Right now the scars block about 2/3 of my natural airway, which leaves me with about 5 millimeters of space to breathe with. This makes it more or less impossible to breathe without having to struggle for each breath. I have been rushed many times into hospital because of this and the doctors have been forced to cut the scars to make it easier to breathe. But the more they cut, the more scars I get. The worst problem is that if they didn't cut the scars out, the papilloma would do the rest of the job choking me to death, since it will become uncontrollable. Like a medical Catch-22.

In July 1998 my breathing was so bad that my doctors had to cut a hole outside my throat to let me breathe easier. You've probably both seen and heard of tracheotomy. A plastic tube is inserted into the air passage from outside the throat. According to professional advice its the safest way to breathe, and the technique to cut open the throat from outside has been used for millenniums all over the globe.

Another problem that is probably caused by the disease is a low metabolism, or fatigue as you probably know it. Even if it is not fully proved studies have shown that high doses of Interferon over a long period can cause disturbances in hormone balances. In my case it means that I've become very tired, lost hair, gained weight, and very become unresistant to infections of all kinds since my immune system has slowed down. As sure as Clinton is committing adultery the papilloma has gone crazy.

I've now got the hormones more or less under control with medication and the papilloma has gone into a non-agressive stage again. So it's not actually the virus itself that is causing my problems right now, it is the scar tissue and its Catch-22 syndrome. It must be removed for me to be able to breathe, and the more they cut the more the scars grow.