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Hi all!  Whereas this isn't VFS, it is surgery on a vocal cord. 
The protocol for silence is the same, but not as long.
Yes I'm concerned about general anesthesia, but another major concern is the need to clear my throat or cough.  I typically have a quite viscous post nasal drip all the time.  It can be controlled with benedryl somewhat (not 100%), but I get quite lethargic while on it. 
I can deal with lazing about till I'm healed, but there will be moments where spontaneously I will need to cough or clear my throat.
I have been given a tip from Ashley (tgirlamc) to drink a cold drink to stop the urge.
Can anyone else share their tips in this matter?  @Kendra ?
I know this is short notice, all ideas are welcome!

Hugs and smiles, Jessica

Quote from: Jessica on November 21, 2018, 01:04:57 PM
Hi all!  Whereas this isn't VFS, it is surgery on a vocal cord. 
The protocol for silence is the same, but not as long.
Yes I'm concerned about general anesthesia, but another major concern is the need to clear my throat or cough.  I typically have a quite viscous post nasal drip all the time.  It can be controlled with benedryl somewhat (not 100%), but I get quite lethargic while on it. 
I can deal with lazing about till I'm healed, but there will be moments where spontaneously I will need to cough or clear my throat.
I have been given a tip from Ashley (tgirlamc) to drink a cold drink to stop the urge.
Can anyone else share their tips in this matter?  @Kendra ?
I know this is short notice, all ideas are welcome!

Hugs and smiles, Jessica

@Jessica
Dear Jess:
I have been very aware of your upcoming surgery and I have been counting down the days "with" you. 

I know that this has been very stressful for you and I want to offer my hugs and support to you as much as I can to help ease your apprehension.....   it will be in your doctor's hands and in God's hands... 

I have not tips about this to offer as some of your other friends have done... all I can do is keep you in my thoughts and let you know that I will be thinking of you on your surgery day and your recovery period.
I am trusting for a good report and good results.
Hugs and more hugs,  [emoji173]
Danielle

@Alaskan Danielle

Quote from: Alaskan Danielle on November 21, 2018, 01:18:49 PM
@Jessica
Dear Jess:
I have been very aware of your upcoming surgery and I have been counting down the days "with" you. 

I know that this has been very stressful for you and I want to offer my hugs and support to you as much as I can to help ease your apprehension.....   it will be in your doctor's hands and in God's hands... 

I have not tips about this to offer as some of your other friends have done... all I can do is keep you in my thoughts and let you know that I will be thinking of you on your surgery day and your recovery period.
I am trusting for a good report and good results.
Hugs and more hugs,  [emoji173]
Danielle

Thank you dear friend 🌸🌸🌸

My doctor has prescribed a few doses of Ativan, Michelle calls them..."Don't give a damns", and that is quite apropos.  I had them before another out patient surgery, but was under twilight sedation...... I didn't give a damn.

Hugs, Jess

To help control the tickle, I would keep ice water handy. I would then take a small sip of water, warm it in my mouth for a few seconds and then swallow it. Another alternative is hot tea. You can use regular tea or one of the flavored caffeine free ones. I also found that soup felt really good as a meal option.

If the urge to cough hits or the mucus builds up, I found leaning forward and exhaling with your vocal cords totally relaxed can replace clearing your throat. It's not as effective as a good throat clearing and you may need to do it more than once but it managed to get me through the silent period without any problems.

@Dena

Quote from: Dena on November 21, 2018, 04:40:00 PM
To help control the tickle, I would keep ice water handy. I would then take a small sip of water, warm it in my mouth for a few seconds and then swallow it. Another alternative is hot tea. You can use regular tea or one of the flavored caffeine free ones. I also found that soup felt really good as a meal option.

If the urge to cough hits or the mucus builds up, I found leaning forward and exhaling with your vocal cords totally relaxed can replace clearing your throat. It's not as effective as a good throat clearing and you may need to do it more than once but it managed to get me through the silent period without any problems.

Dena, thank you so much.  I know how to do that.  When I've needed to clear but be quiet, I do this.  I was afraid it would do harm, I guess it doesn't.

Hugs, Jess

Jess,

Here are some thoughts I typed up after healing from voice surgery (mine was with Dr. Haben).

