Voice Sample 15 Weeks Post Surgery

15 weeks post surgery

It’s been 15 weeks since my SLAD/R surgery.   

I still have a weird sort a voice, to me it sounds a bit scratchy or raspy.   

I had a recheck appointment with Dr. Damrose at Stanford University yesterday, he assured me that I am doing great.  He said the Reinnervation will not occur until I am about 9-months post surgery.  When the nerves are cut what you get over the months is much like a Botox treatment, some people get really breathy, others go through the various stages of a high and low pitched voice.  Then once the Reinnervation begins to happen things will level out and the real changes will come about.  For me this will be in March.

I definitely have more volume but not a lot, I still use my voice amplifier when I teach and it seems that my voice gets tired if I try to talk loud for very long, with the amplifier I can talk softer and the sound is projected to the entire classroom.   

Even with the kind of voice I have, it is still better than what I experienced long term with Botox.   

I have been drinking water at times without a straw, it is rare that I choke anymore, though I still keep the main cup I drink out of as one with a built in straw.   

I have noticed that if I am tired or if I have a lack of sleep my voice is weak.  In a perfect world I’d have a great night of sleep every night, but I doubt it will happen every single day.  This is just an observation.

 

Voice Sample 10 Weeks SLAD/R

Time passes quickly!

It’s been 10 weeks since my SLAD/R surgery.   

I’m still dealing with this weird puberty type of voice.  It seems that it is high and it cracks at times.  Other times my voice is just tired and it sounds weak. 

I have also found that I’ve had some trouble drinking water, even though I use a straw it seems that I still choke.  I try to keep my chin down slightly and this helps, I am drinking much less water than I used to just because I worry about choking when I am at work and in public. 

I cannot raise my voice, though I can sing and that feels good!  I use my voice amplifier while I am at work and will be buying another to use at home this week, as the quality of the sound is so much better when I talk soft.   

My scar is healing up okay, it certainly doesn’t bother me to see it but I can still see the red line. 

 

 

Voice Sample 9 Weeks SLAD/R

The Puberty Stage

It’s been 9 weeks since my SLAD/R surgery.   

I’ve been hesitant to record anything or even write about my progress because I am going through the changing voice stage, a “puberty” type of change.  One hour my voice is high, the next hour it is deep, then it goes soft,  and then it is froggy sounding at some point.   

After having a good voice for so many weeks I’ve noticed that I have gotten very casual with my voice.  I forget that I do not have the capability at this point to produce much volume so I try and it just sounds awful (to me).  It is not a voice where there are spasms like I had pre-SLAD/R surgery, it is just a raspy or froggy sounding voice.  I haven’t liked this phase!  I find it strange how we get used to something so quickly, like my new voice, or adapting to having SD and dealing with it, and now I expect my voice to be perfect every single day.  It is not perfect. 

My best sound is still with my voice amplifier (microphone) that I use with teaching.  By using this I can talk really quiet and the sound is amplified and my voice is very smooth.  I do not use it at home though and when I leave campus I leave the amplifier.  

When I leave work, I will call out to people in the parking lot to say good-bye and they cannot hear me, my voice just cannot get any volume yet. 

On a good note, it is really nice to be able to sing in church.  I have only mouthed the words for years and now I really sing the songs.  I cannot sing any high notes and sound more like an alto, that’s okay though, it is so nice to sing!! 

I often take sips of water without a straw, I am fine doing this but it is still easy to choke so I use a straw for most of what I drink. 

 

Voice Sample 5-1/2 Weeks SLAD/R

5-1/2 Weeks under my belt!

It’s been 5-1/2 weeks since my SLAD/R surgery.  I thought I would address a few issues that had been discussed in an email from someone considering surgery.   

Over a year ago I had neck surgery, a discsectomy/fusion (ACDF), the incision in my neck was from one ear to the midpoint on my neck in the front, it took a full year for the incision to fade into the wrinkle of my neck.  In addition, because the neck has been cut, there was numbness around the incision area.  Just when I had the SLAD/R surgery the numbness was nearly gone, this was a full year later.  Lastly, the incision area always felt rather taut or had a full feeling as it was healing.  I almost felt as though I had a band around my neck or a turtleneck on all the time. 

These same sensations exist with the SLAD/R surgery.  It just takes time to heal.  Nerves do not heal over night, and if you have second thoughts about this surgery then it is probably not for you.  No matter what, this is major surgery, sure, you get your voice back, but it involves surgery and recovery that comes with issues and it is just not perfect.  The reinnervation, according to Dr. Damrose, takes a full year for the nerve function to work at a potential that is considered optimal.

