Another appointment...

Mark had his appointment with the ENT doctor on Friday. It was originally scheduled for September 11th and then got moved back. Apparently Mark's primary doctor wanted him in earlier because they called on Thursday afternoon and had him come in on Friday. We headed over there not really sure what to expect. We both were a little scared.

The reason that this appt had been scheduled was because of Mark's adenopathy. Basically that's a big word for "large or swollen lymph nodes." His primary doctor was a little concerned because back when Mark was having all the neck pain he also lost his voice. In addition, on the CT scan, they had found some enlarged lymph nodes. Dr. Davison was concerned that there might be something more serious going on. So he sent us to ENT (Ear, Nose, and Thoat).

Anyway, we headed over and the doctor decided he wanted to put a scope up through Mark's nose and then down into his neck to check out his vocal cords and his larynx. It was an extremely uncomfortable procedure for him to go through but he did great. They recorded the procedure on video so Mark could see what we were seeing on the screen. It was actually quite interesting. We walked out with good news. His vocal cords looked fine - no injury there. Good! No polyps or cancerous tumors in his neck. Good! The Dr came to the conclusion that Mark has laryngitis. I googled laryngitis and it said that it is "medical term for inflammation and swelling of the larynx, which is also known as the voice box." There was some redness and irritation around this area and there was some pus or phlem. I know, it's gross! Because Mark is already on a couple of antibiotics right now the ENT doctor just sent us home. He said if he still has voice hoarseness in the next couple of weeks to let him know but that it should subside.

I'm so thankful that it wasn't anything serious! Praise God for protecting us. Now we're working on getting Mark's lung capacity back up! He's started exercising again and is doing treatments to strenghten his body and his lungs! Thank you to all of you who have been praying for him and for our family! We've definitley felt your prayers!