Last week was an interesting week. I was asked to sing at our Ladies Night Out at church and was excited about doing so, however, I had gotten sick and needed to see a doctor. I decided to go to Natalie’s ENT and see if I could get a shot and some antibiotics. I also wanted to get a sinus x-ray because I had been having a case of laryngitis along with my yearly sinus infection. I wanted to find out if anything had changed to cause this laryngitis to occur. As a singer, when you lose your voice there is always cause for concern. So, I just wanted to make sure things were on the up-and-up!
Dr. Bryars took some sinus x-rays and as he looked at them, I could tell by the look on his face that he was seeing something abnormal. He didn’t spill the beans immediately, but said he wanted to look in my nose with his scope. Elyssa came with me to my appointment and about this time I thought, “Oh boy! She is gonna have a big time seeing her momma undergo this procedure!” Elyssa was a little angel throughout my visit with Dr. Bryars, but for the scope-part of the exam, she stood up and got awful close to Dr. Bryars to see what he was going to do. He sprayed some deadening-type spray into each nostril and then took his LONG skinny tube and put it in my nose. To begin with, he only inserted his scope at the opening of each nostril to have a look around. On a side note, I cannot imagine this being my profession after this experience. There is nothing inside me that wants to look up someone else’s nose! Anyway, after his initial glance into each nostril, he decided to look further into my right nostril. He then proceeded to put his scope down my throat to glance at my vocal chords. Elyssa was looking very intently at me and wondering what my reaction would be to all of this craziness. I remained very calm, of course, and just had to deal with some watery eyes during the procedure. 
After Dr. Bryars was done with his exam, he let me know that my vocal chords were perfect and that I just had some mild laryngitis, which he could treat with a steroid shot and antibiotics. This would have me up-and-running for my singing event in just a few days. I was glad to get this news. On the other hand, he did have to tell me something that he saw in my right frontal sinus cavity. He said I had a “growth” or polyp in that cavity. He showed me on my x-ray how open my left cavity is and how my right cavity is not fully open due to the growth that has been blocking things. He said it looks like this is something that has been going on for quite a while. He said that the growth was not cancerous so he didn’t want me to be worried about that. He would just need to do out-patient surgery to remove the growth. He said he would need to put me to sleep (I’ve never been “put-under” before) and that the procedure would be fairly simple. He assured me that I would not have to worry about having black-and-blue eyes after it is all over with. I was glad to hear that! Also, my recovery time would be fairly quick from what he told me.
I will go for a CT scan on Tuesday and then go back to see Dr. Bryars on Friday to talk over the CT scan results. From there we will schedule my surgery.
As much as I’m NOT looking forward to surgery, I am ready to have some relief from the pressure I’ve felt in my head for quite a while. Having three kids in three years, I always associated the pressure in my head to the stuffiness that you read about being common in pregnant women. I never knew that something else was going on. As I look back over the past several years, I can see things now that should’ve prompted me to get a doctor’s attention, but I just never did. Through this experience I have learned that I need to start “listening” to my body more. Instead of putting myself on the back-burner to take care of kids, I really need to be aware of what my body is trying to tell me. 
At the end of my visit with Dr. Bryars, I was given a shot in my hip. Elyssa watched the nurse very carefully as she stuck her needle into my hip. She actually got up out of her chair and stood by the nurse. As we were leaving the doctor’s office, Elyssa said to me, “Momma, I almost told that nurse, ‘No ma’am on my momma!'” She was telling me that she almost told the nurse to leave me alone. It was cute that she wanted to protect me! She was a great little girl that day and it helped me to have her along as a source of comfort with such crazy news from the doctor. Praise the Lord that Elyssa could help me and at the same time, I could help her see that getting a shot isn’t so awful!
We’ll certainly be praying for you with your upcoming surgery. My hubby had the same surgery and it was pretty much a breeze. I think the worst part for him was the follow-up cleaning he had to do. And I, like you, seem to put myself on the back burner when it comes to sickness. It may be that I just do not care to admit that MY sickness is something I cannot control. Thank you for your insight. I think all moms need to be more diligent in taking care of themselves.
Keep us posted on your surgery. Again, you’ll be in our prayers.
Jackie Parks
Oh man! I’ll be praying the surgery goes smoothly! Keep us posted!