I needed a good laugh!!

So this morning, I woke up at about 2:30am in extreme pain! I felt like my throat had done a thousand sit-ups and was stiff from the exertion and on top of that it felt like there was an elephant sitting on my throat. I wasn't sure how an elephant had gotten in my mouth, but it sure was an unwelcome guest. I knew that taking painkillers was the obvious solution, but I just couldn't stand to take them. The meds I've been given taste so nasty I get a gag reflex as I lift the spoon to my mouth. I tried to just ignore the pain and go back to sleep. In spite of waking up two other times because of the pain, I finally got up at around 8:00am.

I decided to go online and see if there were any websites where I could compare my experience with those of others--to see if what I was experiencing was normal. I really thought that when everyone told me it would take 1-2 weeks to recover they were exaggerating and that I would be back to 'normal' in a few days. In my quest to feel normal, I stumbled upon the following experience:

"Can someone please advise.. I've searched and searched for guidelines on recovering from a tonsillectomy and I've not found a straight answer. I had my tonsils out 6 days ago. I thought that my ENT was being melodramatic when he told me how miserable I would be and that he was preparing me for the worst so that it really wouldn't be that bad. He wasn't. Nothing came close to describing the abject pain and misery I have been in for the past six days.

The ENT prescribed me Tylenol with Codeine (are you kidding me?) and told me to drink enough fluids so that I would go to the bathroom every 8 hours. The second day after the surgery, I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and as I sat down on the toilet, I blacked out. My fiancee heard a thud and found me on the floor in a pool of blood and unconscious. I was taken to the ER and told I was very dangerously dehydrated and my blood pressure was extremely low. They said I broke my nose and also had a sinus infection. CAT scan returned normal. In the hospital, no drugs would help. Everything worked on all other parts of my body except my throat. I can't describe the pain, I really can't but my will to live is being drastically depleted.

How long more do I have to suffer with this? Around Day 4 I started getting ear aches. I was sent home from the hospital yesterday (Day 5) with a prescription for Percocet but again, it does nothing for the throat pain and excruciating swallowing. When can I eat again? When does the pain get better? My neck is very stiff and talking hurts so much. PLEASE HELP. I'm at my wits end. These past 6 days have felt like a month and I can't remember what it's like not to have pain."

At first, I felt I could really relate to her explanation of the pain, but then as she described waking up in a puddle of blood and that her will to live was being "drastically depleted" I busted out laughing. I laughed so hard I cried and the scab-covered tissues in my mouth were in severe pain from the unstoppable laughter and I about drooled on myself because it hurt even more to swallow in my drugged-up state of laughter. The sad thing is that this went on for a good five minutes or so. I'm not sure if it's just been way too long since I've had a good laugh, the misery of this whole experience is getting to be too much or if the drugs are really starting to kick in. Either way, I am grateful that my experience hasn't been as bad as this lady's and that I can at least laugh in my pathetic state of being.