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Tonsillectomy, Soft Foods, and Getting Back into It

The past two weeks have been challenging for me. Two Fridays ago I had a tonsillectomy, which I did because I started developing tonsil stones over the past year or so, which coincided with this mysterious pain I'd been having. I got a couple of opinions from recommended ENTs, and they both said a tonsillectomy was the next logical step. While I wasn't eager to undergo a significant surgery--one that is particularly difficult on an adult--I needed to find the cause behind my pain so I could refocus on my life without being constantly sidetracked by the pain.

The actual surgery went every well, and even my healing process was as good as it could have been. But it was a true two weeks before I felt close to normal again, and during the first week in particular, The first two days were actually easier than the rest of the first week; I had my mom with me, and other family came to visit the day after, and we even went out to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant, which serves (delicious) soft foods. But after everyone left, I had a hard time sitting around home by myself in pain, fully reliant on the narcotics prescribed for my pain. Plus, I was determined to work. I'm still new at my job, and I was lucky enough to get this time off for surgery; I wanted to prove that I was dedicated to doing my job if I could at all. So I worked a few partial days from home, which I needed to feel a sense of purpose while I was just lying around the house rest of the time.

During this time, eating was a challenge. I was prescribed to eat only soft foods for two weeks, and even that seemed unmanageable. Simply drinking water hurt. Actually, just swallowing was the most painful part of recovery. But I did make a couple of new foods to try to entice myself to eat. One was mashed cauliflower:

I'm crazy about this dish now and will likely make a lot in the future.

Another was carrot ginger soup:

Not as good as my mom's, but still delicious--and with healing ginger!

And then for something soothing and healing to drink, I made a warm rice milk with honey, cinnamon, and turmeric:

The honey, cinnamon, and turmeric all have healing properties.

They all turned out delicious and added a bit of joy to my recovery days.

The other annoying thing I had to deal with during my recovery was a prescribed two-week hiatus from running or other vigorous activity. I expected one week, but not two. So my whole regular routine--something that keeps me feeling sane--was off for two weeks, and now that I am cleared to run again, I haven't done it yet. I intended to wake up early this morning, or even late, and run, but it didn't happen. I may yet get a run in later this afternoon. We'll see. I'll have to really dedicate myself to getting back into a training regimen. And I have the Gasparilla half marathon coming up, so hopefully that will be my main motivator!

This is actually a deferment from last year, but still, I'm registered!


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