Thursday
I drove back to Bay City for my appointment with the ENT doc. The
speech therapist urged me to write down everything that we talked
about, the two types of attacks, all the little quirks that interfere
with my swallowing, like not being able to swallow pills larger than
a cold capsule or finding it hard to clear my throat at times (though
the latter might be due to dehydration so I am trying to make a
conscious effort to drink more water every day) and not to let him
rush the appointment.
The ENT (ear, nose, and throat) doc spent a decent amount of time so no real
complaint about that but I don't think he listened to me or was taking me
seriously and so far I am not that impressed. Supposedly he read the
list I had written up before he came in but he kept confusing the two
things and didn't seem to understand that a speech therapist would be
conducting the barium swallow (wanted to know how long I had been
seeing a speech therapist; I'm not), and made some comment that one of my neck vertebrae was
small and did it hurt (no), seemed surprised that I did yoga
regularly, decided that I had difficulty swallowing because I was
tense and anxious (no, I don't suffer from anxiety or depression or
stress and these episodes happen typically when I am relaxed and
having fun, I mean really, how tense can I be in my sleep), that it
was allergies (the events are not seasonal and no, no classic allergy symptoms
though my sinuses do get clogged at times), told me it because I
breathe through my mouth (uh, no). When the subject of breaking my
nose at age three came up...how do you know that he asked (because it happened to me, because my parents took me to the doctor
and had it checked periodically), talking about some other detail of
my throat he asked me why I thought that was (if I knew that I
wouldn't be here). There was more but you get the idea. He finally
settled on my sinuses and told me to use a particular nasal rinse
(saline solution) and a lubricating nasal gel (aloe vera in it) three
times a day every day for the two and a half weeks (three times a
day, every day? I kept asking, seems a little excessive to me) til my
next appointment when he is going to stick a little camera down my
nose and take a look see. Oh joy.
And
this nasal rinse isn't just inhaling a mist. This is pouring two
ounces of solution into one nostril until it runs out the other or
your mouth and then 2 ounces through the other nostril. More
seriously ooky stuff.
Oh
yeah, and he ordered an x-ray of my sinuses which I am waiting for
them to schedule.
The
best thing I took away from this visit was when I asked him if I
wasn't choking but suffocating from some spastic muscle, if I pass
out will it relax and I'll be able to breathe? He hedged his bets,
“90% of the time, yes”. Whether or not they figure out what's
going on, and my money is on not, it doesn't look like this is going
to kill me.
I
wonder if the episodes would pass quicker if I just let myself pass
out rather than struggling to breathe through them.
