Re-Learning To Talk

Okay so I've been away for a few days but I've been taking my speech schedule very seriously and today is day 3 of speaking for me. ^_^.  I started "talking" on Monday and I've been allowed to double up on the time I get to speak for.  My first experience talking after being silent for 5 days was shocking and hysterical.

I got to the doctor's office for my post-op visit and the tech there asked me if I'd started to talk yet for the day.  I shock my head no and she told me to go ahead and give it a try by saying "e".  I opened my mouth took a prepatory breath and went for it.  Unfortunately "it" was not in the mood to cooperate.  Nothing but air came out.  That surprised a laugh out of me.  I wasn't expecting that at all.  When I tried again some sound did come out but it was nothing like what I had in my mind.  You know when you're used to hearing yourself talk you have a certain expectation for what you should sound like.  What came out did not mesh with what I expected.

The tech assured me though that that was normal.  She did the scope and I made a few more sounds that got a bit stronger toward the end and then I got to see my vocal cords for the first time post surgery.  They were red and smooth and absolutely beautiful!  I was so happy it looked perfect.  Exactly as they should.  I told her to let the doctor know I thought he was a rock star.  Seriously.

A little later that night I did some more speech practice and it sounded about the same from when I left the office.  Today though it's still clearly recovering it sounds a bit stronger and I'm to practice using my voice a little longer.

I keep saying practice because it's like re-learning how to speak.  The vocal cords are still a bit rigid and so they aren't vibrating as much as healthy cords should so I need to exercise them or practice using them so they can start to get back to where they need to be.  I'm so happy with the results so far.  I know to have a realistic expectation though.  Not everyone heals at the same rate and the speech schedule I've been given is a bit on the liberal side meaning if I find that I'm still really hoarse in a weeks time I shouldn't panic just keep taking my time and not push myself.  I definitely don't want to have to go in for surgery again due to re-aggravating the situation.

School starts next week but I won't be quite ready to go back yet.  When I do go back though I will have my voice amp with me and I'll let you know how the first day went.

In Vocal Solidarity,

The soft spoken m&m

Operation Silence

It is now day 2 following my bilateral poly removal from vocal fold surgery.  Sheesh what a mouth full!  I've done a vlog explaining how the surgery went (what I could remember before the anesthesia took me away) and how the silence is effecting me.  The vlog is done in ASL.  My signing skills are a little weak but I gave it my best shot.  Today I'm going to do both, blog and vlog.  So here we go...

Last night at around 11:30 pm I had a little snafu.  I whispered!  It lasted only a few seconds and it was about 3 words.  As soon as I realized what had happened.  I just my mouth.  You see I have parakeets and they fall asleep on their swings.  They like to be as high up as possible to be away from "danger".  Anyway I was trying to coax one of them to get back on her swing before I turned the light off and the words of encouragement kind of slipped out.  I don't think this will cause any harm but I will be very diligent in the last remaining days of silence to be ABSOLUTELY quiet.

Other than that little bump in the road the day went quiet well.  I made myself a button that says:  "Dr.'s orders, I can't talk but I can hear and write. ^_^.  I went out with my button on and pen and pad in hand. I didn't have any trouble really with communicating and people were quite understanding and patient.  The biggest adjustment is not being able to workout like I'm used to.  I can't do any strenuous activity for  a few days.  So I'm left with walking or light jogging as an option and I'm pretty sure weight lifting is out.

So I'm trying to stay active but within the realm of the doctor's orders and also trying to stay hydrated.  I feel like my throat is constantly dry.  I wasn't in too much pain after the surgery but I was prescribed Tylenol with Codeine.  I haven't really needed it so I've only taken it once since I've been home.  The one thing I do need though is Mucinex.  I do have some mucus congestion which I was told could happen but I'm not allowed to cough or blow my nose so i gotta go with the Mucinex.

So post-surgery I'm doing well.  I can't wait to see the pictures of the surgery.  I asked the doc before they put me under if I could get some pictures of it and he said yes.  May seem strange to be excited to see that but I was sleeping when they did it so I missed the whole thing. ^_^

Signing off for now.  I'll report back soon.

