no.

I was barely sleeping, probs getting about 3-4 hours per night. I dreaded going to sleep because of how dry and sore your throat feels when you wake up.
I was taking my pain meds every 4 hours but I was still in pain.

During the night I had woken up because my throat was bleeding, it was around 3am and automatically what do I do? PANIC! I called my Mum to my room and was crying because it was so scary. I could feel it running like a tap.
I took sips of cold water and rinsed my mouth out. It looked like a lot of blood but it really wasn't. I had been reading reviews online and small amounts of bleeding is normal, especially when the scabs start to come off. After a few mins it stopped - thank goodness! I did NOT want to go back to A&E.

The panic was over, but then I couldn't sleep! Was a long night for me...

Day 3 - recovery

Oh wow, here comes the pain! My goodness, I've never felt so unwell. My head was hurting, my throat was swollen, I couldn't speak or swallow. I started to get a little scared because I was having heart palpitations. At first, I thought this was just anxiety and the side effects of being on a lot of meds. It then started to get worse and worse. My mum called 111 and they suggested I go straight to A&E. As always, there was a long wait.
I had two ECG tests, a chest x-ray and a load of blood tests. They were testing to see if I had a blood clot in my lung (this is a side effect of surgery apparently). I was so scared and so uncomfortable whilst I was waiting. Thankfully, there was no blood clot!!
They said I did have an infection though so they gave me some anti-biotics, which to be honest i think I should have had in the first place! They also gave me Codeine to take which is a strong pain killer.
Today I noticed I had a lot of mucus, yeah I know it's gross but I'm not holding back on the details lol. I found it very hard to swallow and was such an awful taste!

Today was a really uncomfortable day for me. I hated it.
I remember crying as well because of the pain. I barely ate or drank for that matter!

Day 2 - recovery

I woke up feeling OK. I managed to have some poached eggs for breakfast. I was still feeling a little numb from the meds I had before the surgery.
Overall, today was okay. I ate some sweet potato mash, gravy and tiny pieces of chicken for dinner. I then had some chocolate angel delight which went down pretty well!

Day 2 seemed a bit of the blur really. I think this is due to the meds that were still going through my system.

Day 1 - operation day

So the next morning soon came round. I had to be at the hospital for 7:30am ready for my op. They had told me that I may have to stay over night so I had to pack a bag just in case. When I got there it was a long long wait. I didn't have my op until 12:10pm - that's a long wait when you havent eaten since 10pm the night before! Apparently the operation before me was taking longer then expected so there wasn't anything they could do. I was asked loads of questions about my health, weight, height etc. I also had to do a pregnancy test which they do now with all girls over the age of 12 (yeah 12 right?!)

I was FINALLY called and was taken to the pre-op room where I had all the injections, gas etc to put me to sleep before the surgery. I remember asking so many questions as I was so curious. I felt the pain relief kick in and I started to feel drowsy. I don't even remember falling asleep.

Next thing I know I've woken up in the resting room. Apparently, I had already been speaking to the nurses but I do not remember that lol! I had a little pain when i woke up so she gave me some liquid pain meds and it was hard to swallow because I was so dry! I had to lay there for a while to make sure I was OK, again I was asking the nurse so many questions - I get so curious lol. We ended up having a conversation about tattoos and I really could not believe I had just come out of surgery.
They shortly wheeled me through to my own room where my lovely Mama was waiting. I felt a bit emotional from the meds and very sleepy. The nurse came through to make sure I was OK and got me some water to sip. They also gave me some vanilla ice cream which actually went down pretty well.
I had to rest for a few hours and I managed to have a nap. I did start to feel a little more like myself.

Before I could go home they wanted to see if I could eat anything, I managed to eat a little mash potato and gravy. They sent me home with Paracetamol and Ibuprofen for the pain. I was surprised that they didn't give me anti-biotics though.
That night I was pretty drowsy and had a good nights sleep.

The Story

So, I'm a 22 year old who has quite simply had enough - I'm not even joking. I've been suffering with Glandular Fever for the past... 18 months now and along with that came recurrent Tonsillitis. Every 2-3 weeks I would be feeling ill, which basically means I've spent most of the past year feeling unwell!

I caught Glandular Fever in June of 2014, however this did not show up on my blood tests until the November so I had a few months where I had no idea what was wrong with me! - I think that's the tough part sometimes, when you have no idea what you are dealing with. By this time I had probably battled with Tonsillitis around 6 times since June. Glandular Fever can generally make you feel unwell, Tonsillitis was just part of it! It lowers your immune system so you often feel tired, achy, fed up and just so under the weather. For me, this could not have come at a worse time - I had just finished my second year at University and was soon to start third year. As if dealing with third year isn't tough enough!

Anyway, with the help of my amazing friends and family I was able to battle through the best I could. I've been awarded a First Class Honours Degree so that made the fight worth it! 

My health has been up and down over the past 18 months, I do feel I have missed out on things because of this illness. I soon realised I wasn't able to live the life as a 'normal' student. I couldn't go out drinking as much and I couldn't eat whatever I wanted! I did have to look after myself as much as I could. I saved going out for special occasions but I'd very often become poorly a few days later. 

I've learnt a lot about myself and how to live a healthier lifestyle so I guess this was kind of a blessing in disguise! 

After suffering with tonsillitis around 10-13 times now (I lost count as it was so many times), my Dr agreed that I needed to have them out. I had also paid for private health care to get another opinion.

I went to see a ENT specialist on July 26th and was told I would be put on the waiting list. I received a call on the Wednesday so say they could fit me in the next morning!! - How could I refuse? I was so so nervous but I knew it was now or never. So I accepted.