The numbness, taut feeling on the neck, and pain I may have are so minor compared to what I gained to have the voice I have now that  I would not change a thing and I have no regrets.  I was in this 100% before surgery and am thrilled with the progress.  I am fully aware that this is the beginning and I will sound better as time goes on. 

I had 20+ years of Botox and never had injections that provided the quality of voice that I have now.  Some of you can get by with Botox and that is certainly an easier way to go versus surgery.     

Teaching has been very easy for me, I still use my voice amplifier and this works great for the volume in the room.  I still sound rather high pitched in the morning, my husband says I sound like a teenager, and my voice seems deeper in the evening.  I have no idea why this happens.  I want to add as a last note that I've had a few people call on the phone and ask to speak to me, they are quite surprised when they realize it IS me, one person the other night said I sounded like my younger daughter (age 25).  It is a good feeling to think the old me is returning!!

 

Voice Sample 4-1/2 Weeks SLAD/R

Teaching is going great!

It’s been 4-1/2 weeks since my SLAD/R surgery.  Each day gets better and better.  Last Tuesday, I taught two classes back-to-back and it went great!  I used my trusty voice amplifier and I felt good for both classes.

Last Thursday, I had three classes to teach, the last one was a night class, so it was a long day and I was worried about my voice going for that long.  YIPPEE, it was great!!  I have to admit though I was tired when the Thursday night class was over.  My voice was weak on Friday but back to normal on Saturday.   

I had some students in my classes who came up to me afterwards; they were ones I’ve had in classes before.  They told me I sounded great and sounded so different. 

My husband and I went to see my Mother-In-Law this weekend, so I was busy and away from home, my voice was pretty good and it feels good to be able to communicate again.  For years, I have avoided talking to people because it is so hard to be understood.   

My life has changed!  I find myself forgetting that I have a voice though.  I still have a bit of hesitation when I talk to people or I grab the phone to answer it. 

It has been ages since I’ve been able to sing at church, I mouth the words but a sound does not come out of my mouth.  This past Sunday we sang several patriotic songs, I decided to try it and sang the first verse of each song.  Wow, I could actually sing!  I still had a fear that if I sang (or talked) too much that I would not have much of a voice for the rest of the day.  This was not the case with singing this time, I was not able to get a range of notes, but I am sure I sounded as good as any other average person there. 

I still drink everything with a straw and now keep stainless steel straws in my purse, it is just better to be prepared, I am afraid to drink out of a glass and tilt my head back at this point.  It is easy to choke/cough if I’m not careful or I just take a big sip out of the straw.

 

 



I took a little "selfie" to try to get a picture of the scar.  I don't do anything to hide it and it seems to be fading, but it can still be seen a little bit.

 

 

Voice Sample 3-1/2 Weeks SLAD/R Surgery

3-1/2 Weeks Since Surgery!

It’s been 24-days (3-1/2 weeks) since my surgery.  It is hard to believe that this much time has passed by so quickly, and that I feel so good. 

Today was my first day back to work, though I only had office hours today and tomorrow I will teach two back-to-back classes.  I am nervous about it.

Healing seems to be going great, the incision area looks nice and I know it will get better with time.  The quality of my voice has really improved, each day I notice I have no hesitation to talk but still forget that I actually have a voice. 

 

For the most part the from week 2 through week 3 my voice was very smooth, just a few days ago I noticed that my voice would get these random higher pitches now and then.  I think this is most likely part of healing process. 

I am able to swallow all pills and drinking water is never an issue, though I always drink with a straw and carry straws in my purse.   

I’m still really excited about my voice and how things are going!  I was lucky to have 3-1/2 weeks off between quarters at the college, but in reality, it does not take this long to recover.  It just takes time to recover from any surgery, from being tired and undergoing anesthesia.

 

2-Weeks post SLAD/R Surgery

My post-op doctor visit two days ago was great.  The Resident Doctor did the initial voice recording and sprayed that nasty stuff in my nose so she could put a scope/microphone down to my vocal cords.  She seemed very pleased. 

When the doctor came in he was also pleased with my progress.  I mentioned that the right side of my head, on my skull area, over my ear, is still hurting (though not much), he said it would get better with time, the pain is a type of “phantom nerve pain” much like someone who has phantom limb pain would experience.  Because of the nerve splicing they had to do the nerve to my earlobe was permanently cut, I will never have feeling in my right ear lobe.  This is rather strange, the Resident Doctor said putting earrings on might be tricky.  I doubt I’ll be wearing any, Honestly I would not know if it was on, off, poking me, or if I accidently poked it in a new hole.  No biggie less is better! 

