Life Beyond the wizard...

Well, I went to Boise to see the only SLPs in DaHo that deal with us Larys and our devices. They are at the St. Lukes Hospital. Its really a very nice place. I was impressed with the whole act there. The main Wizard, Jeff, was on vacation so I ended up seeing his two assistants. Both were quite knowledgeable but lacked some of the tools that would have helped resolve my issues. Mainly, they didn't have a scope so they could look into my throat and checkout what was going on therein. They did size my requirements for a TEP length and we figured out that I had been using 10mm long ones and now need 12mm ones. This could be part of the problem I have been having lately with my TEPs.

I seem to have developed a Zankers 'pouch' in my throat where I swallow. I say 'seem to' becasue it was discovered by the local ENT, and makes logical sense to me, but has not been confirmed be the new ENT, nor do we know that this is the only issue in this area a this point... This is caused by swallowing pressure and ends up developing a little 'pouch' in the lining of my throat that stuff I swallow can get into. The end result is that it can end up blocking off part of my throat. Luckily, being a 'neck breather', I can always breath - even if my throat was totally blocked. But, I am having a problem getting air up from below. I am assuming that the pouch is acting as a block, or plug, in my throat when air comes up from below. This causes me to have no TEP voice, or very difficult TEP voice from time to time.

Now, from what I read about it on the net, if this is the only problem, it can be fixed relatively easy by some type of 'outpatient stapling surgery'. I'm not sure I like the way that 'rolls' off of the tongue, as it were, but the outpatient part sounds good...

But, again without having a scope to see what is happening inside, we don't know for sure what is happening in there. These SLP folks have close ties with the new doctor group I am trying to get into to get this resolved - the South Western Idaho ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) Group and said that they can probably get me an appointment quicker than my current one which is June 21st.

On the way back home, I noticed a fireworks place off of one of the offramps. Its about the size of a supermarket. So, I stopped in to see what they had and was very impressed. We had been getting fireworks on our, more and more, infrequent trips through Nevada and they have lots of good stuff, but this place has a LOT more. When I walked in, the guy behind the counter said, "Over to the left is our Safe and Sane stuff and over to the Right is the Big Boy stuff. So, being a big boy...

I was impressed. It made the Nevada stuff look like toys. If they make it, you can buy it there. Mortars, firecrackers, rockets - you name it and they got it, and they got it in whatever size or configuration you want.

They have lots of various 'displays in one' type of things. They are a block you sit on the ground and light and will shoot up between 20 and 300 motars/rockets as one big display. They have various themes and I think you can even play theme music with them making it a total protechnical experience. I guess that's they way they do it here in DaHo...