My situation is closely related to yours.
I had a paralyzed vocal cord after surgery. It lasted 6 weeks and then my voice returned to normal.
I am a singer and did have hoarseness and swallowing issues. I had four nodules, three in the right and one in the left. I opted to have the right side removed to see if that helped, it did. I have not had the swallowing issue since that. I could also sing, although I have not tried to sing for more than 15 minutes. SInce then they found cancer, so I had to have the other side removed. I am 2 1/2 weeks post surgery, seems like my voice is fine. If you are concerned about the voice, you MUST GET THE VERY BEST SURGEON, ONE WHO DOES 50 THYROIDS A YEAR AT LEAST. I cannot stress this enough, you need to protect the vocal nerves. My surgeon actually left a thin film of tissue around the vocal nerves to make sure that I did not have any knicks, and I have vocal function. Ablation should kill that remaining tissue. Good luck.