Testimonials

*Note: these are actual first-hand testimonials and results or effects may vary from person to person.

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I am a 44 year old teacher, wife and mother from Albuquerque, New Mexico.  My story starts as many others I'm sure you've read. I had double knee surgery in 1985 when I was 16. I was symptom-free post surgery. In my early 20's I started having breathing problems which were largely unexplained. It started as a tickle that I couldn't shake and graduated to gasping for breath at the most inconvenient times. In 1997 I was diagnosed with asthma and given an inhaler for that. Nothing helped to stop the cough.

During a routine appointment with my primary care doctor in 1998 I was finally diagnosed with idiopathic tracheal stenosis.  I was sent to an ear, nose and throat specialist who recommended "hyoid bone interposition" surgery to widen the trachea at its narrowest point with a tracheostomy to breathe during recovery. This procedure was done in 1999. I was scheduled to be decannulated in February 2000 but found out I was pregnant, so it was decided that I would keep the trach through the pregnancy. The following February I was decannulated and things were great. I started having troubles breathing again in February 2002, and in April 2002 I was re-trached for the remainder of my 2nd pregnancy.

I kept the trach in for 6 years, mostly due to fear of having to be re-trached at some other point down the road.

Fast forward to December 2008 when I decided it was time to figure out what was causing my stenosis and actually do something to fix it. My husband and I travelled to Boston to meet with an expert doctor and his team to fix my stenosis. We met with the doctor who did a bronchoscopy and said I was clear and should be fine to decannulate. We went back to the hotel where I decannulated myself and a few days later we went home.

I was breathing well for a few months and then started to feel the tightness. In June 2010 I had the first of seven balloon/laser dilations. In June 2011 we returned to Boston for a consult again with my surgeon who said when I got tired of doing dilations to call him and he would do a resection.

I underwent a tracheal resection surgery in June 2012. I had the surgery done in Boston and spent 12 days hospitalized with my chin stitched to my chest, with a trach for recovery until the 9th day and a t-tube for day 10 and 11, discharged on my 12th day.

The cost of this condition is tremendous. My medical expenses were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. In addition, I had to pay for the travel expenses of traveling from New Mexico to Boston six times.  This does not include the emotional toll this condition has had on me.

 Subglottic stenosis from overinflation injuries and/or improper tube size is life changing. Overinflation injuries can be prevented with the use of a smaller standard size tube for women and the use of intracuff monitoring.

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I am a 58 year old male from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I am in the process of obtaining medical records to understand the details of intubation during a thyroid surgery in 2008 and a subsequent intubation on 12/31/2013, that likely broke through a stenosis already developed in my trachea. I can forward the details once I receive and review the records of these instances.

While it appeared that the thyroid surgery in July, 2008 was a success and I did not have any noticeable recovery issues (no medicals needed to manage thyroid), my breathing slowly became more compromised over the years. I am a former smoker and had a final quit date in 2008, however I did not seem to achieve the levels of activity or recovery that others have mentioned when quitting. It did not make a lot of sense. I attempted to increase my level of activity, but instead of improving, I was becoming increasingly tired and developing a wheeze. Still, all tests indicated that I did not need medication to balance my thyroid. All tests of my lungs were clear.

Testimonials 2

*Note: these are actual first-hand testimonials and results or effects may vary from person to person.

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I am a 40 year old attorney, wife and mother from Wausau, Wisconsin.  I had a 35 minute intubation for a minor surgery in 2004.  I was 5'5" and weighed 130 pounds.  My anesthesia records indicate that a size 7 tube was used and that cuff pressures were not monitored.  When I woke up I remember coughing very hard and I had a sore throat.  

I began having symptoms of wheezing and shortness of breath with exertion in 2008.  I was misdiagnosed as having asthma for several years. I was short of breath walking up stairs and had an audible wheeze during conversation.  By the time I was finally diagnosed in February, 2011, my airway was reduced to the size of a McDonald’s straw.  Imagine plugging your nose, breathing through a straw, while trying to carry on your activities of daily living.   In the two years since my diagnosis I underwent three dilatation surgeries to open my airway.  I was told that I would continue to need these dilatations every 6-12 months for the rest of my life and that I had a 50% likelihood of needing a tracheostomy during my lifetime. 

I underwent a tracheal resection surgery in March 2013 at which time three tracheal rings including my cricoid were removed.  I had the surgery done in Boston amd spent 9 days hospitalized with my chin stitched to my chest, no food, no fluids and no speaking. 

The cost of this condition is tremendous.  My medical expenses were approximately $215,000.  In addition, I had to pay for the travel expenses of traveling from Wisconsin to Boston three times.  I missed 13 weeks of work.  This does not include the emotional toll this condition has had on me.

(Over-inflation injuries can be prevented with the use of a smaller standard size tube for women and the use of intracuff monitoring).

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Intubation Injury Impact Statement

September 20, 2013

As a 27 year old newlywed, I have dreams of travelling the globe with my new husband, having children, and decorating and renovating our new home.  But because of an intubation injury two years ago, all of those plans are on indefinite hold.  Other than my subglottic stenosis, I am a 5'8", 300 pound healthy woman with a large frame.  Overweight certainly, but after thorough testing I have no other health issues other than the associated sleep apnea that is caused by the stenosis and disappears upon tracheal dilation.

In July of 2011, what started out as a routine third molar extraction, my first ever general anaesthesia, quickly turned into a nightmare that I am still living with.  The anaesthesiologist first used a size 6 tube through my nose but had to abort when she triggered bleeding at the back of my nasal passages.  As the blood began to coat my vocal cords, my oxygen saturation levels quickly began to drop and she had to act quickly to suction the blood out and get my levels back up to an acceptable level.  When the levels neared 50%, she decided to give me another dose of succinylcholine and try another tube through my mouth, this time a 7.5, but once my oxygen saturation level was raised the entire procedure was cancelled and I was quickly awakened out of fear of triggering laryngospasms.