calm before the storm

Time for a life update.

I went back to work on Wednesday after having nearly two weeks off from my tonsillectomy recovery. I've been bombarded with questions. Plus, people have found my blog by googling tonsillectomy recovery, and they got my little oh so positive post. Here's the real scoop.

1. How are you feeling now? I get better every day (right now I am 15 days past surgery) Nighttime is usually worse, and it still hurts if I talk a lot. I'm wiped out from doing nothing for two weeks, so sitting through the work day has been challenging, but each day gets a little easier. I have not had to take Tylenol since day 9.

2. Can you feel a difference yet? No. I am still a teeny bit swollen, so I still wake up a little sore. I'm not sure if I am snoring, or if the sleep apnea is still there. I'll know more in a week or so when the swelling is down.

3. How bad was it? It was absolutely horrible and I would not wish that kind of pain upon anyone.

4. What was the worst part? It's a toss up between barfing which caused even more burning or the days when the scabs were coming in and I felt like I was swallowing large pieces of glass. Or the excruciating ear pain that gave me a headache. Or the fact that I couldn't sleep because I was in so much pain that I would just cry and eat ice chip after ice chip. Yeah, those were the worst parts.

5. Have you had your follow up appointment? Yep. Had it on day 12. That's how I know I'm still swollen (I'm still scared to look back there myself! It will be weird without those big honkers!). Everything was fine....my tonsils were tested for cancer, just in case. No cancer, but they did come back with a chronic infection inside the tonsil. Which, my friends, is why my throat always hurts, and why I get sick so easily.

Luckily, all of that is mostly behind me now. To be honest, it's kind of a blur. I don't really remember what the pain felt like now, I just know it was bad. Really bad. So yes, tonsillectomy recoveries suck, but you'll get through it. Ice chips, sherbet, and ice packs were my saviors.

Moving right along. What else is new?

Work
As I said I'm back at work now and basically....swamped. Not so much with stuff that happened while I was gone, although that did take up most of my day Wednesday, but more of what's to come. I have six UofD students coming on board; and 8 community college nursing students. Then I'm speaking to two community college social work classes of 40 students each, and I usually get at least 10 new volunteers out of that. Not to mention, every person who I tried to recruit over the Summer who told me "I'll be ready in the fall" are coming. So I will have at least 20 new volunteers to train and place within the next few weeks. Bazinga. To prepare for that I am just getting myself completely organized and training a volunteer to help become my assistant so that she can help follow up with new volunteers. It's going to be a crazy, wild month, but I'm excited for it. I love having new volunteers on board!

What I'm Watching
I'm officially sick of TV because I overdosed while I was out. Plus Summer TV is generally pretty boring to me.  Fall TV is right around the corner, and I am looking forward to the return of Modern Family and Parenthood. Will give Glee and Xfactor a chance to wow me, but I may put those two to rest. And so far, the only new show I am for sure going to be watching is Nashville.

What I'm Reading
Would you believe it? I've read three books this week! Baziiiinga. I'm really trying to get back into my reading habit, so now when I get home from work I open a book instead of my computer. And I force myself to get in bed by 9/9:30 with a book and fall asleep by 10 or 10:30. It's all apart of the get Megan healthy challenge.

Anything But Typical is a children's chapter book. Why then, did I read it? Because it is written from the perspective of a young boy with autism. Having babysat a young boy with autism for over a year, it's something I am interested in. I read it in about an hour and enjoyed every minute of it. I felt for him, felt for his parents.

The Stranger You Seek was found in the mystery section of the library, somewhere I do not often find my next books. I really love books that get into your head, though, and books that you can analyze. This was one of those! It was suspenseful and spooky but also had a bit of humor. I wasn't too surprised by the ending, though. I kind of figured who the killer was a few chapters before we found out.

The Song Remains The Same is a book I have been wanting to read for a very long time. It is about a woman who, after a plane crash, loses her memory. The entire story is her trying to put the pieces of her life back together, and there are things her family tries to hide from her. The coolest part was that most of her memory comes back through music. She can hear a lyric and it will trigger a memory. I loved that. I really felt for that character, there is a chapter near the middle where your heart just starts to break for her, thinking how miserable and confusing it must be to forget everything. The author did a good job of explaining what that must feel like. And it feels awful.

Now I am reading The Fault In Our Stars, which I have been hearing about forever. It's found in the teen section. It's about a teenage girl battling cancer. So far it's a cute story with a bit of dry humor, and I've already found myself wondering how that girl can be so brave.

What I'm Looking Forward To
A weekend of writing, reading, and hanging out with Seamus. I know I just had two weeks of laying around, but I couldn't sleep in those two weeks AND I was miserable. So I'm excited to have a weekend to just- chill. I plan on getting a ton of writing done. Tomorrow morning I'll be up early to watch the Notre Dame game (happening in IRELAND, my parents are going to the game!) Plus I'll be going to the Mercy Volunteer picnic on Monday to welcome the new MVC's, see my buddies Dave and Katie, and see my lovely Sisters of Mercy.

I can't think past this weekend without thinking about work and how overloaded I will be, so I'll just leave it at that. I'm looking forward to the calm before the storm :)

So that's my life, for now. Ready or not, here comes the craziness!