Vocal Cord Damage

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  • whiteangel0106
    whiteangel0106 Member Posts: 2
    #22
    Vocal Cord Paralysis
    I had vocal cord paralysis. Seems my cancer was " sticky " according to my surgeon & it was sticking to my vocal cord. The moment he touched my vocal cord to remove the cancer he said my vocal cord " seized up ", hence the paralysis. I had to have radiase injected into my vocal cord, and had to go to speech therapy 3 times a week for 4 months. Speech therapy helped me so much. My speech therapist saved me from a second vocal cord surgery. I am a singer also. After surgery I sounded like Minnie Mouse and couldn't speak louder than a whisper and would get short of breath while speaking.
    Good luck...
  • veronica57
    veronica57 Member Posts: 98
    #23
    FenwayS
    My right vocal cord was paralyzed also. My voice is somewhat hoarse, and I cannot yell either. I also get short of breath when I talk most of the time. Like you, I also get strangled if I am not careful swallowing. I saw an ENT. He referred me to an Oto surgeon. But my endo advised me not to go through with the surgery until the cancer is gone. Even though, I had a total thyroidectomy, I had a mestastasis to my lungs. I'm taking chemo pills presently. But I want to eventually have my voice corrected. I am afraid of more surgery also. However, I think I would prefer that over accupuncture:) Good luck and best wishes.
  • alapah
    alapah Member Posts: 287
    #24
    veronica57 said:

    FenwayS
    My right vocal cord was paralyzed also. My voice is somewhat hoarse, and I cannot yell either. I also get short of breath when I talk most of the time. Like you, I also get strangled if I am not careful swallowing. I saw an ENT. He referred me to an Oto surgeon. But my endo advised me not to go through with the surgery until the cancer is gone. Even though, I had a total thyroidectomy, I had a mestastasis to my lungs. I'm taking chemo pills presently. But I want to eventually have my voice corrected. I am afraid of more surgery also. However, I think I would prefer that over accupuncture:) Good luck and best wishes.

    my right cord is also paralyzed
    so i feel for you veronica. i get short of breath too. this is because my cord is stuck in a position somewhere towards the middle. this is good for speech and swallowing, but not so good for breathing because it creates a permanently constricted airway. the thyroplasty surgery done to help some patients involves building up the broken cord to make it fill in towards the center which means the other cord has less of an area to work to close the gap and create sound. they sometimes prefer to do an injection into the broken fold, creating the same results but being less permanent. i've had swallow tests done to ensure that i am not aspirating when i swallow and my last ENT visit showed that there isn't much more that could be done to improve my situation. I can talk but not yell. my voice also sometimes gets tired. still, i am grateful for the voice and swallowing capabilities!
  • veronica57
    veronica57 Member Posts: 98
    #25
    alapah said:

    my right cord is also paralyzed
    so i feel for you veronica. i get short of breath too. this is because my cord is stuck in a position somewhere towards the middle. this is good for speech and swallowing, but not so good for breathing because it creates a permanently constricted airway. the thyroplasty surgery done to help some patients involves building up the broken cord to make it fill in towards the center which means the other cord has less of an area to work to close the gap and create sound. they sometimes prefer to do an injection into the broken fold, creating the same results but being less permanent. i've had swallow tests done to ensure that i am not aspirating when i swallow and my last ENT visit showed that there isn't much more that could be done to improve my situation. I can talk but not yell. my voice also sometimes gets tired. still, i am grateful for the voice and swallowing capabilities!

    alapah
    It's amazing how are cases are so similar. I am grateful that I can talk too. But my grandchildren get a kick out of the fact that I can't yell. They give me a hard time, and think they can get over on me. But I let them know that my voice don't work well, but my hands work fine:)
  • lilmonkeyshine
    lilmonkeyshine Member Posts: 10
    #26
    veronica57 said:

    alapah
    It's amazing how are cases are so similar. I am grateful that I can talk too. But my grandchildren get a kick out of the fact that I can't yell. They give me a hard time, and think they can get over on me. But I let them know that my voice don't work well, but my hands work fine:)

    my voice was fine after my
    my voice was fine after my surgery over time i started having problems i lose my voice allot now i get hoarse easily and trying to sing it will just crack now and has no power
    i think mine is scar tissue i had 2 thyroid surgeries I still love to sing at least till i lose my voice lol its frustrating I use to be a singer Take care and many blessings
  • katieg522
    katieg522 Member Posts: 1
    #27
    not alone
    wow... I cannot even tell you how glad I am to have stumbled upon this post. I can really relate to everyone who has posted. Especially those people that have had vocal chord damage during their tt. I had a pretty invasive form of thyroid cancer that had grown into my trachea, lymph nodes,and vocal chords, causing my surgeon to do a tracheal resection during my thyroidectomy. My voice (like many of yours) was hoarse post-surgury but after about 5 months it felt like it was at least kind of getting better...

