Thyroidectomy Prep, Vocal Trills & Quotes

I am SO happy to finally be back on here and returning to blogging.  These past two weeks have been very busy and eventful and I definitely felt a void without posting last weekend.  Fortunately, my eventful week included birthday celebrations for family, a bachelorette party weekend, super bowl…followed by a snow day (!) a few days later.  This combined with a bunch of doctor appointments didn’t give me enough time to plan a new post until now.  Looking forward to sharing more about my journey and talking with others.  I’m really excited to have found some new followers and am learning so much from people who I have crossed paths with.

As always, I am starting with questions for readers.  These are focused on recovery since I am a few days away from my thyroidectomy…

1. What scar treatments have you used following any type of surgery and felt were effective?  I have been reading up on Bio-Oil, but am curious to hear from others about what has/has not worked regarding scars.
2. What T.V./documentary series are you currently binging on?  I enjoy a good binge once in a while and since I will be recovering over my February Break from teaching, I figured I should try a new show!
3. What is your favorite inspirational/positive quote?  I’m trying to load up on these before Friday because I am feeling a little bit of anxiety going under the knife.  The good news is the surgeon does around 9 of these a week, but I hate anticipation.

 

To recap what has been going on, my surgery was recently moved back a few days to February 17th instead of the 21st.  Luckily, I still will be able to recover over February Break, but I will be missing work on Friday.  I do not yet have the time of the surgery, but will find out in a few days.  I’m lucky to have my parents and husband coming with me that day and will be going home later that day.  Once the surgery is finished, my levels will be checked and I will start taking Synthroid in place of my Thyroid.  I’ll become the opposite of what I am now…hypothyroid vs hyperthyroid.  I will stop taking the Beta Blocker I am on now since I will no longer have the palpitations from the over active Thyroid.  I’m hoping that recovery will be smooth and that I can start researching and reading up on natural remedies for living without your Thyroid.  I am excited to be moving forward, and also very excited that this large lump of a nodule will no longer be there!

Also, as I mentioned last post, the surgeon recommended me to an Otolaryngologist for my vocal cords.  He then found a cyst on one vocal cord and callouses on the other that are completely unrelated to my thyroid despite the close location.  He recommended me to a voice therapist to start implementing some techniques to try to resolve my issues before considering vocal cord surgery.  I had my first visit with the voice therapist this week and it was the best I felt after any doctor appointment in months. Therapy will include implementing proper vocal cord hygiene as well as exercises to heal my injury.  There is so much that I did not know about taking care of your vocal cords.  A high number of my therapist’s patients are teachers who are misusing/overusing/abusing their voice.  The exercises that I am learning to do are called lip trills and they have already been effective. And while they are extremely effective, they are extremely bizarre and humorous.  Technically, a lip trill is pushing air over the lips, causing a vibration, kind of like blowing bubbles underwater.  They are paired with sound and pitch changes and it improves your breath support and the therapist explained that it is “shaking off the cyst”.

Basically…this is what lip trills look like….

I have to do these 3-5 times per day, so imagine what it looks like as I’m driving to work and home doing these.

Vocal Cord Hygiene Tips:

1. Staying hydrated throughout the day.
2. Using a facial steamer (getting one in a few days!) a few times per day to hydrate vocal cords as well as a humidifier while sleeping
3. Avoiding menthol and mint.  A good alternative is Luden’s or fruit candies.
4. Avoiding excess dairy and alcohol.  If consuming either, double up on your water intake.
5. Not staining and not whispering (who would have thought!)….I use a whisper-voice with my young students frequently, often when I am trying to get them excited about something.  Now, I’ve started using a voice that’s in between a regular speaking voice and a whisper…my therapist and I came up with the idea of naming it a “surprise party” voice to explain to my kindergartners.  So far, I’ve been better about using this voice.

 

Before wrapping things up, I want to give a very big thank you to a reader of mine who is also a dear family friend.  She recently sent me an excellent book,  You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay.  I highly recommend it for anyone who is willing to help themselves heal.  I have started the first section and look forward to reading it in entirety next week during recovery!

 

I want to end with a few quotes.  The next time that I post will be a whole new step in this process.  Unfortunately, I have to take a little bit of a break from working out, but am hoping to get back into my new routines soon!

 

Thanks for reading!