8.23.2011

Vampires Take Your Tonsils Out

The beauty of being young is that you believe everything that is told to you by other kids, teenagers and adults. Then when you are a teenager, you believe nothing that adults tell you. It's an interesting cycle.


                                                     Thanks JANA for Sending me this sketch

When I was 7 years old, I had to get my tonsils out. I remember being told by my mother that it's a wonderful experience. You go to the hospital. You wear a pink gown. They put you to sleep and when you wake up, you will never have a bad sore throat again.

Nettie told me a great story about how all girls who get their tonsils out get to have their toe nails painted. They get to stay home from school with her. They get to watch cartoons on tv in bed. And you can eat all the ice cream you want.

I was thrilled to get my tonsils out. I was looking forward to it.

Then, Peter sat down with me and told me how the surgery is done

"First,"  he said "they put you in a pretty pink robe. Then you get wheeled into a big room with lots of strangers. Then they turn the lights out and they shine a huge light in your eye. Then they put this large tube down your throat and it sufficates you till you pass out. And then, the doctor is a Vampire. He doesn't use any tools to take your tonsils out. He bites your neck and rips out the tonsil with his large fangs. And then you wake up and spend the next year with a big hole in your neck where your tonsils used to be." He handed me a bulb of garlic and told me to bring it with me to the hospital.

So, I did what any little girl would do ... I cried all the way to the hospital holding onto my bulb of garlic. I cried when they wheeled me into the ER. I cried when they put this large thing over my nose. And I dreamed about being chased by a vampire through the ER with his fangs dripping with blood.

And when I got home and after I looked in the mirror to see if my throat was still there, Peter came into the livingroom to see how I was. He inspected my neck for puncture marks. I showed him that I still had the bulb of garlic with me from the hospital. He laughed, took the garlic from me and handed me a large McDonalds Vanilla Shake.  I don't think he ever really understood how much I believed him about my surgery.

I have one thing to say ... Thanks Uncle Pete for scaring the shit out of me when I was a kid. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thanks to Gwen Whyte for remembering this Peter phrase:

"At Your Cervix"

26 comments:

  1. When I was 9 and about to get my tonsils out, they told me, the doctor tells every kid a fairytale about a raven. So I was really excited about getting in to the ER, to hear that story. What can I say? They tricked me badly! I asked the doctor for the story and he said, that he's going to tell it after anesthesia... Well, I was pretty upset after waking up again... ;-)

    Tina

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  2. You poor little girl, you must have been terrified. Keeping the garlic with you is so cute, did the doctors know why you had it? The amount of things Peter put you all through, I would have had to make it my life mission to get him back as much as possible. Reading this blog has made me think of my daughter. As a child if she was naughty I would tell her I had a Chucky doll and if she didnt behave I would let him out. Like you believing Peter, my daughter has since told me (many times in her angry voice) she believed I really had one. Ooops!
    Jana your sketch is very good, it does look like Peter.

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  3. Haha, nice. Poor you, terrified and he's all point-and-laff about it. Brat! Thanks for the story. Love the sketch too!

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  4. hahaha what a wonderful story. He was a funny guy, I guess he just wanted your surgery to be memorable in a both scary and funny way.

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  5. *LOL* Love this story but you poor girl - how terrifying this must have been for you - keeping the garlic is too lovely ;-) I wonder what the doctors thought ;-) This story is so typical for elder brothers, uncles etc. - how they love to scare little girls ;-) .. but at least uncle Pete was nice enough to bring you a large Vanilla Shake after the horror ;-) Yes it's interesting how we forget as grown-ups what stories we believed when we were kids. Once again thank you for sharing.
    Jana - the sketch is beautiful & again I am impressed how many talented, creative people are around.
    Peace & Love
    -Sabine-

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  6. Ha - great story! What an excellent portrait, too. Those eyes...

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  7. LOL...Gotta love peter and his humor. I had mine out too so i know how you felt,i was scared to death. I was happy when it was over i got to a little bowl of ice cream. Thank you for sharing your story along with the wonderful sketch of peter. :)

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  8. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...THAT WAS PRICELESS!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. SORRY UNCLE PETE SCARED YA THERE DARCIE, BUT I FIND THIS STORY ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS! I STILL GOT MY TONSILS!!

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  9. I would like to send you something I wrote to Peter a few months ago, where can I send it?

