vocal cord

[Brewers7]

Has anyone who had vocal cord paralysis seen improvement after a year?  I am 19 months post op from what the doctors described as an "enormous" AN.  ( I don't know the exact size.)  I also had various complications (CSF leakage and MRSA) which delayed my recovery.  I have just recently started to see facial movement on the AN side.  I had a thyroplasty at 4 months.  It was very helpful with speech but I still have coughing spells and choking.  I saw my laryngologist about a month ago.  He scoped my vocal cord because my speech was so improved but he said that my left cord was still paralyzed.  I am assumming that it is probably permanent.  Anyone else with vocal cord experience?

[Tod]

Hi, I am only five months post-op on Monday. My left vocal cord is still completely paralyzed. I had neither CSK leakage or MRSA, but I was intubated for six days following a very long surgery. I have had two vocal cord injections, but the speech improvement never lasts more than a few days. I can at least eat and drink almost normally. This is also worsened by the fact that my saliva glands do not work most of the time.

Just before leaving on vacation my ENT working on this issue and I decided we would just watch it until February and then decide what's next. I see my neurosurgeon for another MRI on Monday and we'll see what he says.

I have only a breathy, hoarse loud whisper for a voice. I get terribly light-headed if I have to speak at length. It is very significant effort to speak.

I am sorry to hear yours as been paralyzed for so long. While I am hopeful that it is otherwise, I am well aware that this may be permanent condition for me.

I have found that thinking far more than I talk has actually hurt no one.

Best to you,
Tod

[Brewers7]

Ask your ENT about a thyroplasty.  Done with a local and very effective for speech.

[Tod]

Yeah, we talked about that being one of things we'll discuss in February. I don't want to do anything else until it has been a year. Everything else is healing and it has only been five months now.

Thanks though.

Tod

[Mei Mei]

Hi!
I had a vocal cord paralysis in 1988 at Georgetown University Hospital when I was having a Cervical Fusion of C 6/7 and they took the C 5/6 by accident closed up and realized it and opened up again and took the C 6/7 and cut the RLN that moves the Vocal Cord.   Then next week I realized that I had trouble breathing and talking loudly and saying dipthongs (combined vowels that require more support from the vocal folds) .   I consulted with my ENT in NYC and he referred me to Roger Crumly   (Friedman at House mentioned his name when I was describing the surgery because he is so famous for this).   He told me to wait for the 12 months and then to come out to Irvine Calif. and I stayed at the dorms and was admitted into the hospital for a one day stay to have an
Anastomosis of the RLN/Ansa Hypoglossi (the nerve that moves the tongue).   It took about five years to get reinnervation and it's still not completely right.   I still can't walk up hills without getting out of breath, but it's a lot better than before.

When I got the AN this year they were really concerned about this surgery because it was really close to the 8th nerve.   As it turned out my surgeon cut the 8th and now I am SSD.   Oh well.

Take care and stay cool this week end.

Mei Mei

[Mei Mei]

Here is the contact information for the Vocal Cord Paralysis Reinnervation Program at UC Irvine in California.   They expect you to stay there 10 days and I stayed at the dorms on campus during the summer when they were empty one year after my surgery once all hope for the nerve to come back was given up.

http://www.ent.uci.edu/VOCAL%20CORD%20PARALYSIS.html

Good luck to all of you with this.   Please PM me if you have more questions.

Vocal Cord Paralysis is hard to deal with.   I understand.   I still can't jog and run uphill, but I'm alot better after the surgery.   I can shout and sing but my voice is shakey.  You can hear it on facebook on a video of me singing to my grandson
SerounMeiMeiWang

Take care,

Mei Mei

[Tod]

Thanks Mei Mei. As I said, I am not going to do anything else until at least February 2011. So many other things are improving so much, I feel strongly I need to wait at least a year post-op.


But again, thank you.

Tod

[Mei Mei]

Yes, Tod.   That's what I did.   I was told to wait for the 12th month to contact anyone about follow up and to give the RLN time to re innervate naturally.

Take care,
Mei Mei

[Brewers7]

Mei Mei, Did your RLN reinnervate?  Susan

[Mei Mei]

Yes, that's what I said.   It took five years, but there's not full closure.  You can see it on the video that I have.   They don't make perfect closure, but it is much better than before the surgery.   I still can't keep up with people walking up hills and staircases and I've given up real cross country skiing.   I just fiddle around.  My singing voice is not the same.   You can hear me sing Happy Birthday to my grandson on Facebook under SerounMeiMeiWang   look at the Videos.   My voice quavers, but before the surgery, I couldn't sing at all.   It's much better now, but it takes time to re innervate.   It doesn't happen overnight.

Good Luck with it.   It's an easy surgery to recover from.   Not like an AN removal.

Take care,
Mei Mei

[Brewers7]

Sorry MeiMei.  I only looked at your Aug 2nd post.  Glad to hear that you can sing some now.  I sing only with my grandson.