[Nos]

#1060257

I’m Jason…33 yrs old. Husband 13 years. Father of 4. Church choir member & occasional soloist. Songwriter. Musician. Graves, goiter, tumors, bug-eyes, occasional triple-vision.

My eye surgeon wants my thyroid removed before he performs orbital decompression. I have a 38 yr old friend who had thyroid removed over 4 months ago, and her voice still sounds very gravelly.

Music is a big part of my life…Any successful thyroidectomy stories out there to give me hope?

[Kimberly]

#1181577

Hello and welcome! We have several posters here who have recently undergone thyroidectomy, but I don’t recall if any are singers.

There are a few noted cases of singers with thyroid cancer who have gone through thyroidectomy (I’m not aware of any with Graves’), so that might be a good avenue for research. A few names to consider are Rod Stewart, Tony Harnell (a hard rock singer who has been doing public service work with the American College of Endocrinology), and Kristen Hertzenberg (“Christine” in the Phantom of the Opera production that used to run in Vegas).

This is definitely an issue that you want to discuss in advance with your surgeon, as damage to the nerves that supply the vocal cords is definitely a risk of surgery. Although you can’t eliminate this risk completely, the risk can be reduced by having an experienced surgeon.

Wishing you all the best!

[Shugie53]

#1181578

Jason I totally agree with you if you are a singer thats too big of a risk. I thought that would only happen possibly if they did surgical removal, not the radioactive pill kind (?)

[snelsen]

#1181579

NIH website states 0.33% permanent damage. As an RN who has worked in the operating room for years and years, I can tell you that risk is super very small. Much smaller that very common procedures that people have all the time without questioning.Sometimes, after the procedure, the vocal cords are a bit swollen, and voice is different for a few weeks. Other than immediate post op notice of this, which resolved, I do not know of any instance of permanent damage.
I had no issues. I did have strong feelings and opinions about RAI. Did not want it. But that is the beauty of usually being able to have a choice, whether our concerns are valid, just a preference, and/or “just because.”
Do what feels right for you. So, from my view (I sing in a chorus now) I did not consider it much one way or the other Had a good surgeon, figured all would be fine.

By the way, so sorry you have to deal with all of this. I found thyroid eye disease works than Graves’, if that is possible!
Shirley

[LaurelM]

#1181580

Hi,
I had my TT on 8/8/13. It went really well. One thing my ENT surgeon did is what I call an up-the-nose-a-scope to look at my vocal chords both prior to and after surgery. I did however experience some temporary voice issues afterward. I did not have any nerve injury but instead experienced too much muscle tension which limited my upper range, volume, and induced voice fatigue if talking or reading aloud for a length of time. I worked with a rehab Speech and Language Pathologist for about a month which seems to have resolved my issues.

I couldn’t sing my way out of a paper bag prior to the surgery so I wasn’t worried about that but I do need to do some public speaking and reading to children so it was a little disconcerting at first but my surgeon and SLP were great about reasurring me it was only temporary.

I think picking the right surgeon is is the key if choosing TT.

Best wishes,

Laurel.

[ChristinaDe]

#1181581

Hi Jason ~ I had TT last February. This was a huge fear for me as my father spent the last years of his life unable to speak because of a stroke. I saw his misery & wondered if I was next. So I brought this up a lot preoperatively & read lots of statistics. Like others have said it’s a “possible” complication, but an exceptionally rare one when TT is done by an experienced, skilled surgeon who performs many of them on a regular basis. My surgeon’s complication rate was <1% for vocal cord issues. And he told me that of those rare instances, most were temporary as there are post-op therapies that can improve things if it happens.

Everything turned out fine in my case. My voice was a little hoarse (probably from the breathing tube) & a little weaker (probably from the procedure itself) (intermittently) immediately after surgery but that didn’t last long, maybe 2 or 3 weeks at the most. I’m not a singer, so I wouldn’t know if my voice still hits all notes, but I’m assuming it does since everything feels & sounds the same as before surgery. In fact, my voice may be a bit clearer now – I had a fairly large goiter before.

Great question to ask any prospective surgeons to get their perspective/thoughts/statistics, etc.

Good luck to you & welcome to the forum!
Christina

[Nos]

#1181582

Shugie53 wrote:

Jason I totally agree with you if you are a singer thats too big of a risk. I thought that would only happen possibly if they did surgical removal, not the radioactive pill kind (?)

