Voice Problms Post-Op

[oodroadie]

It's not much of a concern, but I was wondering if anybody else had any voice problems after surgery. It has now been 16 days since surgery and I still really don't have a voice. The doctor says its from the tube that they put down your throat to help you breath, but I'm convinced that my voice should be back to normal by now. The doctor told me to give it another 2 weeks and if it isn't better he'll send me to an ENT (ear nose and throat dr.) and then also possible go for speech therapy (i know how to talk so i dont see how that will help). But the problem is that my voice is really low and raspy and I can't talk much louder than a whisper. It doesn't hurt or anything, I just can't talk. But again, I was just wondering if anybody else had this problem and if so, how long did it take for it to get better (if it ever did).

[chunky]

ENT is an MD who you want to look and see, that way he can assess any damage from the endotracheal tube that was placed in your thoat, ie: a tear as it was being inserted or just a reaction to the material of they use itself or it could be a number of things that only an ENT specialist can pick up.
Best of luck to you
D

[Discododi]

Hi Oodroadie,
I lost my voice after surgery as well. My husband says I did not speak for 10 days post-op. I had to go through speech therapy to re-learn how to form my words. I am not completely sure if the loss was due to the intubation for surgery, or some weird wiring issue in my brain post-op. (my voice is back as strong as ever. Have even sang in a rock and roll band since surgery;)

I was in speech therapy for about 9 months, even though I had my voice back shortly after surgery, my memory was very poor. Speech Therapy helped with memory techniques that I learned to use to adapt.

I hope you are doing well, Dodi