Tracheal stenosis and remission

[JanW]

Good luck me2. Seems like almost two years is a great deal of time to get out of a dilation with no surgery so congrats!

[me2]

Thanks for all the support you guys. Yes, JanW I consider that length of time not too bad before needing another dilation.
Nobody knows what I go through like my buddies here do. The procedure went very well. I stayed at my sister-in-laws house last night and she took good care of me. It is good to be back home. My throat is sore of course but not at all bad.
In fact the whole thing is not really that bad. I've had dental work that went worse. I just need to get away from people now so I can quit talking for a while.
My sister-in-law is a nurse and she turned me onto something new that might interest someone here. The oxycodone pills make my mouth really dry and NOTHING seemed to help until she gave me some mouthwash called "Biotene" . The stuff worked like a miracle. Instant relief for dry mouth. Pleasant tasting and lasts for quite a while.

Thanks again for the support.

[elephant]

So glad all went well with the surgery. Glad you are being taken care of by a nurse.

[me2]

Thanks elephant. It does help having a nurse in the family. Poor girl has had to listen to years of my endless problems and doesn't complain. She is the next best thing to a weggie - and thats saying a lot isn't it?

[Sangye]

Yay, so glad it went well, Kirk.

[me2]

Thanks Sangye. I certainly had less anxiety having gone through it once before and being able to trust my doc and his team.
A VERY signifigant difference this time too. Last time I TOTALLY lost my sense of taste. I mean zero. It was very weird and lasted over three weeks. I became concerned it might be permanent. It came back. This time, sense of taste was right back the same day. The doc said last time may have been due to some neuropathy from the pressure of the procedure. Maybe he took extra care this time who knows?
I'm just glad to be able to taste. MMMMMM Squash for dinner. Soft food for sore throat.

[Psyborg]

Might I ask...when they do the procdure how to the anesthetize? I've been told I can't be under full anestetic because of the blockage (which is a concern as I have a stupid abdominal hernia starting again.) They said the answer was to do a open repair under local rather than a lapriscopic repair which requires full anethetic. To be honest I'd rather get the stenosis repair then the hernia if I can avoid another massive open abdomen scar (not to mention the pain was fairly significant when they fixed one a bit lower last year).

Oh...and the hernia was caused at a former surgical site due to all the coughing I did from the stenosis last spring before they figured out what was going on. I swear I'm chasing my tail on these dumb medical issues

[Jack]

I have a hernia too, but they did not want to operate because of all the other problems so I now wear a surgical appliance - a pad on an elastic belt worn below the hips. It is not great, but better than getting complications.

That will be another red dot on Hammy's silhouette of me!

[Psyborg]

Mine is actually way up just below my sternum. I had an open gall bladder surgery two years ago, and I think the scar tissue causes the area around it to be prone to tearing. This one is exactly two inches up and left of the last one When I tense my stomach muscled I see a noticable bulge (or when I cough as well) just below and right of the sternum.

[Sangye]

Maybe you're about to give birth to an alien?