My mum had surgery last year and had her left thyroid taken out. Everything healed and she was fine. Just recently she had her right thyroid taken out because they found three lumps in it. It's now been almost three weeks and she still hasn't gotten her complete voice back. It's almost like she has larengitis, but obviously she doesn't. Is it possible that the second surgery damaged her vocal cords and if so, what can we do? If this isn't the case, is there something that can help her retrieve her voice back?
2006-11-07 21:50:35 · 2 answers · asked by ? 3 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Other - Diseases
When I had Thyroid surgery I was warned that one of the possible side effects was loss of voice - oddly enough they said it might affect my singing particularly (didn't maybe coz I was not Whitney Houston before the op) any how, YES, this could be a side affect from the Op. It IS possible the surgeon damaged your mums vocal chords whilst removing the right hand side of her thyroid gland. I'm sorry I don't know what might help her, other than to say three weeks isn't long, she may get better over time but I would say for sure go to the Doctors and see what they advise. It might be something completely different and unrelated to the thyroid surgery that needs checking out.
Good luck!
2006-11-07 21:57:44 · answer #1 · answered by Andy M Thompson 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is related to damage to the recurrent laryngeal nerve that supplies your larynx. It is one of the most common and dreadful complications of thyroid surgery. Thyroid surgery per se does not damage the larynx. I hope this helps.
2006-11-07 23:45:47 · answer #2 · answered by virtuoso_pianist 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