Thyroid Surgery Question! Please Answer If You Can.

Question

I had a total Thyroidectomy on October 24th.  The surgery went well and I feel good.  However, now I am losing my voice?  It is very raspy and horse almost like laryngitis.  I have has a bad cough since I got out of the hospital (Actually both of my kids have stayed home all week because of thier cough).  Here is my question:

I never had any speach problems after the surgery, but I have had a bad cold....Is losing my voice just a coincedence, or should I be worried about nerve damage?  I saw my general doctor yesterday, and he said it is just a coincedence and that if there was damage it would have happened right after the surgery.  I was so happy with how everything was coming along, but now I'm freaked out about this.  Any ideas?

Thanks!
Karl (BMXDAD)

bmxdad · Answer

My voice is almost 100% back now....What a ride this has been.

lexie20 · Answer

It is funny because right after my post where I had no problems talking. Two days right after post my voice would go in and out. Hard time swallowing. I am actually keeping a diary of my events every day.so when I go to a Dr I have it there for them to read. I am not a hypochondriac, nor do I even want to keep this diary, but especially with this :gland" it is so confusing. .

MANmom · Answer

I have heard of voice loss for many weeks, then it all comes back at once, kind of overnight...hope that will be your experience.

nissah46 · Answer

I lost my voice for 6 weeks immediately after surgery.  I had a paralyzed vocal cord, it got better without any treatment.  
Trish

lexie20 · Answer

I that had surgey Oct 16th, TT (Papilarry and FollicularCancers) Follicular was minimally evasive.  They took lymph nodes, did something with parathyroids)   I lost my voice prior to go for surgery alot.  It was a real strain to talk, but since the surgery that is gone.

mrsomes · Answer

The odds that this is related to the surgery at this point are probably small but I would call your surgeon just to make sure.  It could be a cold.   It could also be because you are overusing your voice.  I had no problems with my voice right after surgery but I did find, for a few weeks, that my voice would get tired or raspy if I did too much talking.   My surgeon told me that was mainly because of the tubes used during surgery and it can take a few weeks to get back to being able to talk normally for the amount of time that we are used to.   By the end of 4 weeks everything was fine.   Very glad to hear that your overall recovery is going well.

hope4thegoodstuff · Answer

I too have heard of people get raspy and hoarse but always right after surgery...my voice seemed lower to me, but everyone else said it seemed normal...I could not do any singing, which most of my family appreciated greatly, but I did notice that there were notes that I couldn't hit when talking and my voice would break when I tried to sing....way bad.  It was probably about 3 months after, when I could sing again, in the car, by myself, loud and off key, but normal for me.....

If it's a cold try making some warm water and sweeten it with honey then add some lemon and see if that helps...Honey and lemon always helps me when I have a cold.

TamraW · Answer

I know a woman who had parathyroid surgery a few months ago, and she lost her voice directly after surgery, not a week later. Now she goes to therapy. 

:) Tamra