Possible help

Dear All

I've been away for a while - still processing what's happened but also dealing with my brother being diagnosed with thyroid cancer last year - obviously this sort of thing runs in the family.

I don't know whether anyone else with laryngeal cancer is a professional voice user (I'm a singer) but, if you are and you can't get answers which apply to you, there is one (just the one) NHS clinic in the UK which can help. It's the Vocal Performers' Clinic at the Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester.  It took me over a year to get a referral - my GP wouldn't do it because she said she wouldn't get the money back but, in the end, my lovely consultant gave me the referral. They do a functional analysis of the voice - using a gadget which is rather larger than the usual thing they shove up your nose and down your throat during the monitoring - which will tell you what has irrevocably gone, what is still OK and what you can recover with specialist exercises.  They are absolutely lovely but, I have to say, spending the best part of an hour and a half including a rather long period with this thing down my throat whilst making all sorts of noises during which they video'd me wasn't the nicest thing to do.  However, it gives you a benchmark and, even more importantly, it gives you concrete information on which you can build going forward.

love to everyone

Anna