Foodie Nightmare: A Tonsillectomy-Day 5

Still full of tonsils at a lunch full of flavour and texture

After years of snoring and recurrent throat infections, a doctor has finally ripped out my tonsils. After surgery, the doctor states, "your tonsils were pretty bad.  They were like the tonsils of a 16 year old who has had recurring throat infections".  I don't know what he means by this, but I wish the rest of my body was like my 16 year old self.  The hope is that by removing my tonsils, which were quite large, that my snoring would stop and I wouldn't be as sick as often.  P's hope was that I wouldn't speak for two weeks. but unfortunately for him  I can still talk and will be using my time off to remind P of this... bwahahahahah.

I read various websites and blogs about people's experience of getting their tonsils out.  Most people's experiences mirrored mine, with the exception of one person who wrote that the pain is worse than giving birth.  Having never given birth, I can't compare the two, but personally, the idea of your body expelling a watermelon sized human out of an ankle sock opening sounds a little more painful than getting your tonsils out.  At least you're knocked out when you have your tonsils removed.  In my dream world, I'm also knocked out when I give birth and when I wake up, the child is potty trained and is able to tell me what it wants in grammatically proper English.  They also have a job and pay rent.

My throat, in particular the left side, feels bruised and tender.  Like a cold that just won't quit.  The pain travels to my left ear and causes it to hurt when I swallow.  I haven't reached the dreaded days 5-7 which is supposedly the worse in terms of pain because that's when the scabs begin to fall off and expose sensitive new flesh.  I'm down to just taking plain Tylenol and only taking Tylenol 3 before bedtime and maybe before a meal depending on what the meal is.  I find that the side effects of Tylenol 3 and antibiotics are worse than the pain itself.   I'm glugging down tons of ice water to help ease the pain and keep my mouth moist.  My skin looks fantastic because of it.

Ton-Ton still makes my heart flutter

Day 1 (day of surgery)- I remember waking up from the surgery in the recovery room and telling the nurse that I dreamt during the operation, which was a complete lie.  Drugs make me silly.  The nurse asks me if I would like something for the pain.  I sloppily answer no, but yes just in case the pain gets worse later.  The nurse has no clue what to make of this response and gives me something anyhow.  I hear the nurses speak to the other patients about the oxycodone that has been prescribed to them.  I sit there envious and bitter that I was only given Tylenol 3 for my pain, but also know that I have a high pain tolerance, so probably won't be taking the Tylenol 3 much.  I'm staying over at my parents house so as to not disturb P in the middle of the night if I have pain, nausea, or assistance getting to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  I could barely eat after the surgery.  Not because of pain, but because of the nausea from the anesthetic and taking Tylenol 3 on an empty stomach.  I laid there watching an 80's Filipino movie that had my childhood crush Ton Ton Gutierrez...be still my beating heart.  80's Filipino movies are full of mullets, porn mustaches, and bad acting.  I fantasize meeting Ton Ton being older and a woman now and how it might go down.  This cheered me up somewhat so I pushed myself to have a bit of jello.  I hate jello with a passion because there's no texture.  I could barely eat it and gave up.  Ate a raspberry popsicle with seeds in it.  Spent most the evening chugging water to flush down the seeds.

Day 2- My sister and the Put-Puts came over.  R2.0 buys me a vanilla soft-serve.  Put-put #1 and I both have raspberry popsicles as well and we cheers each other repeatedly as if we're at a pub.  I try mashed red potatoes with sour cream and gravy for dinner but leave the skin on.  Bad idea.  I spend this evening chugging water to flush down little bits of potato skin.

Day 3-I return home.  A bad day in terms of pain, but I manage to get cooked rice and a soft boiled egg down.  I proceed to eat two strawberry popsicles and an ice cream sandwich.  P and I watch episode after episode of Breaking Bad.  My Dad proceeds to tell us the ending of Breaking Bad while we are watching despite  warnings and being told to be quiet in two different languages (English and Filipino) from myself and my Mom.  He actually spoke louder and faster to drown out our objections and described in great detail the finale, supplemented by hand actions and sound effects how the final episode goes down. I think he added the ending was a great surprise to him.  It wasn't for us.  My sister also ruined the ending of The Sixth Sense.  Seems to run in my family.