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  10. Great story! Jana the sketch is awesome!! Thanks for sharing! Peace

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  11. At your cervix....LMAO!!! That was soooo cruel to tell you all that shit before surgery!! Did Nettie know what he said to you??? You should have pounced on his head when you got home!!! ROFL!!! And then traded the garlic for the shake!! Damned boyz.....;)

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  12. LOL I just want to say, you are as much a character as he was! Thank you as always for sharing these memories! <3

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  13. That is a really funny story! I needed a pick-me-up today. Ive been listening to October Rust lately more than the other albums, and the some Die with Me is really sad and depressing to me. He sounds so sad. Then I think about how he isnt here anymore and get more upset. I think I better skip that one for a bit. Hope everyone is doing well.
    PS does anyone know who, if anyone, he wrote Die with Me about?
    -Kristen

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  14. @Alexandra ... you can email us at 4theloveofpetesteele@gmail.com -- Thanks for commenting

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  15. @Anonymous ... or should I say cowards because you choose not to disclose your names when you leave comments. If you don't like the blog, don't read it. I'm sure someone will pay attention to you on your pathetic FB page. Just remember, the more you post about how much you hate the blog on your page, you are helping us gain readers. So, in the immortal words of Peter Steele ... THANKS FOR MAKING (this blog) FAMOUS. ha ha ...

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  16. This is a good post

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  17. well said! :)
    -Kristen ( my profile never seems to work)

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  18. Seems like Pete was actually trying to prepare you to deal with the OR and the pain and give you some source of comfort to concentrate on, or perhaps he was just being mean & felt badly about it later. Pete: The eternal enigma. Great story! You have an amazing memory. Thank you!

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  19. Ok, that would be terrifying! To not only go in for surgery but then you have your uncle telling you such stories of what's going to happen once you're there, that's just cruel!! But funny, have to admit...at least things were interesting?!?!
    Great sketch Jana, you captured those lovely eyes and cheekbones nicely.

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  20. lol..gotta love uncles and boys in general on that stuff.Peter might have been a bit jealous? and then felt bad about it later. but I can so relate to it.my uncle would terrorize with the loud vacumm cleaner my gramma had..and because of that Im leary around loud vacumms and loud noises in general.but being around alot of boys which there are alot of in my family ya kind of get used to it and some of their behaviors.some also learned that paybacks can be a bitch too..lol.
    this is a good story to read before I myself have a surgery on friday..not for tonsils though but I'll be thinking about this story and tell my mom about it as were waiting.and as I go under I'll so be thinking about Peter and the song Anesthesia will be playing in my head..lol.Im hoping I wont be feeling anything..specially afterwards too.
    anyways a good story..a bit cruel though.hope he made ammends with you after that.
    again thanks for sharing. bless you and the rest of your family.stay safe and take care.forever peace and luv.

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  21. At your cervix... XD XD XD
    My brother used to reply: Thanks a womb!

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  22. 'At your cervix' *LOL* love this one ;-)
    Peace & Love
    -Sabine-

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  23. Having 3 kids myself I know how much fun it is to make them believe funny and silly things. But this is really cruel to tell a 7 year old girl!!!
    As for the sketch...all I can say is: WOW. At first I thought it was a photo. Amazing talent, Jana!
    A little off-topic; Went to see APHND and Seventh Void last friday with my hubby and eldest son. We had a great time! The guys still know how to rock.

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  24. @NewYearsEve - a little off-topic: Thx for sharing - I wanted to go to see Seventh Void and APHND two weeks ago at a festival nearby but I couldn't make it on time :-( - so I hope to get my next chance soon.
    Peace
    -Sabine-

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  25. First off I nearly peed my pants reading this story to my husband the other day. We are in the middle of moving and it is a bit stressful but this blog entry gave us some laugh. Even though this was scary to you at the time it is now a fond and funny memory of what made Peter so cool. Thank you Peter and family-----Jessica (Black Number 1)

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  26. Thanks to you all for your kind and warmhearted compliments and words for my sketch of Peter. It`s music to my ears :-). But I think, he was a very handsome man and it`s always a great pleasure to draw a portrait of him. I wanna like to thank the family of Peter to allow me to share my sketches of him with his family and with all of his wonderful fans ;-) Wishing you always the best and I hope you are over the hurricane and in good condition. Thought of you all the time I heared horrible things of Irene. Yours Jana

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