For relieving cough, he actually recommends gentle throat-clearing (the 'impatient' sound) as opposed to coughing or swiftly moving air. He also recommends warm tea with lemon and honey as the overall best cough suppressant - the prescription stuff is only for the desperate. Ideally, you want raw, unfiltered honey - it will say this on the package and the honey will not be 'clear' or translucent. Manuka honey is the gold standard. Do not add it to hot tea! Let the tea cool for several minutes until it no longer feels hot to the taste at all, then add the honey. This will preserve the healing properties of the raw honey at their optimal level. Likewise, a half of a fresh squeezed lemon will be more beneficial to your healing than the preserved stuff in a bottle. (This is culinary therapy! Treat it as such.)

Immediately post-op I did have significant phlegm, which I was able to clear by just exhaling with a little force. I did my best to only gently clear the throat a few times as needed. I had no full-blown coughs at all. As you're waking up they gave me ice chips to suck on, which I highly recommend. Constant, small sips of something warm or cold really helps suppress the urge to clear mucous. I also had the strong urge to burp, but recalled that HouseHippo had issues with this, so I resisted just in case; and it actually went away without incident on its own before I left the hospital.

If you're going to be out and about a lot, I highly suggest having a handheld noisemaker - I never actually needed the bicycle bell I bought for this purpose, but you want some way to rapidly communicate the equivalent of a "Hey!" on a second's notice if needed.

Get the following apps for your phone: "Speak" and "Megatext". You can queue up phrases in each as needed (note - Megatext won't let you use punctuation unless you upgrade). Be sure to test different voices and speeds in Speak so you can be understood clearly. I tried them all and found "(English) Nicky" with pitch at ~1.15 and speed at .45 was easy for others to understand. If you have a bluetooth speaker for your phone voice to speak through, you'll be in great shape  ;D

Early in healing, I actually didn't really get random urges to cough (as opposed to just clear my throat) except for a few moments in days 3-6, since the sensation of the suture in the throat became a little more of an irritating than an "oh, right, that's there" tickle, but light sips of honey lemon tea seemed to help. I could also feel the vocal folds move a bit if I yawned, sneezed, or was holding back laughter (all unvoiced of course), so I did my best to suppress those functions. In week ~3 there were a few minor coughing fits, but it wasn't a big deal.

Quote from: Jessica on November 21, 2018, 01:04:57 PM
Hi all!  Whereas this isn't VFS, it is surgery on a vocal cord. 
  I typically have a quite viscous post nasal drip all the time.  It can be controlled with benedryl somewhat (not 100%), but I get quite lethargic while on it. 

Hugs and smiles, Jessica

I also have to fight Post Nasal Drip.  But there is way better stuff available that your doc can prescribe you against it.

The stronger stuff is called Azelastine HCL Nasal Solution, and the little weaker stuff is Fluctisone Propionate Nasal Spray.
Ask your doc to prescribe either, and you do not have to clear your throat anymore.  You will not have any of the side effects common with anti histamines (drowsiness, etc.)

@OU812 @Dietlind

Quote from: OU812 on November 21, 2018, 05:35:31 PM
Jess,

Here are some thoughts I typed up after healing from voice surgery (mine was with Dr. Haben).

For relieving cough, he actually recommends gentle throat-clearing (the 'impatient' sound) as opposed to coughing or swiftly moving air. He also recommends warm tea with lemon and honey as the overall best cough suppressant - the prescription stuff is only for the desperate. Ideally, you want raw, unfiltered honey - it will say this on the package and the honey will not be 'clear' or translucent. Manuka honey is the gold standard. Do not add it to hot tea! Let the tea cool for several minutes until it no longer feels hot to the taste at all, then add the honey. This will preserve the healing properties of the raw honey at their optimal level. Likewise, a half of a fresh squeezed lemon will be more beneficial to your healing than the preserved stuff in a bottle. (This is culinary therapy! Treat it as such.)

Immediately post-op I did have significant phlegm, which I was able to clear by just exhaling with a little force. I did my best to only gently clear the throat a few times as needed. I had no full-blown coughs at all. As you're waking up they gave me ice chips to suck on, which I highly recommend. Constant, small sips of something warm or cold really helps suppress the urge to clear mucous. I also had the strong urge to burp, but recalled that HouseHippo had issues with this, so I resisted just in case; and it actually went away without incident on its own before I left the hospital.