Day 4-P makes me crepes to see if that can entice me to eat.  It does!  I eat it with greek yogurt and raspberry jam.  Head to my friend's to get a little bit of social interaction and fresh air.  Remembering from my nursing school days, the sooner your mobilize, the better you recover.  There are chips, other appies, and chili with corn bread because it was Grey Cup.  I feel my heart breaking.  Hardest part is that my body feels fine, but I can barely eat and can only speak for a short period of time.  Boil the bejesus out of pasta and have it with butter and a bit of parmesan cheese for dinner.  Not good parmesan cheese.  That crappy white powder stuff they call "parmesan cheese".  Made boxed chocolate cake which is fluffy and soft enough for me to eat.

Eating popsicles, ice-cream, and mushy soft food has since gotten old.  Give me texture, flavour, and complexity! Give me something savoury as well.  I've been taking liquid Tylenol and antibiotics, both of which are sweet.  Enough already!

So here's the challenge I gave myself (mostly to cure the boredom of sitting at home doing nothing): to make soft, mushy food that is full of flavour and keeps me interested and motivated to get through this.

Today's recipe:

Curried Carrot, Apple, and Ginger Soup

(Adapted from Farm Girl's Curried Carrot and Apple Soup)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion diced

2 cloves of garlic crushed

1-2 medium/large apples, peeled, cored, and diced (I used Granny Smith)

2 lbs carrots, diced

2 potatoes, peeled and diced

2 tsp yellow curry powder

1 tsp cumin powder

2 bay leafs 

2 tbsp ginger (approx 2 inch pieces)

4 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup cream (I used evaporated milk)

Heat oil in a soup pot on medium heat. Saute onion in oil till soft.  Add curry, cumin and bay leaf.  Cook for a minute or two to let the spices toast. 

 
Add carrots, garlic, potatoes, ginger, and apples and stir to combine.  Pour in chicken broth (be sure to scrape the goody bits of toasted spices on the bottom of the pot).  Cover and bring to a boil.  Once it boils, turn down heat to low and let simmer for approximately 15-30 minutes (depending on how thick your veggies are cut) until potatoes, carrots, and apples are soft.  

It smells soooooooo good at this point

Take out bay leaves.  Take a hand held blender and blend until smooth.  Alternatively, you can label portions of the soup into a blender and blend until smooth (be careful!  Do small portions at a time and hold the lid down firmly with a towel so it doesn't blow up in your face).  Return to pot (if using a blender).  Add cream and heat through.  Season to taste.

Let me take you to Flavour Town!

I popped some Tylenol 3s before eating.  I let the soup cool a bit before eating it as well.    Hot food=pain.  Tasting flavour was a bit of a shock at first.  This soup is quite tasty.  Toasting the spices makes a difference than just dumping everything into a pot.  Toasting brings out the flavour of the spices.  There's a bit of sweetness from the carrots and apple.  The apple also added a bit of acidity, but not too much to cause stinging pain.  I didn't peel the carrots having no energy or patience.  It was going to be blended into a puree anyhow.  You don't need to add the cream/evaporated milk because the potato adds body and creaminess to the soup.  Plus, I read that dairy can sometimes make the congestion after a tonsillectomy worse, but I haven't had a problem with this yet so I put it in.  P says it's not too bad, as per usual.  However he does add the caveat that he'll eat some tomorrow.  Success! 

Sigh!  I've been pinning food recipes like crazy on Pinterest to pass the time away.  But it only adds to my misery since I know I can't eat any of it until some time has passed. I've also contemplated picking up crocheting again.  P says maybe I can finish up the baby blanket I started when J told us that she was pregnant.  Peter's nephew is going to be 2 in May.  Yikes! 

 

This is going to be a long week.  Let's see what tomorrow brings.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced small
2 lbs carrots, peeled and diced small (about 8 large)
2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup fat-free half and half
Read more at http://www.farmgirlgourmet.com/2011/11/secret-recipe-club-curried-carrot-apple.html#rjjGQ62TuXeuEcH8.99

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced small
2 lbs carrots, peeled and diced small (about 8 large)
2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup fat-free half and half
Read more at http://www.farmgirlgourmet.com/2011/11/secret-recipe-club-curried-carrot-apple.html#rjjGQ62TuXeuEcH8.99

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced small
2 lbs carrots, peeled and diced small (about 8 large)
2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup fat-free half and half
Read more at http://www.farmgirlgourmet.com/2011/11/secret-recipe-club-curried-carrot-apple.html#rjjGQ62TuXeuEcH8.99

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced small
2 lbs carrots, peeled and diced small (about 8 large)
2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup fat-free half and half
Read more at http://www.farmgirlgourmet.com/2011/11/secret-recipe-club-curried-carrot-apple.html#rjjGQ62TuXeuEcH8.99