18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Thursday, March 12, 1914: Ma made ice cream for me this morning. It slips down without hurting much. Had chicken broth this morning. It did make me work to get it down.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Grandma—
It’s awesome that your mother made ice cream for you. I bet your throat really hurts. It’s only been a day since your tonsillectomy.
—
Somehow this diary entry makes me think about when I got my tonsils removed. I was 10 or 11 years old, and prior to the surgery, my mother told me that the hospital would give me lots of ice cream to eat.
When I woke up after the operation, I was shocked to discover that my mother was wrong. There was NO ice cream. Instead I got a ‘soft’ meal tray that featured soft- boiled eggs. Yuck!
A Hundred Years Ago 
I’m so sorry. That would be oh so disappointing. Blessings, Natalie 🙂
It definitely was disappointing. 🙂
Don’t feel bad. I got ice cream and it wasn’t worth it. Didn’t go down all that easily 😛
I remember having mashed potatoes in hospital. I think there was ice cream, too.
Mashed potatoes sound almost as bad as soft-boiled eggs. . . at least you also got ice cream.
😀
What a disappointment it was for you! I can just imagine! 🙂
I was wondering if Helena would get icecream. And she did. But it was not to be for you. Did you get icecream once you were home again?
Yes, I had ice cream after I got home. I think that my mother felt really bad that they hadn’t given me ice cream in the hospital.
I thought ice cream was just a given after a tonsillectomy! Sheryl, you were robbed!
That’s what I thought. 🙂
I always heard that you got plenty of ice cream after having your tonsils out too! When my son had his removed, all he wanted as we left the hospital was French Toast Sticks from Burger King. We asked the dr, and he said that he could have whatever he could manage to eat. (He didn’t eat much of those French Toast Sticks!)
It’s funny which food kids want sometimes.
I never had mine out but my brother did. I think he had ice cream but what I remember is my mom making him eat bread pudding. Now as an adult, I like bread pudding but ad a kid I thought my brother GSD to eat the grossest thing in the world.
It’s interesting how our tastes and food preferences change over the years.
I have vivid memories of my tonsillectomy 54 years ago. The day after the operation the nurse brought me scrambled eggs–it took many years to beat my aversion to scrambled eggs!
Interesting that you also got some form of eggs after your tonsillectomy.
Scrambled eggs are not a good substitute for ice cream.
I agree!
That’s for sure!
I got ice cream but I think it was at home, not in the hospital. It seems that everyone was fed ice cream after having a tonsillectomy!
I think that it should be a rule that hospitals must give children ice cream after a tonsillectomy. 🙂
euww soft-boiled eggs, did they have many kids at their hospital? I’m one of the few I know from my era that still has my tonsils!
It was done at a small rural hospital. I don’t think that they had many kids. I can remember that the room I was in had four beds–and that there were adult women in the other three beds.
I’ve been MIA lately, but it’s nice to be back and catch up with Helena.
Welcome Back!
It was ice cream for me! Hurrah! I remember how good it felt going down.
The cold probably felt soothing.
Oh my yes, I remember the ice cream. Even that hurt some. Worse yet, I remember the life-threatening hemorrhaging at home, calling to my father in the night ’cause I couldn’t stop my nose from running. (Yes, my dad was the nighttime rescuer.) I remember the hustle and bustle, but I don’t remember Dr. Frost coming, or what they did to stop it.
But I am certainly glad they terminated the bleeding. There was a neighbor of my aunt’s who didn’t survive it.
I also remember the wonderful life size paper doll my mother brought me in the recovery room. Oh, and I remember being half awake to feel the pain of the surgery itself.
I don’t know if it was true everywhere, but the doctor had us lined up for the surgery and then into a row of recovery rooms. Mass production. I wonder if it was like that for Grandma.
What a horrible experience! And, it’s sad to think that some people didn’t survive tonsillectomies.
I’m really surprised how quickly Grandma was sent home after her surgery on the train. In those days of poor transportation and poor communication–it seems like they would have kept people longer to help ensure that there won’t be any hemorrhaging.
You had a major letdown, expecting ice cream. I’m glad her mother made ice cream especially for Helena, considering Ruth away, the surgery, and all the other work that needed to be done around the farm.
She definitely deserved some ice cream. 🙂
I think I did get icecream the first time but after that the hospital gave me cornflakes to sort out my throat! Ouch!
Cornflakes. . . strange. . . I hope that they let mosts of milk soak into the cornflakes before they gave them to you.
boiled eggs don’t quite make the grade. So funny what you remember as a child.
It’s interesting to think about how our minds remember some things and forget others.
Soft boiled eggs are yuck anyway. Give me hard boiled ones.
Aww! Maybe your Mom ate the ice cream? 🙂 haha