The story of Niki
After several surgeries for endometriosis and 6 rounds of IVF, I was pregnant with my second miracle baby and was struggling to breathe. A friend urged me to see an ENT, so I did. He said my airway was extremely narrow and it looked like something was in there. He referred me a more specialized ENT who diagnosed me with Idiopathic Sublglottic Stenosis, which I’d never heard of. I felt a bit of relief after my baby was born and just dealt with the stridor for awhile. After my toddler weaned, I had my first dilation, and I’ve now had a total of 10 in 8 years. The doctors suspect that my airway was damaged at some point from the multiple intubations for previous surgeries. At this point, my stenosis has stuck to my vocal cords, taking away my normal voice. My new normal is a high-pitched, strained voice. I’d like my voice back. I’m hopeful that one day I can have some kind of reconstruction done to put all the dilations behind me.