My voice is cracking and fadeing? Tongue burns / has ulcers?

Tim6003
Tim6003 Member Posts: 1,514 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Hi all.

I got the ALL CLEAR on my PET / CT Scan Monday (that was my first scan since completing treatments Janaury 20th 2012) and my ENT scoped me two days later and did the finger down the throat thing ....also reviewed me scans and too said I was all clear ...

...so why in the last week has my voice gotten weaker. It sound like somebody with laryngitis? Burns a little down by my vocal cords / voice box area ...and I have one ulcer on my gum and a couple on my tongue.

Are the ulcers and voice / vocal cords related? Could it be thrush? I have had thrush 2 times and if it is thrush does not seem to be the same look?

Anyway ...I got the all clear just this week so I'm not going to let myself worry but when I asked why my voice seemed to start getting weaker last week ...they did not really answer but said affects of radiation .....does the after affects make us good one week and bad the next???

Anybody got a product out there that can help me have a stronger voice at least ...I am working full time and much of my work requires me to "talk, talk, talk" ..I manage two hotels and an RV Park ...so I am constatnly on the phone :)

I have dry mouth most of the time...so I deal with that ....but seems lately the dryness is really far down my throat at the base of my tongue ...that seems to be new...I can feel my tongue (dryness) just dragging on the back of my throat ....keeping water in my mouth helps the mouth ..how to I get moisture down my throat without gargling all the time? :)

I do gargle often with baking soda and salt mixture (which really burns my tongue lately) ...but it seems to help my mouth ...just does nothing for my voice ...vocal cords.

Thanks for feedback!

Tim / Idaho

Comments

  • Mrs. Sarge
    Mrs. Sarge Member Posts: 206 Member
    #2
    Tim
    I think I'd have an ENT do a scope just to check out the vocal cords. If this is just the after effects of radiation, then they should tell you. Hoarseness isn't to be played with! A quick look will tell all, pretty much I'd think.
  • Tim6003
    Tim6003 Member Posts: 1,514 Member
    #3
    Mrs. Sarge said:

    Tim
    I think I'd have an ENT do a scope just to check out the vocal cords. If this is just the after effects of radiation, then they should tell you. Hoarseness isn't to be played with! A quick look will tell all, pretty much I'd think.

    Hi Sarge
    Yes...my ENT did scope me this past Thursday ....and I was telling him about the hoarness (he could hear it) but said all looks good. He saw nothing.

    So thsi past Monday May 7th I had the PET / CT Scan and got the all clear from my onc. Thursday May 10th my ENT scopes my throat, stickes his finger down it and also reviews the scans ..he too gives the all clear (said I look really good) ...

    ..that's why I came to my board buddies here. Can't figure out why my hoarsness is soooo bad and just started up that way last week. At night my throat gets really dry...I keep water by the bed...but I sleep heavy for a few hours and wake up and it feels like sandpaper in my throat (and bottom of my tongue) .....I noticed the last week my voice doing this and my throat (bottom of my tongue area) seems to be much more dry than in the past ....so if my docs are correct and I'm all clear ....

    ...this could just be the affects of the treatments coming up now (which I found strange, but I have heard the symptom / affects of treatment ebb and flow, come and go) and will pass or this could be the new normal. I certainly hope it is not the new normal...but so I am clear ...if it is to be ...I will take that over the alternative :)

    Tim / Idaho
  • D Lewis
    D Lewis Member Posts: 1,581 Member
    #4
    Tim6003 said:

    Hi Sarge
    Yes...my ENT did scope me this past Thursday ....and I was telling him about the hoarness (he could hear it) but said all looks good. He saw nothing.

    So thsi past Monday May 7th I had the PET / CT Scan and got the all clear from my onc. Thursday May 10th my ENT scopes my throat, stickes his finger down it and also reviews the scans ..he too gives the all clear (said I look really good) ...

    ..that's why I came to my board buddies here. Can't figure out why my hoarsness is soooo bad and just started up that way last week. At night my throat gets really dry...I keep water by the bed...but I sleep heavy for a few hours and wake up and it feels like sandpaper in my throat (and bottom of my tongue) .....I noticed the last week my voice doing this and my throat (bottom of my tongue area) seems to be much more dry than in the past ....so if my docs are correct and I'm all clear ....

    ...this could just be the affects of the treatments coming up now (which I found strange, but I have heard the symptom / affects of treatment ebb and flow, come and go) and will pass or this could be the new normal. I certainly hope it is not the new normal...but so I am clear ...if it is to be ...I will take that over the alternative :)

    Tim / Idaho

    Welcome to our world, Tim
    I believe the hoarseness and vocal cord thing is referred to as 'vocal cord fatigue.' And the dry mouth, dry throat thing is just par for the course. The tissues that got irradiated become fibrous and scarred, and sometimes the fibrosis and scarring continues to worsen for quite a while after treatment ends; one of those 'gift that keeps on giving' things. Also, your parotid salivary glands are pretty scarred up as well. I'm two years out from end of treatment, still getting the all-clear on my scopes and scans, and still have hoarseness, weak voice, dry mouth, dry nose, dry eyes, etc. I had a cold over a month ago, and I'm still struggling with thick mucous and what the doc refers to as laryngitis. I don't think it really is laryngitis. I have to talk a lot at work and sometimes at the end of the workday, I have almost no voice left.