If you're going to be out and about a lot, I highly suggest having a handheld noisemaker - I never actually needed the bicycle bell I bought for this purpose, but you want some way to rapidly communicate the equivalent of a "Hey!" on a second's notice if needed.

Get the following apps for your phone: "Speak" and "Megatext". You can queue up phrases in each as needed (note - Megatext won't let you use punctuation unless you upgrade). Be sure to test different voices and speeds in Speak so you can be understood clearly. I tried them all and found "(English) Nicky" with pitch at ~1.15 and speed at .45 was easy for others to understand. If you have a bluetooth speaker for your phone voice to speak through, you'll be in great shape  ;D

Early in healing, I actually didn't really get random urges to cough (as opposed to just clear my throat) except for a few moments in days 3-6, since the sensation of the suture in the throat became a little more of an irritating than an "oh, right, that's there" tickle, but light sips of honey lemon tea seemed to help. I could also feel the vocal folds move a bit if I yawned, sneezed, or was holding back laughter (all unvoiced of course), so I did my best to suppress those functions. In week ~3 there were a few minor coughing fits, but it wasn't a big deal.

Thank you for these tips!  I am never in short supply of local unfiltered honey and we have a Meyer Lemon tree for freshness guaranteed.

I hadn't thought of a hand held noise maker before, I definitely see the use it this!

I write much faster than I type, so I'll have a pad and pencil at the ready.
And I am retired, talking to people is only an option now, not a requirement.

Sneezing comes in waves of three for me, they say it's good luck to sneeze 3 times in a row.
But silently will be a challenge, along with that satisfying burp at the end of a nice meal.........
of soup.

Quote from: Dietlind on November 21, 2018, 06:26:22 PM
I also have to fight Post Nasal Drip.  But there is way better stuff available that your doc can prescribe you against it.

The stronger stuff is called Azelastine HCL Nasal Solution, and the little weaker stuff is Fluctisone Propionate Nasal Spray.
Ask your doc to prescribe either, and you do not have to clear your throat anymore.  You will not have any of the side effects common with anti histamines (drowsiness, etc.)

I have tried both previously, they worked for a bit...then stopped.
Benedryl has been the only thing that consistently works.
I'm considering using Afrin or Duration for a short spell.  That has always worked also.

Thank you both for the support!
Hugs and smiles from a California girl

 Hi Jess,

From someone who can't verbalise

I use an App 'Talk For Me' it is a text to speech App and it costs nothing and works well for basic sentences until you can verbalise again. You can type in and archive short sentences and just select them and it talks for you. Quite handy for shops and stuff and basic messages.

Also of course a note pad and several pens. Have a few essential messages written down, name and address etc
and of course the essential message:

I can't talk can you help me with .....

Hi Jessica,

My doctor prescribed a medication to suppress coughing. He also perscribed a liquid cough suppressant that had codeine. It really helped me.

There was mucous and the best thing I found was to swallow and not try to get it out.   I know it sounds gross but for me it was much easier on your throat to swallow than risk a gentle expel. After about two weeks then I tried the gentle expel sometimes.

Drink fluids that are easy on your throat.

Surgery of any kind is never fun...I hope the surgery goes well and you get the issue sorted...

Take care

Liz

If the doctor prescribes you Tussionex, be careful with that stuff. I was told to take a dose before I got on the airplane for the trip home and I fought falling asleep all the way home. From what I have seen on the web, overdosing is very dangerous with it and normally you only use it once a day.

Quote from: Rachel on November 22, 2018, 06:55:31 PM
Hi Jessica,

My doctor prescribed a medication to suppress coughing. He also perscribed a liquid cough suppressant that had codeine. It really helped me.

One always has to be very careful with codeine.  Most metabolism convert codeine into morphine, and it can lead to any of the dependency problems known to morphine!

Jess,

  I have not advice or tips for you before or after your surgery as I have no such experience. I can tell you that I will be anxiously awaiting word about the success of the operation. I do believe it will be a success. They silent period I am sure will not be fun but I know that you can handle it. You will be okay . Of that I am sure. I guess I do have two suggestions after all. Listen to the doctors orders and for once, will you keep your mouth shut?

