This is a post about a quirk in my epiglottis and why those of you with various similarly quirky features in your breathing anatomy probably shouldn't be scared off from seeing an appropriate specialist for possible problems with them or by the procedures they commonly perform.
My epiglottis is somewhat uncommonly omega shaped as I'm told by my ENT physician, Dr Samuel J Girgis, who's gotten multiple up close thin, flexible endoscope views of it.
My epiglottis' shape is a possible factor in my hospitalization for infectious inflammation of it in July 2016 and a likely source of today's very scary fleeting breathing difficulty / E.R. trip event in the wee hours. Untreated inflammation of it can obviously close down the airway with equally obviously dramatic consequences.
Those endoscopy procedures for this area of the respiratory tract with specific purpose designed flexible endoscopes sound and look gross and scary but they are in fact not inordinately uncomfortable though fully patient awake, and completely pain free, for me at least.
The ones with hard endoscopes on the other hand, not quite so much and only good for view of the nasal passages, sinuses and nasopharynx (see image at top). I've had both but MOSTLY (thankfully) the former type. My attitude toward hard scope procedures (I have managed to endure a couple of them with no pain or other negative consequences) may come from from medical equipment engineering experience born knowledge of EXTREMELY RARE mishap events fueling (irrational?) fear of hard things entering my body from any source. . Yes pilgrims I AM NOT PERFECTLY RATIONAL!
Please follow the contrasting colored text links by clicking on them to find further very relevant information provided from various on-line sources
No comments:
Post a Comment