For the past couple months I have had a problem with my voice getting quite hoarse at times. This happened late last summer and I contributed it to all the smoke from the fires. After I was in Andros Island awhile it just went away. Late this summer it started again and progressively kept getting worse. Going to see the doc is my least favorite thing to do but I thought I better bite the bullet and get this checked out. I went to see Dr. Neal Rogers who is the local ENT doc. He had a little difficulty getting his little camera thing through my busted up nasal passages but finally got where he wanted to and got a good looksee. He told me I had a polyp type thing on my larnyx and it needed to be removed. So I said ok remove it. He said I don’t think you understand. You have to go into the hospital and be knocked out and have it removed surgically. My blood pressure immediately shot up about 20 points. He went on the explain that it would not go away and conitnue to grow. I then agreed to have it done. The night before the surgery and following all the pre op stuff I was a nervous mess. Going into the hospital that morning it was getting so bad my nose started to bleed and I tried to use that as an excuse to do this at perhaps a better time. Nurse Ratchett didn’t even flinch but simply looked at me like a big baby and lets get on with it. Things got a little better as they were getting me ready. The O.R. nurse was actually from the Big Hole Valley and she knew me. Then Doc Rogers came by and we talked fiy fishing. He is an avid salt water fly fisherman and has been to Andros Island several times so we had much to talk about. I was almost calmed down when this other nurse came up with more forms to fill out. These were something to the effect that if you don’t wake up can we use any of your body parts that might still be good—sure take what you want. They wheel me into this room with huge lights above and their are about 4 people around me and things are happening fast. One is telling me to uncross my legs and another is telling to release my grip on the side of the bed. The put ya to sleep doc has my right arm and I feel the blood pressure sleeve pumping up. I ask him what the reading was and he said something like 500 over 300. He asked if I felt a little anxiety being in the operating room. I’ve been gored by a bull–couple times, cornered and treed by a moose but nothing had me more scared than this deal. I was just about to let go with some obscenities starting with no shit a little anxiety and that’s the last I remember. Next thing I hear people calling my name. I open my eyes and there’s Doc. Rogers and he is saying something to me but it’s a little fuzzy. He told me later the first thing I said was, “bonefish ten oclock take the shot, your other ten oclock dummy”. He thought this was quite amusing. I guess it’s normal when first waking up to say some pretty bazaar things. This took place yesterday morning and all went well. I can now speak normally without constantly clearing my throat. I felt so good this morning that the dawn found me on a high mountain ridge looking for elk. Doc called me this evening and said the procedure went very well and the biopsey came back negative.
Moral of this story is if you have to have any surgery find a doc who is a fly fisherman. It makes it all feel better and you know a fisherman would not lie to you…..