...again, not for the squeamish...

Somehow "here we go again"...seems a little redundant, but really, here we go again. Maybe I should laugh since crying seems a little melodramatic.

On August 30, I had a follow-up appointment with the doctor who did my last bronchoscopy. Once again, they ran a scope down my airway and determined that the scar-tissue had come back and was obstructing my airway. This time however, my jaws had limbered up enough that they thought it would be possible to get the laser down to "laser-out" some of the scar tissue.

Surgery was scheduled for Tuesday, the 13th of September. Then they sent us home to wait for my surgery-date. Unfortunately, the scar tissue in my airway had different plans. Each day my breathing became more and more labored. Each day I could do less and less for myself and my family. Until finally when I woke up on Friday, September 9, 2011; I could hardly breathe at all. Kevin called Dr. Smith's office (he's the airway specialist), and told them what was going on. Kev was told to take me IMMEDIATELY up to Salt Lake City to the University of Utah Medical Center's emergency room, where Dr. Smith would see me.

Off we went, and ended up spending most of the day in the ER; while the staff did all they could to maintain my airway. Most of their efforts involved steroids with various forms of administration (ie: nebulizer treatments and through my IV). By the way, being treated with a large dosage of steroids is NOT something I recommend. My hands had more tremors than the "San Andreas fault"...it took hours for them to stop shaking.

Finally, in the evening, Dr. Smith got me into the Operating Room where they performed a laser bronchoscopy to eliminate some of the scar-tissue and open up my airway. Thankfully the treatment worked and I came out of it breathing much more freely; so they allowed me to go home that night.

Once again, they gave us some REALLY colorful pictures to show the results of my emergency surgery.... Here's where you want to stop reading if you have a low tolerance for graphic images...

The images on the far left are before surgery, so I was breathing through that little hole. The top center is after the laser-cuts were made. The bottom center is when the balloon was inserted and inflated to push the laser-cut scar-tissue out of the way. The bottom right is the swab with medication on it. The medication was to encourage the scar tissue NOT to come back. Top right picture is the finished product.









This was the first treatment. I have another surgery scheduled for October 18, 2011. If all goes well, that will be my last for this issue. However, they may need to do a final treatment a month after that, in order to get the last of the scar tissue out of the way. Hopefully after these last three procedures the scar tissue will not grow back; although that is always a possibility. UGH!!!

So, there you are...one more chapter in the saga of "Netty's Jaw Surgery with Complications"... This is sounding like a bad melodrama....I suppose we could finish this post with some ominous music...

DUN-DUN-DUUUUNNNNNN!!!!