The situation as we know it ~ today

As many of you know, my dad has been dealing with some pretty major complications lately, namely issues related to heterotopic ossification and ankylosing spondylitus (basically he's in excruciating pain from bone growth, muscle break down/calcification, and bones/joints fusing together).  He's been seeing a team of specialists for the past few months and going through lots of tests.  He's been an interesting case study for these diagnosticians and at this time, all hands are on deck working on his case as he's a research study for the team.  It sort of reminds me of something you might see on "House" or some other medical TV show.  Quite unbelievable really.  My dad's issues do not progress the same as in normal, able-bodied individuals and the treatment options are limited for the same reasons.  There are many factors at play here.... 

All of this stuff has come to a sudden and complete stop in the past two weeks as we've discovered a blockage in my dad's throat that is causing serious alarm.  Things are happening quickly right now as this latest discovery is extremely life-threatening.  We are just returning from Toronto from our last set of test results from the CAT Scan done on Thursday, and the picture is down-right horrifying.  A picture certainly does say a thousand words and the image we saw is very alarming.  To put it simply, my dad has even more bone growth on three of his upper vertebrae that is causing a major blockage in his throat. The current opening is the thickness of a hairline and the doctor said today that he doesn't even know how my dad is breathing right now.  This is causing memory loss, sleep apnea, constant sleepiness, and an inability to swallow (he chokes on his own saliva now). He is now on liquids only (not even pureed foods are o.k. anymore as they might be too thick to pass through his throat opening).  This problem requires surgery (to remove the extra bone deposits) and radiation to keep them from coming back right away (and who knows what else at this point).  We don't really know the dangers due to my dad's extremely sensitive body system functions and have no idea how the recovery process will go.  The team of specialists will be getting back to us soon with a date for surgery, but in the mean time, we are staying close to home/hospitals as he may require an emergency tracheotomy at any time.   We were hoping for better news today so this blow has left us a little emotional.  We are trying to be hopeful but the doctors are trying to prepare us for very stormy roads ahead.  Continue to keep us in your thoughts.  As soon as we know more, we'll post it here.