The unexpected detour

[rose]

Robert, that's good (baby steps, right?) Re: the laryngoscopy, when it is fed down through the nose, rather than rigid scope into the open mouth, it gives them a better view of the upper structure of the area, and as good of a view of the lower areas as the other type scope. Its not as bad as it sounds, your doc should squirt some numbing agent in one side of your nose and then wait a bit before beginning. My doctor has this spray gun that for all the world reminds me of a paint sprayer in an auto body shop, even sounds like one when she first turns it on. You most likely will be able to watch on the video screen while he's doing it, and if not can go for the instant replay afterward.

[lovelily]

Hi Rose....You make this procedure sound like, a piece of cake. YUK! None of it sounds good to me. Sorry Robert! No anxiety medication? Send in the 'lorazapam'...please!

[planningguy]

Having woken up halfway through my colonoscopy/endoscopy, and needing additional sedation, I'm planning on the laryngoscopy is more straightforward.

Besides... be honest... how many of us have ever stuffed something inappropriate up our nose at one point or another .

Robert

[sdsyd]

Robert- you made me laugh yet again!! I had a colonoscopy about 8 years ago. I, too needed additional meds- that is soooo wierd! Most people are ZONKED. I was supposed to go for a repeat in 5 years....oops.

Take good care and good luck with your next scope.

Cindy

[planningguy]

Well... I'm back in town. It was an incredible vacation, and great to see my brother and sister in law. We pulled into the driveway yesterday afternoon and my youngest started crying that she wanted to go to her uncle's house (he is definately the "cool" uncle). The wedding was simple and beautiful.

Sky diving tandem was incredible. I would certainly do it again. Sure there are some nervewracking moments (like when they open the door to the plane six feet away from you, and when you have to swing your legs out the door), but the rest was a blast. The actual sensation of falling is limited to the first half a second or so. After the air starts rushing you just feel like someone has managed to hang your whole body out of a fast moving car.

My brother ended up pairing me with an instructor he trusted. There was a method to his madness. One reason was he wanted to meet up with me mid-air (Apparently this is bending the rules in a tandem jump, as you are not supposed to enter into formation with tandem divers). We "bumped" knuckles and sat there for a moment with grins on our faces.

The second reason was that my mother had requested that a portion of her ashes be dispersed via a skydive. My brother didn't want to do it unless I could be there (he only told me on the day of the jump while packing his chute). After our midair meeting, our canopy openings were timed so that I got to see the dispersal. It deepened an already intense moment.

The landing was gentle as could be. As I think someone already mentioned, in a tandem jump you usually slide in on your butt (unless you are significantly shorter and lighter than your tandem instructor).

Well back to the grind...

Robert

[lovelily]

Hi Robert...Happy you are back safely! You sound as if you had a wonderful time with your family. Congrats on the sky dive!

I didn't know that your mother passed...so sorry to here this.

[rose]

Wow! Sounds awesome. Very touching about your mom too. You guys will always have that memory frozen in time.

How nice that it all fell into place

BTW I've always held the title of "cool" aunt ~ divorce was even unable to topple me from my reign

[sdsyd]

Wow, what an incredible story,Robert! That really tugged on my heart strings.

Wishing you and your family well!

Cindy

[brendapals]

Robert-
wow, what a great story! So glad you could share it with all of us, glad you are home safely. Sad when our kids want to go back to "the cool ones", isn't it?

Your mother would be so proud of her kids,
take care and God bless,
brenda

[BethU]

Robert ... congratulations!! And you didn't need those brown pants after all.

[lydia]

Robert,

Loved your story and that you shared with everyone here. I missed the previous discussion of the butt landing, though, and am picturing it (yikes).

It has been driving me nuts, your signature tag...I know it but can't place it....and just now I think I got it-is it from Firefly? The theme song? Since I own the set I will check myself!

Lydia

[planningguy]

Thank you for all the warm sentiments, it really was a fun and memorable trip, and the perfect distraction from everything going on.

Lovelily - Thank you for the condolences. My mother passed late last spring from cancer, (unbeknownst to me, but to my deep appreciation) my brother had just been waiting for the opportunity to take me skydiving to disperse her ashes.

Lydia - Your memory serves you well. I didn't think I would run into another Firefly fan on the forums. My kids love that song, and even the little one will sing along.

Take care all,

Robert

[laurel]

Robert I'm glad you had a great first jump. Very cool story and very touching re: your Dad's ashes and how your brother planned things. You didn't need to point your toes as you didn't pass the grass <g>.
Laurel

[planningguy]

It's one of those interesting evenings... The late nighters are in rare form, we've got a thread hijacked in the name of sarcasm and beached on the isle of surreal, and earlier my three year old daughter informed me that she was, "still a rock star, she's got her rock moves, and she doesn't need me."

My wife actually needed to explain the last one as my music tastes congealed somewhere around 2000, and I typically only allow a new song in every six months. Still don't know where exactly she picked it up from, but one of the older girls at daycare is suspect. It was enough for me to swap out my avatar for one of my favorite pictures of her.

I couple of people have PM'ed me, and I realized I never posted an update on the biopsy and visit to the ENT. First off, the biopsy of my quad came back "normal" WOOT WOOT! That is a piece of good news.

Rose - you were right about the scoping... the Afrin combined with the anesthetic was pretty gross. The whole thing reminded me of a time as a late teen when one of the guys I knew demonstrated his talent by working a piece of spaghetti up his nose and out his mouth. The ENT said that everything looked ok structurally. He said it reinforced his opinion that the swallowing difficulty was likely neurological or more generally muscular in nature.

I go back to the local neuro on the 3rd. I'm going to review the journey thus far, and see where he wants to head next. Both the rheum and the ENT have said the ball belongs in the neuro's court.

Thankfully, the swallowing has stayed about the same. The general muscle soreness and fatigue are still a crimp on the day-to-day, and I don't use the tw@#$% word. Some days are better than others. Most of the soreness is focused in my neck and shoulders, although my fingers feel really stiff and sore making it a bear to type. I've only have one thing that has progressed some more causing me additional stress.

While hauling all the luggage and tired three year old around, it felt like my left wrist and forearm were a little more sore than usual. I noticed that they have thinned a bit making the tendons pretty visible. It's kind of like I have a little trough running from my wrist to about a third of the way down my forearm. If I make a fist it is really noticeable.

I had my brother take a look at it, and he agreed that it looked and felt smaller than my right arm, plus the tendon prominence (I'm a lefty, source of my offbeat humor and thousands of doodles on notepads during boring meetings). He recommended gentle stretching, and to trying not to worry about it too much in between medical appointments. I'm going to bring it up with the neuro in a couple of weeks.

Thank you all for the never ending support and safe haven,

Robert

[sdsyd]

Robert-

Thanks for the update. Aren't little girls such a trip? I am glad your biopsy results came back good and that the disgusting scope discovered nothing inherently wrong with the structures. You are doing a good job tracking your symptoms and staying postive. I think everyone here can relate to the frustrations you feel of the ball bouncing back and forth to another court. Hang in there and remember you've plenty of friends here,k?


Cindy
P.S. We never really got to talk about the blizzard, did it hit Shierdan,too?