Vocal changes

tcvine
tcvine Member Posts: 174
edited March 2014 in Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin) #1
Hi All,

I have another question - of no particular importance, just curious.
Anyone have any changes in your voice after you started chemo?

I used to be a respectable baritone/tenor and then stopped singing for many years. Came back as a bass.
Last night was my first time singing since chemo, now I'm suddenly a higher tenor than I used to be. It would be good, actually, except for the fact that my voice is also weak and old sounding - so the quality isn't there anymore. But I just wondered if anyone else had any similar reactions.

Thanks,
Tom

Comments

  • merrywinner
    merrywinner Member Posts: 626 Member
    #2
    voice
    Did you have any tumors in your neck area? I noticed when the large tumor on my neck and side of my throat area was gone my speaking voice had a slightly higher tone. Not so much that others could notice too much but my voice had become softer and a touch strained. Now it feels normal. Just a thought. Hope all is well with you. Mary
  • allmost60
    allmost60 Member Posts: 3,178 Member
    #3
    merrywinner said:

    voice
    Did you have any tumors in your neck area? I noticed when the large tumor on my neck and side of my throat area was gone my speaking voice had a slightly higher tone. Not so much that others could notice too much but my voice had become softer and a touch strained. Now it feels normal. Just a thought. Hope all is well with you. Mary

    lower gruff voice
    My voice has gotten lower and raspy sounding like a heavy smokers voice(which I don't do)...Steve calls it a sexy movie star bedroom voice...(he's so weird..ha!) The major amount of tumors were in my neck, so maybe they were putting pressure on the vocal cord...who knows. Sue
  • cookingirl
    cookingirl Member Posts: 183 Member
    #4
    Vocal changes
    Hi Tom - Fran from Florida. Yes, many friends and my daughters noticed after chemos 2,3,4,5 how different my voice sounded for about a week! It's a normal voice but became very high pitched - like I was inhaling helium from a balloon or paper bag! It drove me crazy so I asked my Oncologist nurse - she said it didn't happen to many patients, but she had had several, including myself, it happened to. She didn't have an explanation and said it would disappear in about a week, which is always does. We'll see if it happens next Tuesday when I have my 6th and final Chemo (yeah!) with CVP-R meds. At least it's not painful, just annoying! Good luck with your treatments -
  • COBRA666
    COBRA666 Member Posts: 2,401 Member
    #5
    cookingirl said:

    Vocal changes
    Hi Tom - Fran from Florida. Yes, many friends and my daughters noticed after chemos 2,3,4,5 how different my voice sounded for about a week! It's a normal voice but became very high pitched - like I was inhaling helium from a balloon or paper bag! It drove me crazy so I asked my Oncologist nurse - she said it didn't happen to many patients, but she had had several, including myself, it happened to. She didn't have an explanation and said it would disappear in about a week, which is always does. We'll see if it happens next Tuesday when I have my 6th and final Chemo (yeah!) with CVP-R meds. At least it's not painful, just annoying! Good luck with your treatments -

    ROUND 6 COMING UP
    Fran,
    I am sure you said before but with the chemo brain I have an excuse to ask again. Where did you stand at the mid way scan. I think I remember you saying you were in the same boat as me. Enlarged abdomenal nodes and stage 4. I know mine were 5 and 6 cms before treatment. I don't recall what yours were, but I am sure you said. All I got was SUV(SUGAR UPTAKE VALUE) had gone from a 9 to a 3 which was good according to the Onc. John
  • tcvine
    tcvine Member Posts: 174
    #6
    cookingirl said:

    Vocal changes
    Hi Tom - Fran from Florida. Yes, many friends and my daughters noticed after chemos 2,3,4,5 how different my voice sounded for about a week! It's a normal voice but became very high pitched - like I was inhaling helium from a balloon or paper bag! It drove me crazy so I asked my Oncologist nurse - she said it didn't happen to many patients, but she had had several, including myself, it happened to. She didn't have an explanation and said it would disappear in about a week, which is always does. We'll see if it happens next Tuesday when I have my 6th and final Chemo (yeah!) with CVP-R meds. At least it's not painful, just annoying! Good luck with your treatments -

    Thanks!
    Hello All, and thanks for your feedback.
    As always, we each seem to react differently in some ways. It was good to hear that my voice changes have been seen by others. It is not a bad issue or anything, just a curiosity.
    I do find that it comes on with the infusion and then gradually gets better until the next infusion (at least for the 2 times I've done this so far). So I'm not worried about it, just thought that it was an interesting anomaly.

