December 12, 2004

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  Ugh. I feel like crap.

  
  

  

  
  

  …and crap seems to be a big part of our world lately…

  
  

  

  
  

  So I seemed to be recovering pretty well for the first coupleof days, but then got worse. Friday was okay, my cousin came over, took me to the doctor’s and he said I was doing really well. I told him that I had no idea that the uvulectomy was going to hurt so mauch. He said, yes it would, and think of what it would feel like to have a tonsillectomy — which I remember all too, well, since I had my tonsils out in an emergency situation (they were abcessed, and burst during the surgery) when I was 23. It was my first experience with surgery, and I recall the pain was unbelievable. But I was in the hospital for a few days receiving IV antibiotics and shots of Demerol after that. No such luck this time, I just have to deal with this pain with some tylenol with codeine and hoping that the sore heals up quickly. From all reports I have read, it gets worse after a couple of days, and then gets better.

  
  

  He said he removed the uvula with a laser (high tech!) It left a spot like a canker sore, only about the size of a quarter, where the silly thing used to hang in the back of my throat. He said the uvula was pretty nasty, enlarged, no doubt, from the years of throat, ear, nose, and sinus infections that I have endured, and all the icky stuff draining alongside the uvula, which sort of “sweeps” the back of the throat. I know that when I have had sore throats, it has swelled up hugely, and looked like a big purple grape sometimes. I often worried it would cut off my breathing completely. So I am really optimistic that having it gone will make a big difference in my snoring and even my sleep apnea. Even with the swelling and irritation I have now, I feel like my airway is clearer when I lie down.

  
  

  But what a sore throat I have! It hurts like fire sometimes when I try to swallow, and feels dry and like I have something stuck there (which I actually do, a big nasty burnt spot!) I have been getting some relief with the time-honored traditional remedy of pure, unfiltered honey, which not only soothes and coats the throat, but also has natural anti-infective and healing properties. I have been swallowing it directly off a spoon, about a half-teaspoonful every couple of hours, plus eating honey spread on buttered bread and rolls, and drinking lots of tea with honey.

  
  

  I have always used lots of honey, I rarely ever use refined sugar for sweetening anything, except baked goods which absolutely require sugar in the recipes. I am a great believer in the healing properties of this golden elixir, especially when using the local kind, produced by bees from flowers that bloom nearby. Local honey is supposed to be a big help in de-sensitizing your body to the local pollens — a great help for allergy sufferes. And I was reading recently that they now believe that because of its natural antibacterial action, honey can actually prevent tooth decay, rather than promote it like other sweeteners. This could be a part of the reason why I have had such good teeth, despite my fear of dentists and putting off getting my teeth cleaned and checked for five years at a time.

  
  

  So I am slurping honey for my throat, sniffing saline solution to keep the nasal passages and sinuses from drying out, and hoping every day that the next day I feel better. Unfortunately this hasn’t exactly been the case. I knew to expect the pain to get worse on the third and fourth day, because that’s just how it goes when it’s healing. But I still reserve the right to whine, complain and feel sorry for myself at least a little bit.

  
  

  

  
  

  Friday my cousin and I were supposed to bake a couple kinds of cookies, too. You may remember this from my last entry. Well, it was a couple of kinds of cookies, but we did a double batch of one (filled pastries) and a triple of the other (filled gingerbread — one of my favorites — they are filled with a date and apple butter filling). We managed to get them all done for her office cookie exchange, and I have leftover filling for another batch of gingerbread when I am feeling a little better. She also made the covers for the back cushions of the daybed. She still has to come out again one day to cover the bottom of the daybed frame, but it is going to look really nice where it is finally done. I think we will have enough fabric left for the cushions on my grandpop’s rocker, too.

  
  

  Little by little, the living room is getting finished. Three steps forward two steps back, though, as far as keeping it clean goes. Poor Bernie had to deal with a mess today (since I can’t bend or lift for at least another week) It seems that at least one of our cats, I think Angel, has been having tummy problems, most likely the ongoing hairball situation that Angel has been dealing with. Yesterday she threw up all over a blanket and the ottoman she usually lies on, and I was able to clean that up, because it was up high enough for me to clean up without bending too far.

  
  

  This morning I got up, and Bernie was pointing to a mess that was half on the floor and half on the dog’s pillow behind my computer. He said he thought it came from Dolly and there was more on his bedsheet. He wondered which end it came from. I figured out that it was dog puke, as a result of her eating the nasty soft cat poop that was in the bathroom litter box — another result of Angel’s hairball — it has her digestive system in a mess, and nothing I am giving her for it seems to be getting it to pass properly.

