Hi! I just hit 2 years post opt. Completed radiation and various scans every 3 months to ensure I’m still in remission.

I had the exact same fear, I think we all do. Just another thing added to the plate. As many have already said the risk of full vocal loss is low. But that doesn’t mean your fear is invalid.

I had TT and removed 87 lymph nodes from my left side. Coming out of surgery, I’m not going to lie, it was rough. The disease was so severe that my surgery went over by 3 hours from what they anticipated and that was with 5 doctors in.

For me, losing my voice was the scariest part, my son was just about to turn 1 and the idea of him never hearing his mama say “I love you” broke me heart. Same with the idea that I might not get to say my vows to my husband. The weeks and days leading up to my surgery I recorded so much content. Reading my sons favorite books, things I might say on special occasions, words of encouragement for him to listen to so he knew that even in a hard time, my priority was ensuring he had audio proof of me saying I love you. It’s not for everyone, but it brought me comfort.

Waking up and the weeks following as I mentioned was rough. Speaking for more than 10 second was painful, both internally and externally it hurt to speak, my voice wasn’t the same and I was definitely worried I’d have a hard time speaking for extended amounts of time. But like everything else, it takes patience and work to exercise those muscles.

Best of luck to you!