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Joan, et al.... I'm puzzled why your collagen injections appear to have been treated like major surgery. Having had my initial collagen injections into my vocal cords in May of 1997, and having had over 1/2 dozen injections since then, and have the 7th set of collagen injections scheduled for this coming Monday (June 21) with UCLA's Dr. Gerald Burke - the first ENT surgeon to use this procedure on PWP's - I don't understand why your doctor had you under general anesthetic for what is a painless, 10 minute procedure. Dr. Burke sprays lidocaine into the nose, and xylocaine into the troat which immediatly numbs those areas. Next he threads a miniscule videocamera down a nostril of one's nose and into the throat, positions it facing the vcal cords, which are then projected onto a color monitor (about 3 minutes have passed since the procedure bagan, at this point), takes one of the two syringes and by sliping from the outside of one's throat into the inside of the throat (NOT THRU THE MOUTH, which is CLOSED throughout the brief procedure) positions the ultra-thin needle into one of the 2 vocal cords, and injects the collagen into that vocal cord. The procedure is immediately repeated in the second vocal cord. That entire process took all of 10 minutes, I was wide awake, it was painless, I was moderately hoarse for a coupla hours, DID have a mild sore throat for about 2 hours the evening of the day I'd had the FIRST collagen injections (but not when I had any subsiquent injections), and found my voice had magically, wonderfully, BLESSEDLY returned to it's pre-Parkinson's state the next morning. Please note that the procedure was performed the same the two times I had it done thru my HMO, Kaiser Permanente, tho the HMO doctor was not of the same high professional quality as Dr. Burke and did a sloppy job of it, which is why I've returned to Dr. Burke, even tho Dr. Burke charges $500 (but DOES take Medicare!) for the procedure, and Kaiser was charging me $3 (my HMO co-pay). Oh.... and I wasn't prescribed any medicatons - neither steriods or antibiotics - AND had a HUGE meal right after the initial procedure 'cause I'd been to nervous to eat prior to event. With all due respect, Joan, I cannot understand why your MD went to such lengths to perform what is essentially such a simple (medically) procedure. Despite that, tho, I'm REALLY happy for ya that it appears to have worked! YOU GO GIRL!! Barb Mallut barb_msn@email..msn.com -----Original Message----- From: Stan or Joan Snyder <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: Saturday, June 19, 1999 4:14 AM Subject: Re: Collagen Injections >Hello to all: >>>First, congratulations Hilary on Jessi's return home!!! i am thrilled >for you both!! When my husband returned from desert storm, there were >lots of adjustments-but give each other space & time & lots of >hugs!!!!!! >>>Secpnd, thanks for all the prayers & thoughts as I had my collagen >injection surgery yesterday. The procedure went very well, according to >my dr; >Dr. Michael Vidas of Peoria, Illinois. I woke up in post op, seemingly >none the worse for wear: excepting a hoarseness in my voice and a >somewhat sore throat form the tube being inserted to help me breathe. >I'm take 5 days of steroids to help w/ the swelling & irritation and we >expect to know/hear the results in a few days!! Already, family & >friends have made comments about the volume and strength of my voice! >Praise the Lord!! Last night after the anesthesia wore off, I had a >splitting headache from not eating for 15 hrs, bit that was soon >remedied! But what i couldn't figure out was why my face hurt so badly!! >BFO (blinding flash of the obvious!), i figured that my jaws, ears, lips >& teeth hurt because they probably had to hold my already somewhat large >mouth open in some way!!! So, today, the aches are gone, & i will keep >you posted on my voice as it progresses. >>>Last but not least, Don, I know how hard it is to listen to other >people trying to tell you what's best for you. In this case, however, I >think that it's for the best, dear! we all want you back with us!!! IYQ >& I WUV U,2!!! j > >-- >Joan E. Snyder 47/9 >[log in to unmask] > >"As if you could kill time without hurting eternity" >Henry David Thoreau >