Radgirl
Thanks for your response. Better side of the Tasman indeed. I flew in NZ for a year or so too and throughly enjoyed it. So as to clarify, I have been diagnosed with Granulomatosis with polyangiitis. The disease has resulted in severe pain and bleeding from the sinuses and ears, along with inability to clear my ears; as well as lung nodules. I was treated with high dose steroids and chemotherapy. It has been some 6 months since initial treatment and thankfully there is no pain whatsoever in sinuses or ears and my lung nodules are almost completely resolved. I am now on a very low dose of prednisone for maintenance (and legal according to CASA). The only thing that remains is fluid in the ear canal due to Eustachian tube dysfunction and associated deafness and some observed stenosis that has come about after everything has settled down (ENT noted possible fibroblast scarring). I was a little surprised as I don't have any issues with breathing at rest and I only notice a little wheezing when physically exerting myself with exercise. Hope this makes a little more sense.
P.S. I have noted that some ENT's can now perform a procedure that inflates a balloon in the Eustachian tube thereby eliminating the need to perform a myringotomy. Any information on this procedure?