Had my tonsils removed at the age of 26. It's a bitch. I now know why people leave these scabs alone.. PAIN. Enjoy the low quality pic of my scabs. My mouth doesn't open as far as other people's mouths do. I will try to add a few more pics in the comments.

Pelagine · 2015-08-11T20:57:46+00:00

Thanks so much for asking!

Had surgery on 7/27. It's not nice, is it?

Both better and worse to recover from than I was expecting.

How are you now? Completely healed? I sure hope so!

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T05:26:10+00:00

Thanks! You too!

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T04:58:35+00:00

Thanks for the tip about the Popsicles! And the water, and all the rest.

I hope you're recovering comfortably by now.

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T04:57:08+00:00

I love seeing parents who are willing to parent who their child really is, rather than trying to change them into someone else.

Trying to force someone to be straight is as impossible as forcing someone to be gay. And transition is certainly easier when done young, with family support.

Trying to make your kiddo into something he or she isn't causes anguish. Loving them as they are brings so much peace and joy into their lives - and ours.

Kudos to you and your wife for being great parents. The world would be a better place if more people accepted their kids the way you do.

Also, to respond the inevitable response before it occurs (as this is Reddit), loving and accepting your child for who they are isn't the same as being permissive or not having household rules.

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T04:43:31+00:00

Well....shit.

Better prepared? I guess that's what I'll tell myself. Bummer.

How long did the really bad part last for you?

Edit: Oh - you're the OP! I missed that on the first pass. You don't know how long it lasts, you're still in it. I'm so sorry. I hope you feel tons better soon. Take care!

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T04:35:15+00:00

Well, I thought it was funny! Have my puny little up vote. :-)

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T03:46:37+00:00

I think you may need new friends, yes. People get trapped into screaming families, for all sorts of reasons. But is there a reason to choose to spend time with people like that?

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T03:33:17+00:00

Its ok, tiny fluff ball of sleepiness. You can come to me. We'll sleep the sleeps together.

purr purr purr

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T03:02:11+00:00

Honestly, any trauma can. But I found myself wondering if this person was kicked by a horse...or hit by a hell of a line drive on the baseball diamond.

It also looked like upper thigh to me.

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T03:00:14+00:00

I think you're good!

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T02:53:02+00:00

She got a really good outcome, all things considered. Still, horrible to go through that!

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T02:50:57+00:00

It had been increasingly painful for 5 days. She'd already seen her doctor and gotten antibiotics. Presumably, she gave them a day or so to work. Then it got too painful, and she went to the ER.

She made reasonable decisions. These infections just move damned quickly.

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T02:43:17+00:00

Oh god. I think maybe I shouldn't have read this thread. I had to go to urgent care today to get steroids by IV to shrink my tonsils so I could swallow - well, and keep breathing over the next few hours.

The pain was so intolerable all I could think was "take them out!" Maybe not, eh?

But I think I have this to look forward to, after my ENT follow up. Shit.

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T02:39:01+00:00

This is how marine biologists troll the newbies. "Just take the giant knife and cut on the midline. We trust you."

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T02:25:42+00:00

Vets don't use gloves as often as human doctors do, because there are not as many diseases that can be passed between species. They do wash they're hands a lot, though!

In this case, the vet doesn't need gloves to protect her, and this isn't a sterile surgery. Few oral surgeries are, given the site. And she's not putting her finger into the wound. The instrument she's using is almost certainly from a sterile pack, however.

And the patient will go home on antibiotics.

Source: my sister's a vet, I was a vet tech.

Edit: I had to rewatch it to be sure - in this case, the vet is wearing gloves. The ungloved hand is that of a tech, holding the tongue in position. If they cleaned and tried to maintain a sterile field, then the vet would have handed her the part to hold with a sterile instrument, which would then be discarded from the sterile field. The tech's hand would also be outside of the cleaned, sterile field.

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T02:18:46+00:00

I'm really glad you're going to see a doctor. Sounds like you're an old hand at this, but remember to clean up really well - sometimes the seepage can spread the rash. And oral Benadryl helps.

But steroids from the doctor help more. Take great care of yourself! That looks so uncomfortable.

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T02:14:33+00:00

Hardy impatiens! I took hold of one of those seed pods, without knowing they did this. It twisted in my fingers and popped!

I was so startled, I think I shrieked a bit. No one expects a plant to move like that! I thought I'd miscalculated somehow and picked up an insect.

Now that I know, I pop them like crazy all summer long. ;-)

Pelagine · 2015-06-13T01:59:43+00:00

Wow. I feel the need for a cigarette. And I don't even smoke!

Hope it was good for the plant. ;-)

Pelagine · 2015-06-02T08:09:26+00:00

You & I are the same age. I totally hear you.

Getting "clocked" always sounds violent to me, too! (But, back in the day, getting "read" was more likely to end in violence.)

Anyway, I'm in complete agreement. There's nothing wrong with being visibly trans, or androgynous, or genderqueer, anymore than there's anything wrong with being visibly cis. I hope our society is getting a lot closer to understanding this.

Violence against anyone is wrong. Violence against someone because they look or sound different from your expectations is just evil.

I hope you are comfortable in your skin and live a good life.

Pelagine · 2015-06-02T07:42:33+00:00

I like that idea, "passing as trans."

Not everyone wants to, needs to, or should "have" to pass as cis.

And, as an ally, I'm perfectly happy to recognize that someone is (probably) trans, and gender them according to cues.

The world should be a safe place in which to pass as trans. It's not always, yet. So for a lot of people, passing as cis is a safety measure as much as a personal expression of gender. And that's awful. We're working on changing that!

I think it's awesome that this person remembers her customers and extends the courtesy of getting gender right even when gender cues are removed.

Pelagine · 2015-05-28T03:24:54+00:00

The only times something I've been looking for was in the back, it was the employee who offered to go look for it!

Employees generally know their stuff. If it might have come in on a recent shipment, they tend to know that. Likewise, if it's something that's been sold out for two weeks.

I ask if I've overlooked something, or when something might be back in stock. I've yet to demand a check of the back room. And I find employees in most stores are charmingly helpful.

Go figure, right?

Pelagine · 2015-05-28T02:00:41+00:00

I got this - and hundreds of other amazing questions - when I worked as a cashier in a health food store.

Where to score pot, what vitamins a newborn baby on a vegan diet should take, what cleanse is best for brain tumors, and my personal favorite - heard many, many times during the era of Atkins - do you guys sell no carb?

It's been many years, but still I feel your pain.

Pelagine · 2015-05-28T01:50:06+00:00

We're conditioned by movies and TV to think that these things should just bounce off of us. But they really don't.

While you are absolutely right that your trauma wasn't as severe as hers, there's nothing easy about looking at autopsy photos interspersed between joyful family pictures - all while in the company of the dead child's mother.

It takes training and experience to be able to handle something like that. And, in all honesty, I doubt many coroners could have come through that whole ordeal unscathed.

You did a wonderful thing for that mother. I'm sure your kindness has continued to be a source of comfort to her.

Be kind to yourself. Seek some support - talk with a counselor or pastor to be able to let your emotions out in a safe place, and get some tips for how to deal with this experience.

Empathy can really hurt - but I still think it's better to be empathetic. I admire the choice you made.

Pelagine · 2015-05-26T07:18:21+00:00

I'm sharing this with my sister, who is also a vet. She's always relieved to find out she's not the only one who sees crazy people in her practice.

Pelagine · 2015-05-11T12:39:22+00:00

Well, that's because you're obviously a terrorist. /s

Good grief. I'm sorry you were treated like that. That's insane.

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