The doctor is on your side

It had been quite an ordeal already. A winter sports' accident had left me paralysed from the chest down, with numerous other injuries. I had been at a spinal injuries unit for rehabilitation for almost a year, and was being allowed home for weekend leave. A big concern had been a tight tracheal stricture, which had occurred as the result of the insertion of a tracheostomy tube a few days after the accident.

Fortunately, medical friends had found a surgeon who had been able to perform a corrective procedure, which was complex and specialised. This was done about nine months after the accident. The original tracheal reconstructive procedure had …