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Makua: I surf all the big wave tours, chasing the biggest, baddest things you ever seen
Mother Nature throw at you.
Robert, Strength Coach: Thereís probably only 25 people on the planet that are capable
of riding waves of this magnitude.
His claim to fame for the outside world is that he caught one of the worldís biggest
waves.
Makua: It looked like the whole ocean had stood up all at one time.
Robert: He was 17, and it really just changed his life.
Dr. Brian Weeks: Makua surfs the largest waves in the world, the difference between life
and death is often falling or not falling on a wave. How were the waves when you were
back home?
Makua: Oh we had pipeline like as good as it gets.
Dr. Weeks: Are you serious?
Makua: Yeah. I was supposed to have nasal surgery since I was a kid, I was telling you,
youíll probably find some stuff in there that you probably never seen, you know?
Dr. Weeks: One of Makuaís symptoms has been some instability or just imbalance. This poor
guyís nose needs so much help. Makua, it's amazing to see kind of what your poor nose
has been through, my friend. The procedure Makua is going to have is balloon sinuplasty.
Iím excited to take care of youÖ. Basically open up the nasal and breathing passages and
get him back to functioning normal again. Otherwise Iíll see you at Sharp at 7.
Makua: Right on. Thank you doctor.
Dr. Weeks: Youíre welcome. Have a great day.
Makua: OK.
Dr. Weeks: Bye Ö see you, man.
Robert: He has been, as a young kid, rushed to the hospital several times having episodes
of sinus attacks. There you go, thatís opening up.
Makua: I was in the hospital nine months out of the year, basically breathing out of a
straw my whole life.
Dr. Weeks: Most people that have had trouble as long as Makua, their baseline has shifted.
I mean they really donít remember what it feels like to breathe normally.
Makua: This you know little kid not being able to breathe like Iím going to make it.
Robert: One, two.Ö Iím making sure that he stays in the best shape of his life. Because
his life will be in danger any time heís out there.
Makua: You know you hit, ohhh, and all your air is out, and you still have to stay out
there, you donít have a referee, you donít have a medic. Every other sport in the world,
something goes wrong, someone is there. Oh pause, time-out. Surfing there is no time-out.
Dr. Weeks: This morning what weíre going to do is weíre going to utilize balloon sinuplastyô
technology with minimally invasive techniques. Basic for the patient it means that we donít
have to cut that soft, very sensitive tissue. And because of that we have less bleeding,
less pain, faster recoveries Ö all the good stuff.
Julie, RN: Dr. Weeks is doing the septoplasty bilateral resection, maxillary ostiotoma bilateral
submucosal resection and bilateral nasal endoscopy with sinus lavage. Heís going to fix your
nose.
Dr. Weeks: This is a purely outpatient procedure. He comes in in the morning and before lunch
heíll be home and in his own bed. Heís not going to be debilitated in any way.
Makua: AhaÖ.
Dr. Weeks: Ready to fix you up. All right buddy, well listen weíre going to take good
care of you, I treat everyone like family andÖ.
You know, surgical treatment can cure a problem in a matter of an hour. And really completely
turn somebodyís life around so this is really at the end of the day why Iím a surgeon and
why I do what I do.
Unfortunately Makua has broken his nose probably five times. Been hit in the face with surfboards.
Just a really disrupted airway on both sides. On a scale of 1 to 10, his would be a 9.9.
Instead of using instruments that cut and remove bone, weíre using an instrument that
we place inside of a blocked passage and dilate. It's very similar you know to cardiac angioplasty.
Everything thatís there has a purpose. And if you donít have to remove things that are
made to be there, thatís better for the patient.
House lights off, please.
And the reason the technology works is weíre dealing with very, very thin, paper-thin bone
and the balloon is a very high-pressure device. OK, Iíll take the maxillary balloon. That
balloon when it's inflated it will micro fracture that bone and then it will heal in that open
position. So what Iím going to do now is look down on his cheek, you can see that light
moving in his face, so thereís no doubt that Iím in the right position within his sinus.
OK, so now weíre going to gently inflate the balloon. Beautiful, thatís great. To
me that picture right there is the essence of balloon dilation. Thereís absolutely zero
bleeding, so weíve done one side and weíll go ahead and get ready to treat his other
side. He will be good to go.
To me the art of medicine is connecting with the patient on a personal level. I mean thereís
no question that outcomes are better when patients trust and when patients feel an emotional
connection.
I just want to tell you everything went perfect buddy, OK? Could not have been better.
You got one day and youíll be like a new person tomorrow. OK? All right, my brother.
Physician Assistant: Take a deep breath. Exactly. All right, Iíll see you next week, right?
Makua: Right.
Dr. Weeks: Air is hitting places that it's never hit before.
Makua: It feels like all tingly.
Dr. Weeks: Like you canít believe. Youíre healing beautifully, my friend, absolutely
beautifully.
Makua: Thank you.
Dr. Weeks: No limitations, back in the water, everything, surf today if he wants.
Robert: Perfect.
Dr. Weeks: This is the standard of care now in sinus surgery.
Makua: (Deep breath) Amazing, life changing, doctor Ö life changing. Thank you so much.
Itís a whole new world now.