[jaqeinquotation]

#1059629

Hi there,

I am scheduled to have a TT sometime in March and I’m really nervous about what my voice will sound like after surgery. Will I be able to still sing? Has anyone had this experience? I have TED so I did not want to do the RAI because I have heard it can make my eyes worse. Having difficulty getting my levels to normalize on Tapazole

[snelsen]

#1176275

I knew someone a long time ago, who sang, and had a TT. She had not problems. Sometimes, for about a week, there is a little swelling in your neck, the normal stuff that happens with an incision. Goes away fast. CAn’t provide her name, cause I have not kept track of her through the years.
Shirley

[vanillasky]

#1176276

My father was a singer and got thyroid cancer. They did TT and he could still sing, but lost a lot of his range. He went from tenor to baritone and never regained his tenor octaves.

[Bobbi]

#1176277

The nerve that works the vocal cords (sp?) runs through the thyroid, so it is possible to have damage to that nerve, which would affect the quality of your voice after the surgery. The incidence of damage to this nerve is usually slight, and depends — in some part — upon the skill of the surgeon. You need to pick a surgeon who does lots of thyroidectomies without this particular side effect happening. I’ve heard that there is some type of electronic gizmo that can alert the surgeon to the proximity of the nerve, but I’m not sure that is true….you could ask.

[snelsen]

#1176278

It is called the recurrent laryngeal nerve, I believe. I have the dictated description of my thyroidectomy from years ago. What the surgeons do, is identify the structures that need to be noted. Same with an OD for an orbital decompression. THe optic nerve is identified, along with other cranial nerves.
This pretty much is true for most procedures. So, as Bobbi says, a skilled surgeon is needed. Like most things, when you do something all the time, you get really good at it.
Since this is definitely a concern, I would be sure to find a surgeon who does a lot of TT’s, which I am sure you plan to do, and ask him/her directly to direct this concern, and if it has ever been a problem.
Shirley

[adenure]

#1176279

Hi,

I’m not a singer, but I do like to sing at church. I’m 6 months post surgery and I have the same range that I did before surgery. My voice was weak, tired a lot, and raspy for a good 3 weeks after surgery. It felt like I would talk from the upper range of my voice and it would be a strain. It was very nerve wracking as I thought I’d never talk normally or have the power behind my voice that I once had, but I do now. I never lost my voice at any point. I was very fortunate to have an amazing surgeon; that really is key.

Through recurrent laryngeal nerve stimulation, a surgeon can more easily locate your RLN and take care to avoid injury. I read that, among very experienced surgeons, the use of the stimulator wasn’t necessarily seen as important. So, your surgeon may or may not use it. My mom (who worked in the OR for 15 or 20 years) wanted me to make sure my surgeon used the RLN stimulator. In the end, she got me a surgery date with a surgeon she worked with and I didn’t worry about it so much anymore. I was very fortunate to have that connection. Finding the best surgeon with a lot of experience in performing thyroidectomies is super important.

[PolishTym]

#1176280

I don’t sing but my job requires lots of talking, so I was worried about potential damage. As others suggested, find the best surgeon possible. I was fortunate to have a great one about 90 minutes away, but I would have traveled far for the same guy.

[Author]

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