  
  

  Dogs love cat poop. It is just a disgusting dog habit, and it has a basis in Nature and instinct. In the wild, it would be a legitimate food source for a canine scavenger, because of the cat’s inefficient digestive system, it is a fairly decent protein source. But in the house, where everyone gets plenty of good food, it is just a disgusting habit, and requires constant vigilance on the litter box. Which I am not able to maintain right now, because I am having a hard time just getting over this surgery. Usually if the dogs eat some normal healthy cat poop, and don’t get much litter along with it, they are okay. But when it is abnormally yucky cat poop, like this was, it can make the dog sick, and quick!

  
  

  Well, I had to talk Bernie through the clean-up. What cleaning products to use, etc… And like most men, he is extremely squeamish about the stuff that women are designed to clean up on a regular basis, as part of our natural role as childrearer and nurturer. He cleaned up the floor and stripped his bed (the sheets needed to be washed anyway – it was about that time) I noticed that Dolly was acting like she didn’t feel very good at all, so I had to get him to pick her up so I could pour some antacid/antigas liquid down her throat. The regular human kind, Maalox or whatever is handy, usually helps minor tummy upsets, and a spoonful did the trick for her. But not before she puked on the ottoman, two more spots on the living room floor and all over one of her stuffed toys.

  
  

  So poor Bernie got a crash course in cleaning up pet messes. And a “welcome to my world”  I usually have at least one or two pet messes of some sort to deal with every day. Goes with the territory. I feel bad that I am not able to do things like clean this stuff up, especially since I see Bernie having such a hard time with something that is pretty routine to me. But I am trying not to bend over or lift anything for at least a week or two, and hopefully we won’t have any more incidents now, at least not to this extent. He still has to do two loads of laundry, one of his bedding and one of the dogs’ pillows and the poor stuffed toy that got in the line of fire…

  
  

  

  
  

  Thanks again for all of the well-wishes. I appreciate the good healing vibes and comments left here. Especially since all I can really do is go back and forth between bed, computer and tv right now, everything else is just too hard for me to deal with.

  
  

  In answer to comments left on my last entry — the hospital gown closed in back, so the view that everyone got in the hallway was of my big fat pink ass. I honestly thought that I was holding the gown shut far enough in back, but apparently it didn’t reach. And no, I didn’t die of embarrassment. I don’t embarrass that easily, as far as simple shows of skin go…other things, maybe, but I actually found the full moon more humourous than anything else. After all, I TOLD them I needed a larger gown! It seems the nurses were more upset than I was.

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  Anyway, I did a few of those quiz-thingies while I have been sitting around here at the computer. I thought these were uncannily accurate in some ways:

  
  

   

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  You Are the Individualist

  4 You are sensitive and intuitive, with others and yourself. You are creative and dreamy… plus dramatic and unpredictable. You’re emotionally honest, real, and easily hurt. Totally expressive, others always know exactly how you feel.

  
  

  What number are you?

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Your Element Is Water

  A bit of a contradiction, you can seem both lighthearted and serious. That’s because you’re good at going with the flow – but you also are deep. Highly intuitive, you tune in to people’s emotions and moods easily. You are able to tap into deep emotional connections and connect with others. You prefer a smooth, harmonious life – but you can navigate your way around waves. You have a knack for getting people to get along and making life a little more peaceful.

  
  

  What’s Your Element?

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Your Dominant Intelligence is Spatial Intelligence

  You’ve got a good sense of space and how the world around you looks. You can close your eyes and “see” images. You have innate artistic talent. An eye for color and shapes, you’re also a natural designer. Since you think in pictures, visual aids and demonstartions help you learn best. You would make a good navigator, sculptor, visual artist, inventor, architect, interior designer, or engineer.

  
  

  What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  You Are a Visionary Soul

  You are a curious person, always in a state of awareness. Connected to all things spiritual, you are very connect to your soul. You are wise and bright: able to reason and be reasonable. Occasionally, you get quite depressed and have dark feelings. You have great vision and can be very insightful. In fact, you are often profound in a way that surprises yourself. Visionary souls like you can be the best type of friend. You are intuitive, understanding, sympathetic, and a good healer. Souls you are most compatible with: Old Soul and Peacemaker Soul

  
  

  What Kind of Soul Are You?

  
  

   

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

  Well I am off for another nap, or something. At least to get my glasses off the sore bridge of my nose (which was where the most work was done, apparently, in the ethmoid sinuses)  I will feel much better when I can start wearing my contacts again, but my eyes are still a little too watery for that, so I am having to deal with the glasses on the nose. But it is nowhere as nanoyiing as this sore throat! I guess that is one good thing, the throat is taking my mind off the pain in the sinuses. I sure hope it works, and I didn’t go through all this pain for nothing (and Bernie the out-of-pocket surgery fees, since the uvulectomy wasn’t covered by insurance) I guess I iwll know in a mon th of so when the swelling is all gone. I will have to make bernie stay up one night specifically to listen to me sleep and see if I snore….

  
  

   

  
  

  

  
  

   

  • 4:57 pm
  • 11 Comments