    Just when I was getting my hopes up about maybe regaining my voice, my doctors told me that I would need external beam radiation in order to ensure that the cancer was gone. I have been done with treatments for 6 months and my voice continues to sound like I have laryngitis. Fun stuff... as you all know...

    The worst part of it all is that I survived all of this while planning a wedding and finishing my last semester of grad school and the only thing that I can think about is that my voice sounds like I am sick all the time. Who wants to have to explain your situation to every new person that you meet? People seem genuinely concerned so why make an awkward situation more awkward by saying "oh... I had cancer." Its just frustrating.

    How have you all handled people asking if you are sick all the time? Have you found ways to make talking on the phone easier? Does anyone know of any other treatments that are possible to improve vocal function besides the ones mentioned before?

    Again, you have no idea how happy I am to have found this post... :)
  • alapah
    alapah Member Posts: 287
    #28
    katieg522 said:

    not alone
    wow... I cannot even tell you how glad I am to have stumbled upon this post. I can really relate to everyone who has posted. Especially those people that have had vocal chord damage during their tt. I had a pretty invasive form of thyroid cancer that had grown into my trachea, lymph nodes,and vocal chords, causing my surgeon to do a tracheal resection during my thyroidectomy. My voice (like many of yours) was hoarse post-surgury but after about 5 months it felt like it was at least kind of getting better...

    Just when I was getting my hopes up about maybe regaining my voice, my doctors told me that I would need external beam radiation in order to ensure that the cancer was gone. I have been done with treatments for 6 months and my voice continues to sound like I have laryngitis. Fun stuff... as you all know...

    The worst part of it all is that I survived all of this while planning a wedding and finishing my last semester of grad school and the only thing that I can think about is that my voice sounds like I am sick all the time. Who wants to have to explain your situation to every new person that you meet? People seem genuinely concerned so why make an awkward situation more awkward by saying "oh... I had cancer." Its just frustrating.

    How have you all handled people asking if you are sick all the time? Have you found ways to make talking on the phone easier? Does anyone know of any other treatments that are possible to improve vocal function besides the ones mentioned before?

    Again, you have no idea how happy I am to have found this post... :)

    Hi Katie
    my thyroid cancer nodule had adhered to my trachea and I too had 6 weeks of external beam radiation. as you may note from a previous post above, i have right vocal cord paralysis due to the fact that my right laryngeal nerve had to be severed in surgery since the cancer had encompassed it. my EBR was completed in December of 2009. every so often i have a crappy voice. in the past week i've had a weak voice and have to clear my throat a lot. sometimes talking lots just wears me out! good thing i was never a big talker...i totally agree that it can be very frustrating.
    i have not done it but I believe there are specialists who can sometimes help patients in our situation with vocal exercises. I was taught swallowing exercises but never felt the need to pursue vocal exercises. in my EBR plan, the radiation oncologist tried to avoid zapping my voice box though i imagine the vocal nerves get a jolt in the process. it may just take a while for your functioning nerve to recover. have you spoken to your radiation oncologist or an ENT (ear, nose and throat specialist)?
  • wifflefrog
    wifflefrog Member Posts: 31
    #29
    alapah said:

    Hi Katie
    my thyroid cancer nodule had adhered to my trachea and I too had 6 weeks of external beam radiation. as you may note from a previous post above, i have right vocal cord paralysis due to the fact that my right laryngeal nerve had to be severed in surgery since the cancer had encompassed it. my EBR was completed in December of 2009. every so often i have a crappy voice. in the past week i've had a weak voice and have to clear my throat a lot. sometimes talking lots just wears me out! good thing i was never a big talker...i totally agree that it can be very frustrating.
    i have not done it but I believe there are specialists who can sometimes help patients in our situation with vocal exercises. I was taught swallowing exercises but never felt the need to pursue vocal exercises. in my EBR plan, the radiation oncologist tried to avoid zapping my voice box though i imagine the vocal nerves get a jolt in the process. it may just take a while for your functioning nerve to recover. have you spoken to your radiation oncologist or an ENT (ear, nose and throat specialist)?