It took 3-hours to get to Stanford and about that to get home, traffic was good and so it was a long day.  I did a lot of talking on Thursday and on Friday I was whispery. 

I am doing great with drinking water and actually took a sippy-type of cup with a straw, on the trip Thursday and I did not choke on it once.  I did have more phlegm than I have had on Thursday morning, and since I really think there is some connection to foods I eat, this time I cannot connect the dots.  Maybe it was just a case of the nerves with going to this doctor appointment, so I was glad I brought a box of tissue with me in the car. 

The doctor said that there are no restrictions on what I can eat, drink, or talking at this point.  He said to use my own judgment on what works for me.   

Thursday when I stopped at the store on the way home, a very young girl checking me out asked if I had been cut on my neck, she said it looked like I got slashed.  I told her I had surgery, she then said that it looked awful and she was watching me and worried that someone cut my neck.  You can imagine that I flipped the visor down to get to the mirror and looked at my neck when I got in the car.  Ha, I thought the scar was looking pretty good at this point! 

 

Voice Sample 2-Weeks SLAD/R

Drinking Water!

Water, water, water~  Yum, I am able to drink several of these containers a day now.  What a difference it makes to drink water.  My head has to stay totally level, then I use this sippy type of reusable cup, it is perfect!  I tend to choke when I a regular glass and a straw with water.  I think with the addition of drinking so much more water that my overall health and healing will definitely improve.

I am finished with my antibiotics, though I am taking a few vitamins/supplements and some thyroid medication, so I still use the applesauce, a new unsweetened one now.  I do not need to cut any pills.

It seems that these changes came about overnight!  Talking is so easy now, when I answer the phone I am usually shocked at my own voice.  My husband understands me and usually tells me several times a day that he is so surprised I sound so good.

The phlegm/mucus issue is so much better.  Today I have only coughed up this stuff once using one tissue.  Quite a change from a week ago when I was going through more than a box of tissue a day, the thing is, all of these things get better with time.  I have noticed that anything with dairy causes the phlegm, so I have avoided all of it, even Greek yogurt caused extra phlegm.  While I love carrot juice, for some reason, I cough mucus after drinking it.  I mean carrots, who would think?  
 

10-Days under my belt!

10-days post surgery.  Goodbye forever to Thick It!  My advice to anyone thinking about surgery, buy the smaller size.  I got to the point where looking at the container made me gag.

I still cut up pills in half or quarter them.  I am on my last day of a 10-day round of two different antibiotics.  The bad part is the “nasty” Thick It was horrible and I could not drink plain water, so I use applesauce to get the pills down.

 

I am not an applesauce connoisseur, but I can tell you that after I used up the Seneca 100% Natural one, my sweet husband bought some Mott’s.  After using it to take my pills I thought it was disgustingly sweet, so after reading the label I discovered that it contained high fructose corn syrup, which was listed second after apples.  I don’t understand, does applesauce really need this extra sugar?  Well, jar will be visiting the garbage soon.

 

My voice is so much better.  Yesterday I went to church and several people commented that I sounded good, though I was soft.  It is easy to get worn out at this point, it feels so good to talk, and so I do.  It doesn’t take much to realize that my voice is wiped out and I am exhausted. 

I am able to eat just about everything now, though I long to have big gulps of water!  What can I say?  I’m a water drinker.  I can now drink little sips through a straw but not enough to quench my thirst or just feel like I am getting enough fluids.   

I am still very excited about my progress and having had this surgery.  I see Dr. Damrose for my post op appointment on Thursday.
 

Voice Sample 1-Week Post SLAD/R Surgery

1-Week Post SLAD/R Surgery - Bruised

Today it has been a week since surgery.  Wow, I honestly did not think this day would ever get here!  It just seems that for so long it was weeks away.

This past week has been both exciting and challenging.  I have a voice, yes I do!!  Now that is exciting! 

My neck is still swollen and bruised.  Okay, I bruise easily anyway, if you are going to have this surgery maybe you won’t bruise as I do.  A year ago, I had ACDF (Discectomy/Fusion) in my neck and I was also a bruised mess, probably due to my pale skin.

Day before yesterday, a Costco chicken tamale was screaming from my refrigerator, “eat me, eat me” and so I did, transitioning to my first solid food.  Um, this was not a good choice.  It was just too spicy and the taste just stayed with me way too long, though I did not choke while eating it. 
 

