On My Last Nerve
How a routine tonsillectomy gave back my health for a high price
I first noticed my ability to taste was gone when I could start eating solid foods again, around mid-July 2023, two weeks after I got my tonsils out. Until that point I’d been on a disgusting diet of Ensure and ice chips, so the dream of tucking into a bowl of homemade chili after the throat scabs were healed had been dancing on my mind daily.
Chronic tonsillitis had robbed a sizeable chunk of my happiness for the previous few years. When I wasn’t actively sick, I was constantly exhausted at work. Weekend activities that were supposed to be fun just felt like chores. That’s what ultimately inspired me to get the surgery — the excitement to get back to enjoying my everyday life. I desperately wanted the energy for class with my 2nd graders, or to be present in my conversations with friends without checking the clock to see if I had done my social due diligence and could finally slither back into bed.
So when I sat down for that first “normal meal” after the surgery, I suppose there was secretly a lot riding on it. The beginning of the rest of my life, if you will. In the hands of a bowl of ground beef and beans. What could go wrong? So when I took the first bite — ready for the familiar rich flavors of many a childhood dinner — and found nothing, I was…
