Sunday
Jun192011
How to Adjust your Expectations
In a couple of weeks I will be having my tonsils removed. Estimates of the quality of the pain I'll be in afterward seem to be ranging between "bad" and “horrendous." As such, I'll be taking a little time (at least a week, likely two" from the comic. I'm considering re-running all of the superhero comics in order during that time.
Whaddaya think?
June 19, 2011
Reader Comments (92)
Great idea. All the best for your tonsillectomy and get well soon!
A full superhero run would be awesome. Hope you recover well and look forward to seeing more of your new stuff when you're feeling better.
Will we be seeing any new clipart packs? The Halloween pack is beginning to exhaust its usability in presentations.
I had my tonsils removed 11 years ago, at age 21.
It was not fun, specially while working at a call center.
Cold water and lemon ice cream (made with water) will be your friends.
Orange juice, on the other hand, being un-diluted by water, will NOT.
Take my word for it.
And good luck.
Tonsils, huh? Demand copious amounts of ice cream in post op. I never had mine out but I hear that it is the God-given right of any tonsillitis sufferer after surgery. Hope you recover well, Scott.
I think you should get dosed up on as many pain medications as possible and then write some comics. But I might not have your best interests at heart :)
oooh, yes please to the superhero comics. :) good luck with the tonsils.
Sounds good to me...the reruns, not the horrendous pain. I hope you get through it okay...
2 weeks of pain in the form of withdrawal for us!?! When I'm in pain I just work through it, that and the large handfuls of painkillers seem to help.
Seriously though, hope all goes well, and I offer ice cream if you are in San Diego.
Well, let me put it this way: I've had my tonsils out, and I've spilled a pot of boiling water across my belly.
Go for the tonsils. At least you get ice cream.
Bring on the superhero comics! :D
I had my tonsils out at age 22, and sounded like I was about 8 years old for a few weeks.
You get time off, and we get some of your best work, in order, instead of a hiatus? Sounds great to me.
Recovering from a tonsillectomy doesn't have to be bad. The reaction varies from patient to patient. Waking from a general anaesthetic is quite unpleasant, but your throat is going to feel swollen and constricted. Swallowing is difficult and painful at first and it may be a few days before it becomes comfortable.
I ate an awful lot of ice cream and jelly and the helped considerably. The ice cream helps to sooth the throat and take down the swelling and the jelly (jello in yankeeland) slips down the throat very easily. You may initially cough up some clots of blood, but that's over with very quickly. Like I say, the aftermath can vary from person to person, but just acting sensibly can greatly reduce the trauma. I wish you my best.
And rerunning the superhero comics sound like an excellent idea.
Hard work,
determination,
I gotta keep pushing myself
pa papapa parapapa
Buckethead rules :)
I had my tonsils out in early March and thought I was going to be up and around in a week. Instead, I spent two solid weeks playing Uncharted 2 and feeling sorry for myself. It sucked, but now I can breathe way better.
Enjoy the pain meds, too! They're fuuuuunnnn.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that I'm probably not the only one looking forward to the strips that get drawn under the influence of hopefully interesting pharmaceutical pain killers that hopefully get prescribed to handle the inevitable pain.
Good luck!
Best of luck with your surgery! I hope your recovery is swift and relatively painless, or - barring that - fodder for at least a few comics.
Good luck with the op, I hear that ice cream is no longer the go for tonsillectomy recovery, it's dry scratchy food which helps to keep the wounds clean. I hope for your sake that's just a vicious lie.
With regards to the comic for the duration of your downtime, 2 words. "Guest Week". Get Missy and some of your compatriots/competitors out there in webcomicland to create filler. Or perhaps give some of your targets/collaborators/characters the opportunity to turn the tables on you. I'm sure the Rick would relish the opportunity.
Any chance of guest comics from your wife?
Feel better soon.
Super hero comics sound good, but I also wouldn't mind seeing all the moonmen comics again.
Good luck with your surgery. My sister had hers done, and was advised to eat a lot of pineapple in the 2 days prior.
Apparently it cuts down on swelling; she ended up recovering very quickly and without much pain. Try it out!
@9Squirrels: Good lord, that hurts just thinking about it.
Sorry to post off-topic, but I really enjoyed this comic.
Whatever you do, do not do a web search on "adult tonsilectomy post-op". Apparently, having them out at age five, like I did, is the way to go.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery. We'll be thrilled with whatever reruns that we get.
As for today's comic, "I got rear-ended in the front" sounds like the punchline to a dirty joke.
I second 9squirrels! Seems like it would be fairly simple to make a few 'stock' images available, and let your cleverest friends get some of their own back.
For pain relief, of course the hypnotist is going to recommend hypnosis. You should be able to find a good one in your area for less than $150, and they should be able to ensure you are pain-free post-op and that your healing period is accelerated nicely. A few hospitals have hypnotists on-staff now for these reasons (it saves the hospital an average of $420 in recovery time). If you decide to go this route, the main thing I'd ask for in a hypnotist to check for competence is 'rapid inductions' - 2 minutes or less.
Hope it goes great for you!
This is Basic Instructions! I think we definitely need a 'how to anticipate pain', or a before / after scenario...
As just one more random data point, after my tonsils were removed at age 28, I didn't suffer too much pain. I think I was walking about after a day or so. Of course ice cream is good; so is cold pudding. Popsicles however are the best!