Laurie

@Cindy @Rachel @LizK @Dena @Dietlind @Laurie @Michelle_P

Quote from: Cindy on November 22, 2018, 04:59:37 PM
Hi Jess,

From someone who can't verbalise

I use an App 'Talk For Me' it is a text to speech App and it costs nothing and works well for basic sentences until you can verbalise again. You can type in and archive short sentences and just select them and it talks for you. Quite handy for shops and stuff and basic messages.

Also of course a note pad and several pens. Have a few essential messages written down, name and address etc
and of course the essential message:

I can't talk can you help me with .....

Cindy, this seems similar to the apps that @OU812 mentioned.
Perhaps I will check them out.  I'm not sure how long I will need to keep silent.

Quote from: LizK on November 22, 2018, 07:59:21 PM
Surgery of any kind is never fun...I hope the surgery goes well and you get the issue sorted...

Take care

Liz

Thank you Liz, I'm terrified of surgery!  This will be my first time under GA.  What a thing to be scared of in my situation.

Quote from: Rachel on November 22, 2018, 06:55:31 PM
Hi Jessica,

My doctor prescribed a medication to suppress coughing. He also perscribed a liquid cough suppressant that had codeine. It really helped me.

There was mucous and the best thing I found was to swallow and not try to get it out.   I know it sounds gross but for me it was much easier on your throat to swallow than risk a gentle expel. After about two weeks then I tried the gentle expel sometimes.

Drink fluids that are easy on your throat.

Rachel, this sounds like an option I could employ if needed.  Of course keeping in mind the cautions of Dena and Dietlind.

Quote from: Laurie on November 23, 2018, 09:33:58 PM
Jess,

  I have not advice or tips for you before or after your surgery as I have no such experience. I can tell you that I will be anxiously awaiting word about the success of the operation. I do believe it will be a success. They silent period I am sure will not be fun but I know that you can handle it. You will be okay . Of that I am sure. I guess I do have two suggestions after all. Listen to the doctors orders and for once, will you keep your mouth shut?

Laurie

Thank you Laurie, Michelle will be notified if I wake up.
I believe I have already mentioned earlier the need to 'just shut up'.
That plan is implemented already.


Hugs and smiles from a California girl

Quote from: Jessica on November 24, 2018, 09:43:01 AM


Thank you Liz, I'm terrified of surgery!  This will be my first time under GA.  What a thing to be scared of in my situation.

Just relax GA is pretty patient friendly these days.  No nausea after waking up.  It really feels as if you had a nice relaxing sleep, and you wake up from it still a little bit drowsy!

Those surgeons do these jobs as their common routine, and the location of the surgical wound makes it very little prone to any post surgical infections.  Your body's saliva is a pretty good bactericidal liquid (otherwise many of us would have died already on all kinds of food poisonings), ad it will protect you against nasty bacteria.  Furthermore, the site of the surgery is generally clean, and just because of this, nothing negative should happen to you.

Just relax and look forward to have a healthy voice system again! And not being able to speak may have the additional bonus that other blabber mouths don't speak that much either?

@Dietlind

Quote from: Dietlind on November 24, 2018, 10:50:23 AM
Just relax GA is pretty patient friendly these days.  No nausea after waking up.  It really feels as if you had a nice relaxing sleep, and you wake up from it still a little bit drowsy!

Those surgeons do these jobs as their common routine, and the location of the surgical wound makes it very little prone to any post surgical infections.  Your body's saliva is a pretty good bactericidal liquid (otherwise many of us would have died already on all kinds of food poisonings), ad it will protect you against nasty bacteria.  Furthermore, the site of the surgery is generally clean, and just because of this, nothing negative should happen to you.

Just relax and look forward to have a healthy voice system again! And not being able to speak may have the additional bonus that other blabber mouths don't speak that much either?

Thank you, this information does make me feel a bit more at ease.

As far as blabber mouths, remember the sage words of the Scarecrow....

Quote"Scarecrow: I haven't got a brain... only straw.
Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain?
Scarecrow: I don't know... But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking... don't they?
Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right."

Hugs, Jess

Hey Jess,  I was just wondering how your voice is progressing?.... By my calculations, you are at your 6 month mark. As my surgery date creeps closer ~2 months to go.... I am reading as much and learning as much as I can :)