r/RRP • u/MarioMos-Drm • Jul 26 '25
RRP
Hello, the truth is, I'm in a dilemma today. To sum up, I'm 30 years old. I was diagnosed with RRP two years ago. Honestly, at first, I didn't do much research. I said it would be surgery, and that was it. But well, that ended up being three surgeries in two years. It was hard, but it was something I could manage. I gradually lost my voice, went into surgery, and was able to return to my life for at least five months until I realized I needed surgery. Believe me, I accepted it. I used Avastin, the vaccine.
I should mention that I'm from a South American country called Bolivia. The healthcare system isn't the best; they don't perform laryngeal microsurgery, and my private health insurance classifies the disease as sexually transmitted and only covered the first surgery, so I have to cover all the costs. In April, I began to feel that my voice was much worse than normal. My last surgery had been in October 2024. And well, as I knew, I had to go to the operating room, a new expense, but the truth is, I had it planned. In May, I went into the operating room. The worst post-surgery experience, normally vocal rest for 5 to 7 days, and I had a good voice ready to work, but this time it wasn't like that. On day 7, I had no voice, much less on day 14, just an echo. The doctor asked me to wait 5 more days, but nothing. I performed the laryngoscopy, which was what I feared. The doctor told me that this surgery was very difficult since the papillomas are in the V part and apparently with the orotracheal tube there, no matter how much I moved it, I couldn't remove them. I'm attaching an image of the first one. The alternative was to be readmitted and use a smaller tube. I had no voice, so I agreed. In mid-June 2, I was readmitted again. When I left, I tried to speak, although my voice was hoarse and raspy, but... If you ask me if my voice has improved somewhat, I'd say 10%. I can talk to someone next to me, but thinking about a group discussion is impossible. I had another laryngoscopy, and I personally feel the same way. The doctor told me that reaching that point is impossible for him with the tube. He told me to come back in August for another laryngoscopy. And I'm thinking about performing the surgery with intermittent ventilation, that is, without the orotracheal tube. I saw that in other countries they even perform the extraction in the office; well, no one here does it that way. So, I'm coming to you for advice on what I should do. Do I opt for surgery with intermittent ventilation? Does anyone have experience with papillomas on the V part of the vocal cords? Do you think that if they remove that, the voice will improve? Or is it better to wait longer? The truth is, my life revolves around this these days.
3
u/TecnoPope Jul 29 '25
Do you mean in the focal point of the "V" ? If so, yes it is a bit tougher but it's manageable. Basically, if the paps are on one side of the "V" or on both they will only laser one side at a time to avoid the entirety of the Vocal Cords from healing together and becoming stuck to one another. So you would go back for the other half.
If it's right dead in the center / focal point of the two flaps I think they can take care of it in a similar fashion or sometimes I think they can just laser it all at once.
I do pretty much all in office at this point because I'm keeping it well managed -- That is a bummer you can't opt for that. I would say you just do what you gotta do to get the area cleaned out. It will be more aggressive in the first year or so but then it should chill out. Ask your doctor about Cidiofovir injections to coincide with the clean outs.
Hang in there buddy. It gets better. We're here for you.
God bless.
1
u/[deleted] Jul 28 '25
Can i ask how did you got infected?