I started this blog after I was given a second chance at life. Those of you who have read through the posts know my story about addiction to Narcotic Medications combined with my food addictions. If not please go to the first blog post and see what I was dealing with.
Now onto my third chance at life. For the past 10 years or so I have been dealing with what I thought was Asthma. I was diagnosed by a lung Doctor so I had no reason to question. I have been using inhalers and inhaled Steroids for years. The last 5 years my "Asthma" has become worse. It has been so hard to breath that I was waiting for that one final breath and thought I was going to die of suffocation. I was wheezing constantly and any kind of exertion would cause me to cough and struggle to get air in. I did continue to try and exercise but would get light headed at times so would have to stop and catch my breath. My O2 stats would be in the normal range if I was just sitting but would drop with exercise.
The next part of this experience is pretty amazing. I decided I wanted to get my hearing checked and talk to the ENT about my dizziness. I was thinking I was getting a return visit from Vertigo. Something I had experienced before. As I was waiting in the exam room the Physician Assistant came to talk to me and he said. "You have been misdiagnosed! I can hear you wheezing from clear across this room. You DO NOT have Asthma!" He then said I will be right back and in he came with his equipment to put a thin flexible tube through my nose and down into my throat to look at my vocal chords and the opening to my Trachea. He just shook his head and said, "WOW!" He then sent his assistant to go get the Doctor and when the Dr. came in he looked at the monitor and just said, "WOW!" After I saw the pictures of my Trachea I understood why I was struggling. There was a mass of tissue blocking most of my Trachea behind the vocal chords. It was called Laryngeal Stenosis. Surgery was planned and it was successful. They did a biopsy on the tissue and it was scar tissue that had slowly grown from a surgery I had years ago.
The moment I woke up from surgery I could breathe! It has been amazing. It has been 3 weeks tomorrow. There is no wheezing but I still do cough a bit. The Dr. told me that the cough will slowly stop as I heal over the next 6 weeks. I have so much energy. I have been able to walk without any distress. I can swim and the Dr. was surprised I was able to do those things already. I have had to be a bit careful in my activities because I feel so good and I am trying to not injure muscles because I can now move easily!
How do you thank a P. A. that took the time to "just listen?" He could have gone on with his exam and sent me on my way.
I will be forever grateful for him......
I will take this third chance at life and give it my best!
I just wanted to write this down so I would alway remember that someone took a moment to just listen and gave me a miracle. I believe in Miracles I expect them everyday.
