In my closing paragraphs of the Continuing Saga, I said: Well, the saga continues. May 9, 2018 was my next scheduled follow-up with Dr. Sataloff. It seems that much of the re-sectioning was displaced by coughing, etc. This is something I feared in my hospital stay. I thought I’d seen some tissue in the suction device. The doctors told me to ignore that. But I was still fearful. I had five sessions with the speech pathologist team. I learned some tricks I can use to control my speech. They were not very productive. I can use relaxation techniques to create a gravely voice that is difficult to maintain. Doctor Sataloff suggested that I’ll not get where I want to be without another procedure. He gave me the option to wait until the autumn or do it as soon as possible. I chose soon. So, we scheduled another procedure for June 18th.
It was intriguing to listen to the litany of approaches he could use, including cutting a hole in my neck and attacking from that point of view. Another method I think he described as a flap that he could turn from one side to the other. The object of anything we would attempt was to cure the convex opening in my vocal folds. The aren’t supposed to have a gap. Mine has one. We want to close it. Today, I think we just took a step to achieve that objective.
Boy, was there a huge difference between the procedure in June an the one in February. The February procedure was a horror. Everything seemed to head in the wrong direction. The one and a half hour procedure stretched into five hour. My tongue expanded unbelievably. I couldn’t swallow so I couldn’t take medicine orally and I couldn’t eat. I was fed IV. Since I don’t have any glucose and saline bags at home. I don’t have stands to hang them on, either. So, they kept me in the hospital for four days.
This time, the only thing that was negative was the time I spent in the waiting room and preop. Sataloff seems to save his tough ones for last. I had proven to be tough. I set a record in February. He was playing it safe. It went so smoothly. His first choice is what he went to and it seemed not to present any problems. It was under time budget. I woke up without pain. He took some of my belly (Shades of Fat Bastard– from Austin Powers?) and injected it into my vocal folds to build them up. Convexity addressed? Some of these questions will have to wait for my follow-up. Betty was conscious. I wasn’t. She took the summary and she hasn’t studied this stuff so I’ll bet some of it was Blah Blah Blah to her. So, I’ll find out what the details were when the appointment happens.
In the meantime, I’m practicing the chin-on-chest-hard-swallow instead of throat clearing. I’m working to avoid coughing. I’m careful when I drink liquids so that won’t complicate things. Of course, no speech. And no whispering. It’s not easy. But, I’m sticking it out on this front if it lasts the whole war.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Thank you to everyone pulling and praying for me. I truly appreciate it. God Bless you all.