    Good luck, Fran, with your last chemo next week! Please keep us posted on how you do. You have my prayers.

    Tom
  • cookingirl
    cookingirl Member Posts: 183 Member
    #7
    COBRA666 said:

    ROUND 6 COMING UP
    Fran,
    I am sure you said before but with the chemo brain I have an excuse to ask again. Where did you stand at the mid way scan. I think I remember you saying you were in the same boat as me. Enlarged abdomenal nodes and stage 4. I know mine were 5 and 6 cms before treatment. I don't recall what yours were, but I am sure you said. All I got was SUV(SUGAR UPTAKE VALUE) had gone from a 9 to a 3 which was good according to the Onc. John

    Vocal Changes
    John - you DO have a good memory - all my enlarged nodes are in by abdominal area, stage 4, B cell Follicular Indolent NHL. When they were biopsied Aug. 31, 2009, the largest was 3cm. By May that one had grown to 12 cm - they wanted to start Chemo at 10, but it got past that. AFter 3rd treatment the CT scan showed a 40% reduction in size. My Oncologist says because it's so large, we can't hope for a full remission in October and he'll be happy with an 80 to 85% reduction from the original. I will keep my port for Rituxan every 3 months for 2 years, hoping to extend the Remission time from 2 to 5 years. Your note is the first time I've heard of SUV - it hasn't been mentioned to me. I don't look or feel like my tumor has reduced at all - have read some postings where people said after the first or second chemo they could tell a big difference - not me. That worries me a bit. Dr. wants also to do a second Bone Marrow Biopsy along with the CT scan in early October - I'll let you know when I have results from that. Tom - thanks for your prayers and I'll be looking for your posts as you continue - God Bless -
  • merrywinner
    merrywinner Member Posts: 626 Member
    #8
    cookingirl said:

    Vocal changes
    Hi Tom - Fran from Florida. Yes, many friends and my daughters noticed after chemos 2,3,4,5 how different my voice sounded for about a week! It's a normal voice but became very high pitched - like I was inhaling helium from a balloon or paper bag! It drove me crazy so I asked my Oncologist nurse - she said it didn't happen to many patients, but she had had several, including myself, it happened to. She didn't have an explanation and said it would disappear in about a week, which is always does. We'll see if it happens next Tuesday when I have my 6th and final Chemo (yeah!) with CVP-R meds. At least it's not painful, just annoying! Good luck with your treatments -

    All the best Fran
    Good luck with your final treatment. I'll be thinking of you and sending some prayers your way on Tuesday. Mary
  • forme
    forme Member Posts: 1,161 Member
    #9
    cookingirl said:

    Vocal changes
    Hi Tom - Fran from Florida. Yes, many friends and my daughters noticed after chemos 2,3,4,5 how different my voice sounded for about a week! It's a normal voice but became very high pitched - like I was inhaling helium from a balloon or paper bag! It drove me crazy so I asked my Oncologist nurse - she said it didn't happen to many patients, but she had had several, including myself, it happened to. She didn't have an explanation and said it would disappear in about a week, which is always does. We'll see if it happens next Tuesday when I have my 6th and final Chemo (yeah!) with CVP-R meds. At least it's not painful, just annoying! Good luck with your treatments -

    Wonderful
    Hi Fran,
    Great news, last one coming up. I will be thinking positive thoughts for you on tuesday. Have a wonderful weekend.
    Lisha
  • cookingirl
    cookingirl Member Posts: 183 Member
    #10
    merrywinner said:

    All the best Fran
    Good luck with your final treatment. I'll be thinking of you and sending some prayers your way on Tuesday. Mary

    vocal changes
    Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers on Tuesday, Mary and Lisha! Appreciate it very much. Hope you watched the Stand UP 2 Cancer program tonight on 4 networks - they raised $10 million last year for cancer research and it was insiring - Fran
  • truckingalong
    truckingalong Member Posts: 445 Member
    #11
    cookingirl said:

    vocal changes
    Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers on Tuesday, Mary and Lisha! Appreciate it very much. Hope you watched the Stand UP 2 Cancer program tonight on 4 networks - they raised $10 million last year for cancer research and it was insiring - Fran

    Best wishes
    Best wishes for your treatment on Tuesday. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Good to know that people care to raise $$ for this cause, therefore, we get better treatment.

    Liz

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