The last couple weeks have been going pretty well. Eric had his tracheal dilation done on Friday, April 10th, and he said when he woke up it was instant relief. He wasn’t wheezing and it didn’t feel like he was breathing from a straw. His voice was even back to normal, he sounded like himself! They did, however, chip a few of his teeth during the procedure. Not entirely sure how that happens but when we asked the doctor about it, he said it is probably because he has the fusion in his neck, so they couldn’t get his head tilted all the way back to get a “straight shot” and his teeth must have just gotten in the way of the equipment. Okay...
Eric also became extremely sore a few days after the procedure, basically all over his body. They said it was completely normal, just due to the anesthesia relaxing all his muscles and it only lasted a few days. On day 4, I noticed him breathing a little louder and I asked him how he was feeling. He said he didn’t notice any changes so I didn’t think anymore of it. Later that evening, he got out of the shower and it had gotten worse, and this time he even felt a little constricted. The next morning we called the ENT office and informed them that we believe his airway was closing up again. We were able to get an appointment for that afternoon to get a scope done to see what was happening. They saw that his airway was down to only about 70% already, so they needed to do another procedure. With the corona virus, things can be extremely difficult when it comes to getting scheduled because they have their special policies. Even after testing negative before, and with no symptoms, he had to be tested again in order to have the procedure. Which now they are calling it surgery, because they will need to make a couple incisions via laser in his trachea.
The testing for COVID-19 is limited and only in certain clinics that they consider “testing sites” and living in small town Wisconsin, of course we have to drive over an hour. It’s pretty inconvenient but it needed to be done. The closest clinic to do the test was in Stillwater, so on Tuesday of this week I took him in for a curbside swab. It did come back negative so he was cleared for surgery on Thursday morning.
The doctor called me shortly after the procedure was finished and told me everything went perfectly. Two small incisions on the inside of his trachea were made, and then they placed the balloon to dilate. This was done to give them more tissue to stretch out, and also, hopefully it would last longer than 4 days. Typically it will be a couple months before he would need it done again but we can only wait until that time comes. There is no telling how soon or even if he will need it, but based off the severity, his doctor is sure he will more than likely be back for a 3rd procedure. They are hopeful that eventually his airway will stop narrowing and just stay open as it should. If needed, there are more options to consider involving reconstruction of his airway in his neck, but that is a long ways away according to the ENT.

His recovery this time around has been much easier on him. No body aches and he is breathing with no issues at all. He hasn’t found any more chipped teeth either so that is another plus! With the current Safe at Home order, he has had plenty of couch time but it didn’t last long. He’s been up and about, staying pretty active (within reason) with our dogs and Logyn, and he’s also been able to continue with our projects around the house. He’s always busy and I think he’s glad and very grateful he is still able to do the same things he used to. He’s also very excited to start doing things he hasn’t done in a while, like fishing. He won’t stop talking about it!