I have been drinking Naked Green Machine Juice and eating applesauce, it was yummy but the juice never did quench my thirst.  Yesterday I tried carrot juice and immediately choked, though I tried it later and in tiny sips with a straw I was okay, it is much better for quenching the thirst, I also had it this morning and it was really yummy!

The strange thing is- in the hospital, I thought the Thick It was A-OK, it has a “cereal-like” taste, in a weird way, maybe it smells like cereal instead of tastes like it.  When I got home and drank the stuff, it almost makes me gag, it reminds me of the hospital and having to take pills, so buy the small container if you are planning on having this surgery.

 

I am taking two different antibiotics and I still have to cut these up to swallow them.  Right after surgery I had to have them cut into 8 small pieces, I am now to the point where I can cut them in half and take them.  Applesauce works the best to take pills, I know this is strange and I never would have done this, but a spoonful of applesauce will help a pill go down!   

 

The phlegm or mucus is just a crazy thing, ugh.  I go through 1-1/2 boxes of tissue a day, just spitting into a tissue every few minutes, it makes me wonder where the mucus comes from and where it has been all these days, months...  Living in the hub of the allergy area of Central California, 2-days ago I thought that maybe the mucus was really due to allergies and so I decided to take a Claritin-D.  This is something I won’t do again.  I did have about four hours where I was free of this annoying phlegm, though the Claritin-D kept me awake all day and through the night.  I slept 5-minutes here and there throughout the night and woke up feeling awful. 

  

A long nap, and a great dream, helped me to feel much better.  My dream was one where I was talking, I mean talking normal, with a voice!  I even yelled out to my dogs in my dream, in a normal voice and they came running.  When I woke up, I was shaking my head up and down and smiling that it was great to have a voice.
 

Hospital Stay

When I got home, after 3 days of not being able to shower, it felt good to un-wrap the bandage on my neck and wash my hair.  Though the compression bandages are supposed to stay on through the weekend, I have to say they are rather itchy.

Food is boring now!  The apple juice the hospital dining room sent was pre-thickened and I had a choice of creamed carrot, creamed chicken and creamed tomato soup.  At home I had “Naked Green Machine Smoothie” which was just the right consistency.  I tried some canned chicken noodle soup but I could not swallow the noodles, even though I dumped out all the broth because I did not want to use the Thick-It stuff.

 

Certainly not a favorite picture (below) but this is just out of surgery, in recovery.  I have no idea why I am smiling- could be the drugs.

 

Voice Sample 4-days post-op SLAD/R

Day-3 Post Surgery

Hurray – surgery is complete, now I am waiting to be discharged from the hospital.  Originally, surgery was scheduled for 4-5 hours with a one-night stay in the hospital. 

I got to the hospital Friday morning with one of the worst migraines I’ve ever had!  The anesthesiologist gave me a shot of Zofran and also put an anti-nausea patch behind my ear.  I was happy when they finally took me to the OR and I knew I would be put out of my misery (headache).   

Surgery took about 7.5 hours because of some challenges and complications.  A year ago, I had a discectomy and fusion, the incision was made on the front right side of my neck.  Dr. Damrose went in partially through this old incision and extended it more to the front.  Finding the nerve on the left side was perfect and like a textbook case (so he said).  On the right side there was so much scar tissue that after cutting it out they realized the scar tissue had grown around the donor nerve they wanted to use, this nerve was too short so they went deeper into my neck, and found another nerve and were able to splice two nerves together to make a longer one.  

The first day post-surgery was hard to swallow, it felt as though it was the worst sore throat I’d ever had in my life.  Thank goodness, for the vacuum aspiration tube I have had here by my bed to vacuum and spit out the phlegm/mucus.  I have been on a “nectar thick full liquid” type of diet.  It is very boring and consists of cream of rice, creamy soups and pre-thickened apple juice. 

This is the third day in the hospital and I am so glad I get to go home! 

 

Oh I might add that even though I have a soft whispery voice, it sounds much better than it did on Friday! 
 

SLAD/R Surgery 1-day away!

With my SLAD/R surgery just a day away, it seems that I have a lot to do to get ready.  I bought a container of “Thick It” a few days ago, the choice was a very small container for $9 and the large container for $23, I opted for the large.  I hope that I won’t need this stuff too long, it does not sound appealing!

Today I have presentations in my last class, so I brought home my voice amplifier last night because I will not be lecturing today.  I am thinking about buying a new system, though this has worked great for several months, but it just does not carry sound in a large room very well and I'd like to try another.

 

Voice Sample Pre-Surgery