    No voice
    My mom had damage to her vocal cords, but her thyroid tumor grew into the vocal cords. But luckily with time hre voice has returned, she can't really yell though and its pretty sensitive when she's sick or around irritants. So I think it does depend on how the damage occurred and how long the symptoms were present.
    My husband on the other hand had his symptoms for a few months and continually used the vocal cords thus his voice comes and goes. Yet his damage was because of the tumor from his parathyroid pretty much crushing the nerve. The only reason we even orginally caught the cancer was because of the symptoms we orginally saw in my mom. Of course things have gotten worse with his cancer and him losing his voice is so minor.
    So good luck, maybe even check out a specialist for head and neck as they mentioned maybe my husband would have been eligible for some assistance with reconstruction to help with his voice. A speech therapist should be helpful too.
  • Haree_J_Une
    Haree_J_Une Member Posts: 4
    #30
    melwhite2980 said:

    VC Damage
    I too was diagnosed with papillary carcinoma about 2 years ago and found out after thyroidectomy, one of my vocal cords had been damaged and so I saw a otorhynolaryngologist and had what they called a thyroidplasty to repair left vocal cord. Well, that has been about 1 year and a half ago and everything seemed to be fine, but now i found my voice is messing up a lot and in the mornings when I wake up I can barely speak and throughout the day my voice cracks. Should I go back to my otorhinolarnygologist to have him check it out or am I worrying for nothing?

    Vocal cord and thyroplasty

    I was treated for paralyzed left vocal cord.  I underwent a thyroplasty (implant placed into left cord to enlarge it enough to meet the right cord).   The results were not as expected, and I will be having a revision thyroplasty to enlarge the implant.

    I am 70 years old and a 32 year survivor of male breast cancer.  We presumed the paralysis in the vocal cord was a result of cobalt radiation (now recognized as a long term result of cobalt radiation); however, I have recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, and a diminished voice along with vocal cord paralysis is part of this disease as well.

    My advice to to ask questions about your vocal cord paralysis and whether it can be attributed to one factor or more than one factor.   I have been undergoing voice therapy and will continue after the revision thyroplasty.  

    My physicians have been an ENT and now a neurologist for the Parkinson's.   

    I wish you all the best.   Worrying about your health is never "for nothing."  There are consequences to surgeries that are often not covered by physicians.  We know our bodies the best, and if something is of concern to you, you need to reassure yourself.   If the doctor does not respond appropriately, then, by all means, FIND A NEW DOCTOR!!!!!!!    

     

  • PAICH01
    PAICH01 Member Posts: 2
    #31
    Fen - I have bilateral

    Fen - I have bilateral paralysis from thyroidectomy (cancerous) - severed the vocal chord nerve.  I got by for about 6 years experiencing some of the same things you have mentioned here --- I went to Cleveland Clinic and the Doctor there told me that if I were his daughter, I would have a trach opening put in right away because of the dangers of choking, etc.  I wasn't ready for another surgery - especially since the first one messed things up - so I left it go too long and ended up halucinating one night (horrible) -- wasn't fair of me to not have it done earlier as my young son and husband both were very worried for me.  I went to the ER the next morning and had the stoma stent inserted -  I couldn't have made it without that.  I have since had a very bad infection (another physician overlooked the severity of things) and I ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks.  I had to wear a stainless steel trach tube and the speaking valve has never stayed in right so after another 4-5 years, I am getting ready to contact my throat specialist to get fit for another stoma stent with speaking valve. (Wish me luck).  I am hoping that there is a specialist out there that has been successful with nerve reiteration or something similar.  What are the implants that they are planning to insert on both sides for you?  I'm not familiar with that technique.  If anyone out there has heard of anything along these lines, PLEASE contact me.  Thanks

     

  • PAICH01
    PAICH01 Member Posts: 2
    edited December 2016 #32
    Implants?

    What are these implants that several of you have mentioned?  This is new to me and I am very interested in what is involved and who is doing this.  Also - how effective has this application been?

  • Dinosaurus
    Dinosaurus Member Posts: 8
    #33
    Voice damage

    My wife now speaks in a hoarse whisper after radiation treatment for breast cancer that has spread - does anyone know a self help way of improving this as the doctors are concentrating on the actual cancers?

  • Barb51
    Barb51 Member Posts: 5
    #34
    Vocal cord paralysis from total thyroidectomy

    I had a total thyroidectomy 1-27-17 due to papillary thyroid cancer. Lymph nodes were clear. Turns out my left vocal chord was paralyzed during surgery. I was unable to drink without choking. Had to drink with a spoon and my head tilted downward on left side to avoid choking. When I talked for any amount of time, my fingertips and bottom of my ears and nose would tingle. I became very short of breath. Continued taking calcium (3000 units per day). Found myself coughing and choking quite often. My surgeon gave me two injections on 3-6-17 for left vocal cord to bulk it up. Three days later I was back in surgeons office. I had severe swelling from the tools used for the injections (and a sore on my tongue from trying to get the tools/shots down my throat) hat I ended up on steroids for six days which didn't do a thing for me. It was extremely painful to swallow.  Felt like I was swallowing steak knives every time I swallowed.  Called surgeon. He called in a prescription for augmentin 875 units twice a day for 10 days.  About a week after I finished antibiotics, I slowly started to feel better. I am still short of breat when I talk and only a little pain when I swallow now. I still get tingling when I talk too much. Just wondering if anyone else has had these symptoms. My voice is still weak and I am exhausted by end of day from trying to talk. I see surgeon this week to discuss voice therapy.  Has anyone tried voice therapy before? I think it's a bit different than speech therapy.

