Chronic Laryngitis?

An update -

Excision Biopsy done, and whilst I wasn’t enjoying the day it’s over and the experience was as good as it could be in the circumstances. All the staff I came into contact with (and there were a lot) were kind and professional.

A mildly amusing take-away from the day; the only difference I could discern between how private and NHS patients were treated was that when you’re being moved from one bit to another of the hospital, someone carried my bag and bits and bobs. NHS patients carried their own. 😂 Comforting from a clinical standpoint I think.

I have a sore throat from hell, as you might imagine and I’m a little shaky (system shock or still lingering effect from the General Anaesthetic, not sure).

Neck and jaw are stiff and uncomfortable from the position and pressure during the procedure, I have the weirdest bruise on the side of my tongue…didn’t even know that was possible! 🤷‍♀️
Those will all pass given a few days.

What won’t pass is that after the surgery the surgeon advised me that he wasn’t optimistic about what the biopsy would reveal. He’s saying it’s only grade l, or I think that’s what he said…

I’ll need a CAT scan of my chest and an MRI of my neck and further surgery using a laser - again not sure what that’s for (this was all just after I’d woken up in recovery so details are a little fuzzy)
Oh and Radiotherapy (but probably not Chemo - which is the bit I was most dreading if that’s how things turned out).

I will see him a week on Tuesday (darned Coronation bank holidays!) for the official results
and the ongoing plan with the ‘Multifunctional Team’ who take over from here.

So that’s where it is. I am, by turns, terrified, philosophical and trying to be optimistic (the surgeon did say he was confident of a ‘cure’ in the end, so I’m hanging onto that) but can’t help worrying about what the scans may reveal.

Almost two weeks after the excision biopsy and my voice, whilst far from normal is much improved. I have some tone back, albeit with a little hoarseness still, volume is still reduced but I think it may be a couple of months before it reaches ‘recovery’ - whatever that means.

No advice as yet, moving forward, but I’m composing a list of questions for the next ENT consultant, who is more of a specialist in this exact field.

The one thing the original consultant did say was that I shouldn’t drink neat spirits. Not that I ever have…never been a fan of spirits - I’m a red wine woman, which he said was completely fine. I still intend to keep any alcohol to a bare minimum.

I’ll keep this updated as and when I have relevant information.

Again, thank you all so much for indulging me. It has helped more than you know to be able to express the facts and feelings as this has unfolded for me. 💜

So, a bit of deja vu for me and anyone following this thread.

Second Excision Biopsy Microlaryngoscopy yesterday. This one was done by the more specialised ENT surgeon and at a different hospital - purpose built, only 6 years old, state of the art private hospital.

End result, my throat is significantly more painful this time, as I think this surgeon was determined to be a little more aggressive in how much tissue he removed in order to be sure he’d left none of the rogue cells in situ.

His immediate post op thoughts were that he’d seen nothing particularly sinister in the excised tissue but obviously Histology will tell the full story. Results on 7th July.

It was suggested by the theatre staff that I could pursue a refund of the fee charged by the first surgeon, since it merely resulted in a do over, causing further pain and distress. Not sure how I feel about that. I don’t think I’m inclined to follow that up since I’m sure he didn’t leave tissue in place deliberately and did, indeed, choose to refer me to a more specialised surgeon.

Anyway. Day 1 of recovery again. Strictly no use of my voice for 48 hours….something that is much harder than you’d think! I’ve been using Google translate which will do a text to speech function, but it’s a bit iffy - it’ll work for a while then suddenly stop. 🤷‍♀️ Charades can only get you so far!

Amusingly, seems my dog is psychic! My daughter reports that he was behaving oddly yesterday. Very subdued, lying by the door crying under his breath then suddenly leapt up and ran to her in excitement, jumping up and giving her kisses! A second later my text came through on her phone that the procedure was safely over.

Same thing again a couple of hours later - this time the text was the one saying they were allowing me home and could she come and pick me up! Dogs are weird! 💜

Gratuitous picture of my dog incoming!

Round two of Deja Vu..,

Had a third operation yesterday as the growth had once again come back. 😢

Much more aggressive this time, much more painful. Pretty spacy from the painkillers because I’m really not able to eat yet.

Not having a good time at the moment! 🙄