# Voice not returning to normal after surgery



## celest65 (Jul 8, 2015)

Last Tuesday, June 30th I had a total thyroidectomy to remove the papillary carcinoma that was confirmed on my right lobe and possibly on my left lobe as well. At my follow up appointment I found out it had metastasized to 6 lymph nodes behind my thyroid. Thankfully they were removed. I may still need radio-iodine. My left node was larger than originally thought and harder to remove. During surgery my doctor was not able to see my nerve that goes to the voice box on that side but he thought that since the area responded to stimulation it would be all right.

He was concerned yesterday though when I came in and was still unable to speak at a volume much more than a whisper. He used an endoscope to look at my vocal cords and found that the ones on my left side are not vibrating well and are weak. (I might be saying some of this wrong it was a lot to take in.) He said we have to wait for 2-3 months to see if my voice will come back.

If not I have the option of getting a shot that would temporarily restore my voice and work for a year, after which I would need an implant as a more permanent solution. My voice would not be the same as it was before. I may not be a professional singer but I loved singing in church choir, I even did a few solos in the last year. I also work at a very talk intensive job and I'm hoping if anyone has had a similar experience they could tell me how long it took them to get their voice back, if at all.

Also has anyone had the shot? The implant? How did that work for you?

Yesterday was some hard news I had thought this would be a lot easier. Take the cancer out, recover and be done. Now it feels more real than it did before. Thanks for reading my rambling.

~*~Alyssa


----------



## celest65 (Jul 8, 2015)

Also my mom is concerned about the metastasized cancer. She wants me to go to the mayo clinic for a second opinion. Do I really need one?


----------



## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

I didn't have voice problems, but I do think thyroid surgery can cause trauma to the area and you might have to just wait a bit longer before you are forced to make a decision.

Mostly, I wanted to encourage you to think strongly about RAI. That's a lot of positive nodes. I'm sorry you got such hard news - I know that's hard.


----------



## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

I think you do need to give your voice time to heal. Hopefully it will be closer to normal over the next several weeks. If it does not return to normal after several months (not weeks) or after a year, then I think you would be justified to get a couple of opinions about treatment options from different doctors (especially ENTs). Your doctor's current plan may or may not be the best option for you.

Regarding going to Mayo Clinic for a second opinion...I'm not sure that's really necessary, BUT I do believe you should have a whole body scan to check for additional spread of your cancer. Also, has your doctor talked with you about a radioactive iodine treatment? The industry seems to be backing off on that as a standard practice after surgical removal, but I think your case justifies it. A radioactive iodine treatment is used to "kill off" any remaining thyroid cells that are lingering in your body anywhere...including any remaining thyroid cancer cells. Like joplin above, I would strongly urge you to consider this treatment. If your doctor does not offer this treatment, then I think a second opinion is warranted.

Hang in there, Alyssa. You can ask us anything you want, and we'll do our absolute best to help you understand things a bit better.


----------



## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

A week is really not long enough at all to give your vocal cords a chance to heal. I was hoarse for at least a month after surgery and a woman I worked with also had issues

with being able to speak above a whisper. It took her voice about 3 months to come back fully.

I, too, would think about a second opinion on RAI. It might be good to do it in your case since the cancer had spread.


----------



## KeepOnGoing (Jan 2, 2013)

I had pretty much the same problems after my completion thyroidectomy - one vocal chord was "not moving as well as it could be" to quote the ENT. I have a very talk-intensive job (I'm a teacher) and frankly I was scared stiff for quite some time!

However, over a period of 3 or 4 months my voice gradually came back. To be honest, it isn't exactly as it was before and I guess it never will be now, 3 years on. But I can talk all day as a teacher without difficulty or pain. If I sing more than a couple of verses of a hymn, I feel slightly dizzy (but I can't sing for toffee, so that's not a loss as far as the rest of the world is concerned!) and I can't project my voice across a playground like I could before. But as far as normal life and work goes, I'm able to carry on as normal. And you need to remember that I'd had vocal chord issues before all this started, so I didn't start from a good position.

So I'm afraid patience is the only answer. It's way to soon to start worrying unduly. I started to research the injection / implant options, but ultimately it wasn't necessary. I taught with a portable microphone for some months.

I don't know if anyone else would like to comment about whether their voice went back to normal after the effects of the op? Most people have no voice issues at all, which did make me feel jolly unlucky...

Please don't let it get you down. It will get better - just give it time.


----------