  • beat atc
    beat atc Member Posts: 64 Member
    edited April 2017 #35
    Vocal chords ,
    My vocal cords never come back 100 percent , a lot worse when tired , I choked on water and coffee all the time , felt the knives swallowing , never went to therapy , offered to , how much radiation did u get or are u still going thur ?
  • Barb51
    Barb51 Member Posts: 5
    #36
    Voice therapy

    i did not need the radioactive iodine based on my neck ultrasound results and thyroglobulin levels at this time. I did see the surgeon and was told I am about 50 percent better than I was after surgery. Still healing from injections.  He said he has never had any one have as much trouble as I have. He recommended I start voice therapy to help me learn how to breathe properly when I talk.  I have to wait two more weeks to even start therapy so I can continue to have swelling go down. It is still painful to swallow. I'm frustrate. I never realized  much I depended on my voice. has therapy ever helped anyone else out there?

     

     

     

  • Barb51
    Barb51 Member Posts: 5
    edited April 2017 #37
    Barb51 said:

    Voice therapy

    i did not need the radioactive iodine based on my neck ultrasound results and thyroglobulin levels at this time. I did see the surgeon and was told I am about 50 percent better than I was after surgery. Still healing from injections.  He said he has never had any one have as much trouble as I have. He recommended I start voice therapy to help me learn how to breathe properly when I talk.  I have to wait two more weeks to even start therapy so I can continue to have swelling go down. It is still painful to swallow. I'm frustrate. I never realized  much I depended on my voice. has therapy ever helped anyone else out there?

     

     

     

    How long ago did you have

    How long ago did you have your surger? How are you doing now? 

     

     

  • beat atc
    beat atc Member Posts: 64 Member
    edited April 2017 #38
    Barb51 said:

    How long ago did you have

    How long ago did you have your surger? How are you doing now? 

     

     

    Will be 5 years late summer,
    Will be 5 years late summer, thrilled to be alive, I was 49 when I got cancer , neck is beat up from radiation treatments voice is hoarse , and much more if you read my
    Posts . I remember early on I was never going to be the same ! I was going to better !!!
  • Barb51
    Barb51 Member Posts: 5
    #39
    beat atc said:

    Will be 5 years late summer,
    Will be 5 years late summer, thrilled to be alive, I was 49 when I got cancer , neck is beat up from radiation treatments voice is hoarse , and much more if you read my
    Posts . I remember early on I was never going to be the same ! I was going to better !!!

    Congratulations

    Congratulations on your upcoming 5 year date! I wish you the best. I'm only coming up on three months since my surgery. Even though I know it could have been much worse, I will be glad when this is 5 years behind me. Take care!

  • BobbyRay
    BobbyRay Member Posts: 1
    edited June 2017 #40
    Coping w/VC Damage

    I'm so grateful to have found this site. I'm a newbie, and I'm only a week out from my thyroidectomy (papillary cancer with lymph nodes and trachea affected). So I have no right to complain, seeing how many of you have been struggling for months and years. I have barely a rough growl of a voice and little pitch control. Some cancer adhered to the nerve, which the doctor says is weakened by not severed. My problem is that I've been having little panic attacks, like being in a bad dream and you can't communicate. That keeps me from sleeping sometimes. I'll hang in there--and I'm requesting vocal therapy as soon as the swelling goes down. I'm grateful that the cancer was removed and the prognosis is good, but I still feel scared about limited ability to talk and occasional choking. Any advice?

  • brendi
    brendi Member Posts: 1
    edited July 2017 #41
    2.5 months since TT

    It's been 2.5 months since my TT surgery and my voice still hasn't come back. the last month it seemed like it was getting better then after a busy work week I felt pain in my throats and it hurt real bad. The pain is gone but now it seems my voice regressed and doesn't sound as strong as it did .  I hope it's just temporary .  My surgeon said it is because my right vocal cord is over compensating for the damaged cord (left)  But the pain is only on the left side and it sometimes hurts to my left ear Down to my collarbone on my left side with no pain on my right side. He also waNets me to get an injection  but I'm afraid it will do more damage. I just don't know what to do .

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