Hi everyone
thank you for taking the time out of your days to respond. I have been a long time lurker of yorkietalk but do not post often. It means a lot to have this community.
I went to the specialist at the recommendation of my vet, as I tend to be a worry wart.
3 weeks or so ago my parents took him to my vet as they were looking after him and he was breathing funny. Based on his xrays he had bronchitis which was cleared up with antibiotics. Went back to breathing "normally" after. My vet, based on the xrays, noticed that the trachea looked flatter than usual, but would not "officially" diagnose. At this time he suggested 3x daily hycodan.
Of course this was worrisome for me, so he referred me to the specialist to get an official diagnosis.
The specialist made the diagnosis based on the xrays, a brief physical examination done by his assistant (or student vet maybe) and a history given by my vet and myself.
He suggested that doing a scope or anything more "involved" would be too stressful for Beau and that if he had to be put under anaesthesia that he would have to have the stent or he wouldn't wake up and be able to breathe on his own.
FWIW, the specialist vet was trying his best to be compassionate and straightforward with me.