Ida, thank you for your post about your surgery. May I ask you some specific questions? I had type II thyroplasty done at Mayo exactly two months ago. Because the medical staff said that it would take 2 months for my voice to "get wherever it was meant to be", I am a bit worried and frustrated that this may be all I am going to get. The incision area is itching and still tender, I feel occasional tinges of pain, not to mention the throat muscles constantly straining. Occasionally I sound like a leaky propane tank, sometimes I just sound hoarse. It is extremely frustrating to try to talk one-on-one in a crowded room. I am certainly above the whisper I had the first two weeks after the surgery, but my volume has a lot to be desired. On the positive side, my voice is smooth, lacking the pre-surgery "catches". Some days I feel I am two steps backward, other days, a step forward. I feel that the incision area has more healing to go, and I am hoping that the voice will continue to improve with this healing. Ida, did you still have a lot of my similar complaints and frustrations at your two month mark? Has your volume continued to improve on a weekly basis? Do you still feel like you have to "strain" to speak? Did your medical professionals tell you that the tradeoff for having the smooth voice would be never being able to yell again? I am wondering just how "loud" they consider a "yell" to be. Have you been practicing singing and how is your singing voice? I find singing even more exhausting than talking. What have your friends and family said about the changes in your voice? Thank you in advance for any insights you can give me!