I’m Diabetic Type 1, so they don’t want to do anything with radiation, for some reason. Anyway, I expressed my concerns to my Endocrinologist, and he said his referral went to an experienced surgeon who graduated from Harvard, and has been practicing since 1991. Hopefully, he’ll be experienced enough to leave the vocal chords & nerves alone.

[adenure]

#1181583

Hi Jason,

I had my surgery about a year and a half ago and haven’t had any voice issues. I too like to sing in church, but do not officially sing in the choir since I have 4 boys to care for (including a nursing toddler). My older 3 actually are altar servers now, so it’s just the little guy I have to care for during the liturgy. Anyway… for the 1st three weeks after surgery, my voice was raspy and weak, tired easily, and I felt like I was talking from the upper part of my throat. About a month after surgery, it was better, but still I got tired easily and I couldn’t sing in my normal range. It did get totally back to normal though- I can’t remember how long- maybe a few months? I can sing now as I did then without any difference at all.

I am really happy I had surgery, but everyone is different. Good luck to you, and I hope all goes well.

[SueAndHerZoo]

#1181584

I had a TT on July 16th of this year and I have had no issues with my voice. I was talking just fine right out of the recovery room and continue to do so, not even an hour of temporary hoarseness.

My surgeon did a scope of my vocal cords during our initial consult to see if there were anything that might cause a problem and said everything looked fine – no worries.

I think a reputable surgeon who does many TT’s in a year is your best bet for not having your voice affected. It’s a very tricky surgery but if it’s performed by someone who does it often they know the precautions to take and the pitfalls to avoid.

Good luck.
Sue

[SallyB62]

#1181585

Do you have thyroid antibodies? If so, ask doc about precautions if even considering RAI.

For my thyroidectomy, the surgeon used a special instrument that has sensors to determine the vocal nerve paths. He uses this during all thyroidectomies to reduce the possibility of nerve damage. It did not add that much in cost in relation to the total TT cost. I am not a singer, but peace of mind was priceless.

I am a Grave’s disease patient, not a doctor. Just relaying my own experience.

Hope this helps.

[genuinruby]

#1181586

Jason,
Like you, I feared that I would not be able to sing again. Talking and singing are very different. I only sing for my own enjoyment, but, still it was important to me. It took a few months for me to get to where I felt my true voice was back, but it was there. When singing, a person will use the muscles differently and I had to wait until the “tightness” in my neck, caused by the healing process, dissipated. I believe a skilled surgeon will take good care of you. Also, as a side note, my eyes greatly improved after surgery as the antibody levels went down.

I wish you the best on your journey.

Ruby in Reno

[Megan]

#1181587

Jason,

I was afraid of losing my singing voice too when I got my thyroid removed. After speaking with my surgeon he told me that there was little to no risk in my case because he would isolate the vocal chords first to make sure no damage was done to them, in his words “only a sloppy surgeon damages the vocals during a thyroidectomy”. Even though I trusted him, I was still nervous.

Well I had the surgery this past June and I could not be happier with the results. My singing voice is the same as it used to be, the only difference I’ve experienced is it is harder to sustain notes longer, and it is harder to sustain high notes in my range (which lowered after the surgery but only by a small margin). The affects on my voice after the surgery may have had nothing to do with the surgery, it may have all been a coincidence but those were the things that I noticed. I’m lucky enough to have a vocal lesson program in my high school so I as able to get right back to lessons with my coach of three years and after working with him for only one month I’m able to sustain notes longer (not as long as before the surgery but we’re almost there!) and I have seriously improved my range.

I completely understand your hesitation when it comes to the thyroidectomy because I went through some of the same fears, especially with my voice. In my case with my thyroid being such a nuisance and such a prime/persistent issue in my life I was willing to take risks with my voice in order to have my thyroid removed.

I hope what I’ve shared helps! Good luck.
–Megan

[amosmcd]

#1181588

Hi, Jason–

I had a TT on April 30th, and now a little over 7 months later, I am still having issues with my voice. It tends to get hoarse if I talk a lot, and I’ve lost my upper range when I sing. I sing only for fun, have no real talent whatsoever except I can sing on key. My family all sings for fun. It’s been very disheartening. I finally made an appt to see my surgeon to follow-up. I’ll see her Jan 8th. My surgeon has never had any patient have permanent vocal issues, so I’m really hoping I am not her first.

I’m encouraged about reading that speech therapy may help. I chose surgery over RAI due to concerns about radiation. It’s a tough decision to make. I don’t think I could have chosen a better surgeon, based on her complication rate, so hopefully this will resolve.

I wish you the best of luck. A beautiful voice is a joy for others to hear. Would not want you to lose this gift.

Amy

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