Pre-op Update

So I met with the doctor on Monday and came prepared with my typed questions.   Here's the scenario.  After the operation there is no chance that I won't have a voice.  I will always have a voice.  There is a slight chance however that I will remain hoarse.  The way he put it was  99% of Broadway singers who have this operation go back to singing on Broadway only 1% don't.  Now I'm no Broadway singer (though  it's always possible that this can become the case in the future.  shrug) but I do sing so this did alleviate some of the anxiety about my being able to go back to singing.  In terms of healing and getting back to my normal activities here is how it looks:

• First 5 days absolutely no talking
• The days after the voice off routine I can start speaking for a duration of 10 mins. the first day, 20 mins. the next and it doubles each day.
• For a least a month after the surgery I'm still healing so I have to take it very slow and easy with the voice use.
• No singing of fitness instructing for 3 weeks! ~ouch~
• I can pretty much eat whatever I want after the surgery :) but I should lay off the caffeine as part of the voice therapy regimen.
• Check ups of my vocal cords are as follows: 1st week, 1st month, 3rd month, 6th month, 9 month and 12 month.
• Can't do kickboxing for the first 2 weeks since I need to avoid anything that will make me produce harsh sounds, such as grunting.  I can do some light cardio though.

The surgery itself last about 1-1/2 from the time they put you to sleep to the time they wake you up.  He goes in with a scope an incision is made into the vocal folds and the polyp is cut out and then the vocal fold covers the incision.  Seems pretty straight forward.  There is a possibility of your tongue getting a slight cut and numbness or loss of taste resulting.  This shouldn't last to long if it does happen.  (Fingers crossed because I have chocolate stocked up for afterward as my comfort food).  Also, there is an even smaller possibility that your teeth can get chipped but there's a guard put over your tooth to keep this from happening.


Tomorrow I go in for a consult with my voice therapist.  I guess we are going to talk about how I can prepare before the surgery and what to do afterward. 


More updates to come later.  


"Talk" to you later!

What's Wrong With Your Voice?

At the beginning of last year I started experiencing... laryngitis. This is devastating for anyone who uses their voice often such as I do.  I teach, I sing and I instruct at a gym.  LOTS of vocal demand.  When it got to the point where I was losing my voice more often than I thought was normal, I decided to see an ENT.  After doing a "scope" in my throat he told me it'd probably be a good idea to see a vocal therapist.   Apparently my vocal folds were swollen which made it difficult for them to close properly and produce sound.  After getting "scoped" again at the voice institute the diagnosis was, nodules.  So I started voice therapy and it really helped!  I was excited.  Probably to excited because I pushed myself a little to much when it came to singing and gave myself a bit of a set back.  After easing back on my singing practice and buying a voice amplifier so that I wouldn't have to strain when I taught both in the gym and in a classroom, I felt I was back on track but, while my voice was better than when I started, it still wasn't back to where it was before I started getting these problems.

I made an appointment with the ENT got scoped and he saw that the nodule was still there though not as prominent.  He suggested that I meet with a voice specialist and so I set the appointment.  After getting scoped yet again I got the news I never wanted to hear.  "It looks like you have a polyp".  Polyps are in my mind connected to vocal cord damage that's probably irreversible.  When he then said surgery may be required to remove it, the polyp that was on my vocal cord felt like it had swollen and was logged in my throat.  He suggested I think about it and come up with questions that I could ask at the pre-op appointment.

Since then I've done a bit of research and I now know that it's not necessarily all that bad.  The "surgery" isn't long and I don't need to be admitted into a hospital for it.  While results are not guaranteed (there are risks with any and all surgeries) the odds that my voice will get better are pretty good.  The way I'm starting to figure it, right now I'm not sounding the way I would like to sound, especially when I sing, so this will give me a chance to get back to where I want to be.  Surgery is scheduled for August 24th.  More updates to come after the pre-op appointment when I get my questions answered.