Whilst clearing the throat during the morning wash, fresh blood stained the bathroom sink. Inquisitively, I kinda looked into the deep end of my throat to see the reason why. The left tonsils seemed enlarged compared to the right. So later that morning I went over to our family doctor, Dr Kat, and consulted him. Within minutes he wrote out a referral letter to Assunta Hospital to consult an ENT specialist. He even phoned and made the appointment the same day at 1400hrs. I think he knew more.
I got to see the ENT fella around 1530hrs that same day, Dr Lim Wye Keat. I told him my problem and one look at the tonsil I could see the alarm on his face (I do read body language pretty well as I teach this subject during my CRM classes for the pilots). Deep down I knew it was something unusual. "Did I have any pain", he asked several time, and I answered,"No I don't". He ran his fingers around my neck to feel for enlarged nodes but could not locate any. He swings my chair around to face a monitor and there he prepares a scope to push down my nostrils and into the back of my throat to examine and as well as show me the enlarged tonsil. I was thrilled to bits. It was really cool to see such high tech equipment being used. It gave me a sense of confidence that the right person was dealing with the problem.
Immediately after the examination, he states his intention,,,,,TAKE THE TONSILS OUT, the left one.
Normally both are taken out simultaneous if tonsils are the problem but in this case OUT with the LEFT. He got on the phone and booked the OT for weekend for the operation. Wow...man this guy moves fast !!! As usual he asked me not to worry as all will be OK. I concurred with his decision and as well as with the speed and urgency of the situation.
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| You can see the left tonsil sticking out |
That long thingy that's crooked is normal. I was born with it !! How apt, the thingy is pointing to the tonsils. ( what is that called BTW?)
The following Saturday 13th Jan 2012 I checked in to Assunta Hospital and got ready for the operation the next day. Sometime during the night, the Pastoral Care Service paid me a visit and offered me soothing advice and if I needed someone to talk to I could call them for help. Wow...what a great gesture, I really appreciated it. Mentally I was very calm and physically I was very relaxed.
The next day it was fast and furious. Nurses were taking the BP and it was 78/130 with a heart beat of 57, every other 15 minutes or so. Questions on allergy and verification of name and the procedure I was going in for ( this is CRM hospital style, VERBALISE VERIFY MONITOR).
By 10:30 it was all over and the nurse woke me up. I felt really good, not much pain and so I asked her to let me see the tonsils that they plucked out. She bent down and picked this container that had a piece of flesh that I readily recognized !! It was my tonsils and it was huge. I looked at it with amusement and with an insensitive mind. The rest of the day was post operation recovery. My wife, Chris as we know her or Sarah which others know her came visiting. I was up and about at 1500 hrs. Azlan and Annable came to say hi as well and brought welcome cheer. Swallowing was a bit difficult, so I spat out anything and every thing that accumulated in my mouth. Each time I did that I closely watched for any traces of blood. Modern miracles of surgery leaves very little bleeding, do not know how they do it?
The next day I was ready for discharge. The bleeding had stopped completely, I was feeling good and I packed all my gear and waited for Dr to give the final nod of OK. Around 12:30 he came and gave the all clear signal. The biopsy results will take 4 days. I was full of confidence and went back to work after 10 days. Wow...it felt so great to be flying again.
Great write up..
ReplyDeleteI shall spend the rest of the 7 weeks or more writing this
ReplyDeleteAs Soo Ewe Jin (Atique's friend)said writing is therapeutic
That long hangy thingy is your uvula. Some people mistake the uvula for tonsils. But as we all know tonsil(s) being plural means there is more than one tonsil there is only one uvula. You also have what is known as Lingual Tonsils, those are at the very back of your tongue just behind your taste buds that indicate the bitter sensation when eating food that is bitter but just above the base of your tongue which connects to your epiglottis. Your epiglottis is that flap that closes your wind pipe when you eat or drink so you don't choke on your food or drinks.
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