When I lost my voice last year I wrote a small collection of notes to post on Facebook to let friends know how I was doing. I have posted them here in case they are of any help to others who may have been or are going through similar experiences...

Week 1 – 12/04/2009

A complication in an operation to remove my thyroid gland last week has left me temporarily (I hope) speechless.

This is a somewhat scary experience, mainly because I am so used to being in control and being able to express my opinions freely.

The cause of my silence is a damaged laryngeal nerve. There are two of these nerves running on the left and right of the larynx, they control the vocal chords and swallowing, thankfully only left side is damaged.
The damage was unavoidable as a thyroid nodule had wrapped itself around the
nerve.

I have been told that it can take sometime to heal. “Sometime” seems to be anything from days to months according to the few articles I have found covering this injury on the Internet. Statistics I have
gleaned from some basic searches this week seem to indicate that there was a
1.8% risk of this happening to me, and that I have a 90% chance of a “full”
recovery. The medical definition of “full “ recovery being that I have a voice
that is socially usable if not to opera singer standards (who wants to be an
opera singer, I just want to order a glass of wine!)

I am not sure if this means I will be totally speechless for much of the recovery time or if I will regain the ability to talk albeit with a husky or rough voice before hand but I thought it might be worth recording my
(hopeful) recovery here for anyone bored enough to want to read it.

I am due to see the consultant on the 23rd April for my post op follow up and to discuss what will happen to my voice and find out if I will need speech therapy to restore it to it’s former “glory”. Until then I have
been instructed to “rest” my voice. This does not seem to be a physical
challenge at the moment seeing as I don’t have one.

Currently I can:

• Whisper very quietly

• Occasionally make a hum noise

• Sometimes grunt.

• Cough

I cannot:

• Make any sound at volume

• Hum a note let alone a tune

• Make any noise that sounds remotely like a voice

•
Swallow liquids without a 50/50 chance of choking.