Hi,
I was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer when I was 15 and I’m now 30. I had a total thyroidectomy as well as removing some nodules and had some RAI. Then a few years later I was back having another thyroid cancer tumour removed which was pressing against my left vocal chord.
I had this removed but my left vocal cord was paralysed in the operation. After time my voice managed to improve to a level that you wouldn’t really know I had a paralysed vocal chord.
My main issue is that now, every so often my voice quality decreases. This used to happen once a year, I’d wake up and my voice would be ‘gappy’ and almost like I had laryngitis. The usual pattern would then be a few days later I’d have a sore throat or be run down. The actual feeling of being unwell would last a matter of days but my voice would be terrible for at least two months (sometimes I could feel absolutely fine but the voice would go)
This stopped happening for a couple of years but last year and this year it’s happened. My hospital have confirmed my vocal cord is still paralysed. I’m still under regular review with scans and blood tests and had some only a few weeks ago because every time my voice goes, I tend to panic. I also recently had the camera up my nose and it was confirmed my left vocal cord is still paralysed.
My medical team have explained with the vocal cord being paralysed, I almost have a ‘weak spot’ there and it’s an area of mine that will be affected. Has anyone else experienced this? I’ve seen lots of people who have posted about their vocal cord paralysis but not so much when it sounds fine most of the time but yearly it’s terrible for a few months - this being a recurring pattern.
This time last year the same thing happened and my voice quality was terrible for two months.
If you were to sit next to me and chat, you wouldn’t really think there was too much of an issue, maybe you’d notice a slight husk but when I’m at work trying to project or anywhere else having a conversation with someone you can really notice it. I can’t talk in loud environments, phone calls are very breathy and my voice just isn’t the same as it usually is, it’s a lot more effort than usual.
My mental health declines when my voice quality goes and I’m finding it a bit of a struggle this time around, especially when it comes to my work where I have to talk a lot.
Does this story sound similar to anyone else’s? Does anyone have any tips to try and improve my voice quality because I know it’s there normally - even with the vocal cord paralysis.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
