Under the weather

Friday afternoon, I went to Dr. Biteman's office in Arcata to have that nasty little crypt removed from the right side of my throat.  I was supposed to go on Monday, but he was ill, so it was pushed to Friday.  Turns out, that was probably a good thing, so I had the weekend to recover.  I was very nervous about having the procedure done while I was awake.  For my tonsillectomy years ago, I was out cold in the hospital, as it should be!
David drove me in, which was great, because after just the consultation a few weeks ago I felt woozy!  I went to the back, and Dr. Biteman sprayed the numbing stuff in my throat.  Then off to another room where the procedure would actually take place.  Here we go!  They were prepared for me this time.  A cold washcloth for my neck AND my head, and they had me take my shoes & socks off to help keep me cool.  After donning very stylish protective glasses, I was as ready as I was going to be.

I kept my eyes closed as much as possible, so I wouldn't see all the scary stuff coming towards me.  First was the numbing shots, which weren't bad since the spray had already numbed me up.  Then, I was told to inhale, and on the exhale, he would laser so I would blow the smoke out of my mouth.  The person who went before me took about 15 minutes.  I took closer to 40 :(  Turns out, my tonsil had grown back halfway, and as he lasered away, the tissue underneath would be bad, so he'd have to take more.  It also took quite a while to clean out the crypt.  My simple procedure was not turning out so simply!

Dr. Biteman did a great job.  It was much more extensive than he anticipated, but he got the job done.  He and his staff did great keeping me calm through it as well.  Now I have to see how I do tomorrow and into Monday.  I was hoping I wouldn't miss any work, but this turned into WAY more than I'd planned.  I'm on Vicodin for pain, which he said to expect for 7-10 days.  I certainly don't want to be on it that long (I really don't care for Vicodin) and I don't want to drive on it.

So for now, I'm down for the count, and hoping my problem is solved.  I go back for a checkup on the 26th, which is during Spring Break.  At least I won't miss any work for that!  My mouth tastes and looks like charcoal, and is very, very sore. Talking is painful, so I'm doing a lot of texting and Facebook.   David has been great, driving the kids everywhere they need to be, as well as doing the grocery shopping, and a couple of other events I was going to help with, or we were going to do together.  Thanks honey!