Microlaryngoscopy Part II

Ok so I'm sure you're all dying to know what's happening with my voice... what did the other specialist say? Am I having surgery?

I'm going to try to keep this quick because I'm tired and need to go to bed, but here's the lowdown.

Last week I went to get a second opinion about whether I need surgery to remove my vocal nodules. This time the appointment was with both a surgeon and a speech pathologist, both at the same time.

They looked at my history, asked a lot of questions and then said my symptoms don't sound typical of nodules. Then they squeezed my tongue very hard again and put a metal tube with a camera on the end of it in my mouth (not up my nose thank god) and my vocal cords appeared on the TV screen. They got me to do various things with my voice (while still depressing my tongue) and watched the way the cords move. It's really quite amazing.

Then they said I don't have nodules.

And they showed me how the vocal cords were smooth and bump free. There is a slight swelling where the nodules used to be but certainly not the hard callousy lumps I was imagining. They said they couldn't operate because there was nothing to remove.

They also said my voice box is very "frothy". They showed me the froth around the larynx that shouldn't be there. Apparently it is acid from the stomach. Which is not good for the vocal cords at all. This could be the whole cause of my persistent voice problems. Which explains why my nodules have improved so much since I changed my diet.

They have put me on anti-reflux medication and said I should notice a difference in about 2 weeks. It has been a week and I still wake up with a very dry, burnt feeling in the back of my throat. I wonder if and when this is supposed to go away.

I also wonder how much the disappearing nodules can be attributed to change of diet & lifestyle, and how much is a result of the stuff one of my naturopath's gave me to put in my water (yes, one of my naturopaths!! i know...). It's very hard to say... the first surgeon said I definitely had nodules 3 or 4 weeks ago. I started putting the stuff in my water that same week. So maybe this is a wonder-cure or maybe I was just having a "good" day this time. Who knows???? Sometimes I wish I had an identical twin or a clone so that I could conduct experiments and her as my "control".

Anyway, the upshot is I'm not having surgery and in another week or so things might be looking dramatically better for my singing career...