Sunday, June 12, 2011

It is one day before my surgery. Tomorrow I get to go in and have some procedures done. Here is what my doctor's orders say:

I have been informed of the risks, possible alternative methods of treatment, and possible consequences involved in the treatment by means of:

• Functional endoscopic sinus surgery
• Laryngoscopy with biopsy

under the general anesthesia for the relief of:

• Chronic sinusitis
• Neoplasm Larynx

That's just the fancy way to say that they found a growth on one of my vocal folds (observed through visual means) and that my CT revealed that my sinus cavities were full of junk (thanks to the CT scan). The doctor will be removing the growth from the vocal fold, and he will have it sent off for biopsy to make sure it is benign. He will also go in and vacuum out (or flush out) my sinus cavities and give me a fighting chance against my allergies (at least for a little while).

As of this morning, I do not have a time for my surgery, yet. They hospital is supposed to call me this evening and give me instructions. We will drop off Hannah with Jenny's mom, and then we will head to the hospital to be bored for a while, then surgery, then back home (yippie).

My only real questions for the doctor will be to ask him if he recommends any antibiotics to fight off lingering infection (now that the growth will be gone). I'm also going to try to ask about post-operative care (what to do and not to do) and if I will need any pain medication. The surgery itself sounds pretty simple, so that should not be an issue.

The last time this doctor operated on me, for my deviated nasal septum, I remember more of the overall day than any other previous surgery. It was interesting to have to get on the surgical table myself, and then to be awake for almost the whole hour of "post-operative observation". (And yes, grammar nerds, I have chosen to go with the more British use of the period outside of the quotation marks. I believe that everyone in America will start doing this, eventually.)

So, that's all that I have for today. If you remember me tomorrow, I could use your prayers. I would ask that the doctor would do his job well, and that my recovery would be quick and easy. See you all next time!

All Continues to Go Well

I realize it's been a few weeks since I have posted. But, everything has been going well. I had my last nephrologist appointment about a month ago. The doctor said that everything was still looking good and that I did not have to come back until January for my annual Glofil. I also had my annual bone density scan done that day. It looks like my bones are still about the same.

I have been doing well since my nose surgery. I am not coughing all the time any more, which is nice. I've also been enjoying less runny noses than I had before. So, I'm enjoying the better breathing and my nose is almost 100% healed up. It still hurts from time to time, but it's not bad at all.

I've got a neurology appointment in December to follow-up on the stroke I had a few years ago. I'm also going to have to tell the doctor that my mom has recently had a brain aneurysm. I've had a few CT scans done of my head, so I doubt that I have any problems. I just want to let the doctor know that there is some family history (now) that we might need to keep in mind.

So, I probably won't be posting too much (as you may have noticed). If you have any questions, just send an e-mail or post a comment!

Many Tests Later ...

Welcome back everyone! I know that it has been more than a month since I last posted, and many of you are wondering about how I am doing with my cough. Well, I still have it. It's been about six weeks now, and I've taken two different antibiotics as well as a cough suppressant and something to get the mucus out of my chest. None of the medications have done anything to help.

I visited the doctor last Thursday, and they told me to go and have a CT scan done of my sinus cavity and of my chest. Here are the results:

STUDY: CT CHEST/THORAX W/CONTRAST
Findings:
The heart and great vessels opacify with contrast normally. An aberrant origin of the left vertebral artery from the aortic arch is demonstrated.

Evaluation of the lung windows demonstrates no air space opacity, pleural effusion, or pulmonary nodule.

Polycystic kidney disease involving the right kidney is demonstrated. A left nephrectomy has been performed. Multifocal low-density lesions are present throughout the liver, compatible with hepatic cysts. Spleen is mildly enlarged, measuring approximately 14 cm in craniocaudal dimension. The osseous structures demonstrate no abnormality. No mediastinal, hilar or axillary adenopathy is seen.

Impression:
1) No acute abnormality is visualized on the CT chest.
2) Polycystic kidney disease involving the right kidney and liver. A left nephrectomy has been performed.
3) Mild splenomegaly.


STUDY: Paranasal sinus CT
Findings:
Bilateral frontal, ethmoid, and sphenoid sinuses are well aerated with no air-fluid levels or mucosal thickening.

Mild mucosal thickening along the medial walls of bilateral maxillary sinuses. Multiple mucosal retention cysts and/or polyps in the bilateral maxillary sinuses with the largest measuring 2 cm in diameter located along the left anterior maxillary sinus wall. Bilateral osteomeatal units are patent.

The cartilaginous nasal septum is midline. Concha bullosa of the left middle turbinate. There is mild right osseous nasal septal deviation with a 3 mm nasal spur with mucosal contact point with the inferior nasal turbinate.

Orbits and visualized intracranial contents are unremarkable.

Impression:
1) Mild mucuosal thickening of the bilateral maxillary sinuses with multiple mucosal retention cysts and/or polyps. Bilateral osteomeatal units are patent.
2) Otherwise, ethmoid, sphenoid and frontal sinuses are unremarkable.
3) Right osseous nasal septal deviation with septal spur.

And, after all of that, you'd probably like me to explain what I learned. Too bad. I learned almost exactly what you did. There's nothing wrong with my chest, and my sinuses might have a problem, but a "specialist" will have to look to confirm.

So, next up is a trip to visit an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist. I've got to make some calls to the hospital tomorrow and see who they have on staff that can poke around inside my head. Hopefully, they won't leave anything up there. I know there's lots of room, but I don't want any rattling.

I've seen the doctor twice in the past two weeks (one for my regular check-up and one for this post-CT checkup). My creatinine was 1.0 and then 1.1 -- both are good numbers. Everything else looks pretty good on my labs, as well.

I think I'll have more to post in a later edition, but for now, I need to cut this one off. Don't want any of my readers falling asleep while they are here.

Tune in next time to find out more about what post-transplant patients are able to do with their vacation time!