    Deb
  • D Lewis
    D Lewis Member Posts: 1,581 Member
    #5
    D Lewis said:

    Welcome to our world, Tim
    I believe the hoarseness and vocal cord thing is referred to as 'vocal cord fatigue.' And the dry mouth, dry throat thing is just par for the course. The tissues that got irradiated become fibrous and scarred, and sometimes the fibrosis and scarring continues to worsen for quite a while after treatment ends; one of those 'gift that keeps on giving' things. Also, your parotid salivary glands are pretty scarred up as well. I'm two years out from end of treatment, still getting the all-clear on my scopes and scans, and still have hoarseness, weak voice, dry mouth, dry nose, dry eyes, etc. I had a cold over a month ago, and I'm still struggling with thick mucous and what the doc refers to as laryngitis. I don't think it really is laryngitis. I have to talk a lot at work and sometimes at the end of the workday, I have almost no voice left.

    Deb

    Biotene products
    Oh, yeah, and I'm still depending very heavily on the Biotene products. They have a mouth gel (good for using at night) and a mouth spray and a mouth rinse. They also have toothpaste, and a chewing gum. I carry all this stuff with me in a small backpack. The rinse restores your mouth to the proper pH, and seems to coat your mouth and tongue and makes it easier to speak. Works better than water, which seems to dry the mouth more, the longer you hold it in there.

    If you're getting a block of a few hours of sleep, this soon after completing treatment, you are doing pretty good. I'm still waking up twice a night, to sip water. Usually, I will use the mouth rinse again, as it seems to hold me longer.

    Deb
  • shoeloy
    shoeloy Member Posts: 70
    #6
    Dry Mouth and Throat
    I have found that chewing Trident vitality gum helps my throat and mouth dryness. It has Xylotil in it and works well for my mouth and throat. I finished treatment 1 year ago and still have days that the voice seems to be worse. Hang in there and try the gum, it helps me get through the day with all the talking I have to do.
  • George_Baltimore
    George_Baltimore Member Posts: 303
    #7
    D Lewis said:

    Biotene products
    Oh, yeah, and I'm still depending very heavily on the Biotene products. They have a mouth gel (good for using at night) and a mouth spray and a mouth rinse. They also have toothpaste, and a chewing gum. I carry all this stuff with me in a small backpack. The rinse restores your mouth to the proper pH, and seems to coat your mouth and tongue and makes it easier to speak. Works better than water, which seems to dry the mouth more, the longer you hold it in there.

    If you're getting a block of a few hours of sleep, this soon after completing treatment, you are doing pretty good. I'm still waking up twice a night, to sip water. Usually, I will use the mouth rinse again, as it seems to hold me longer.

    Deb

    Thank you, Deb
    Thank you, thank you, thank you for saying that water makes your throat dryer. I would tell my doctors and friends that and they would look at me like I was crazy. Before, when I could swallow, I found whole milk would be the best thing for my throat. I would crush up my meds and mix a little milk with some Nestle's Strawberry liquid with it. It would go right down and soothe at the same time.
  • BrianKrashpad
    BrianKrashpad Member Posts: 188
    #8
    D Lewis said:

    Welcome to our world, Tim
    I believe the hoarseness and vocal cord thing is referred to as 'vocal cord fatigue.' And the dry mouth, dry throat thing is just par for the course. The tissues that got irradiated become fibrous and scarred, and sometimes the fibrosis and scarring continues to worsen for quite a while after treatment ends; one of those 'gift that keeps on giving' things. Also, your parotid salivary glands are pretty scarred up as well. I'm two years out from end of treatment, still getting the all-clear on my scopes and scans, and still have hoarseness, weak voice, dry mouth, dry nose, dry eyes, etc. I had a cold over a month ago, and I'm still struggling with thick mucous and what the doc refers to as laryngitis. I don't think it really is laryngitis. I have to talk a lot at work and sometimes at the end of the workday, I have almost no voice left.

    Deb

    Vox probs are common, methinks
    With me my voice has definitely taken on a grittier quality. Thank goodness I wasn't an opera singer before all this. Being in a rock and roll band, I can get by still, "singing" (I use this term very loosely) with my "new voice." In fact, when I was in the studio making our record last Fall I attempted, on one song that is a smidgen mellower than others, singing like a normal person (and yes that's self-deprecation) and our record label guy (in the control booth with the engineer) would have none of it.

    Lemons, making lemonade, and all that.

    Best wishes and be well!

Discussion Boards