My tonsils (particularly my left one) had been giving me problems for a long while now. I had seen the doctor when it started (who assumed it would go away in time), but the annoyance never really seemed to go down. So, last time I was in Wisconsin, I stopped by to see the ENT. Given the length of time that they were giving me problems, he just said "let's take 'em out."

Tonsillectomies are performed most often in children, though they're not as common as they used to be. They're also easier and less painful in children. For adults, the tonsils are larger and are likely already quite scarred.

The most likely complication is heavy bleeding, so the doctor requested I not fly for 12-14 days after the surgery. As a result, I came home for Christmas a week early — I'll be taking it easy, playing video games, watching movies, and doing a small amount of work (since I'm on painkillers, I can't legally drive a car, but I can write code that runs on millions of people's computers — I suppose it's significantly harder to kill people with JavaScript).

The surgery was yesterday. After the initial tonsillectomy, I woke up in the recovery area. I apparently was still bleeding a lot and ended up swallowing a lot of blood, as I began to feel nauseous. The nurse came in and asked "Are you feeling nauseated?" I responded by vomiting the contents of my stomach into the emesis basin, mostly bright red blood and a clot or two (surprisingly, it didn't phase me much. Seeing my blood is less disturbing than seeing others').

Since the blood was so fresh, it must have been from a fresh bleed, so the ENT was called back. He used suction to remove the clot and tried to stop the bleeding with silver nitrate, but it was insufficient. So the anesthesiologist was called over to put me back under, and I was wheeled back to the operating room, where they did more cauterization and put in some stitches.

The first surgery started at 12:30 in the afternoon. I had gotten to the hospital at 11 or so. I finally was rolled out in a wheelchair (they wouldn't let me walk) at 8:30 at night.

Today, I'm finally able to eat things like pudding and cottage cheese, which is great, as there was about at 36 hour period in which I ate nothing but popsicles and Sierra Mist (non-diet, for the calories). I've actually been able to put some work in today.

This will probably be my least calorie-dense Christmas ever.

For all of you that are concerned, don't be. As you all know, I'm a tough guy.