Now Let's Scrub in ... and Meet the Surgeon

April, 2007

Prior to going to the surgeon's office I've confirmed that he attended a top medical school, is Board Certified, has never had a complaint filed against him and has an impressive resume. I took my list of 23 questions with me to the appointment and he happily answered them all. I feel very confident about my surgeon and optimistic about the surgery.

He examined my vocal cords during the visit. Two methods exist - one using a mirror, while the patient is supposed to physically hold their tongue out of the way and not gag. After several attempts he decided to move to more unpleasant method of inserting a scope through your nose to view the vocal cords. He sprayed by nose with 2 sprays, I a decongestant (I think) and another was a numbing medication. Using the second method we were able to finish the examination which, although not loads of fun, was definitely bearable, even for me. The examination showed my left vocal cord is not moving properly, which he said could be a coincidence or a result of the mass in my neck.

During the appointment he mentioned the very real possibility of damage to my vocal cords. He also said it is possible my voice may change and asked if I was a singer. At that comment I doubled over in laughter for a few seconds. While a sibling of mine is truly an accomplished singer, I was totally overlooked when singing abilities were being passed out. I think the best comparison I've seen so far to my ability is Cameron Diaz singing karaoke in "My Best Friend's Wedding". For those of you who have seen this movie, you know this means I'm an absolutely terrible singer - at least that's one less risk for me to worry about. I have also been described as having a "youthful" voice. This is really just a polite way of saying my voice sounds like a 12 year old girl, which is what my friends have told me previously. This comes in handy when dealing with telemarketers as I can honestly answer that neither my mother or father are home and I have absolutely no idea when they will be returning. After the appointment I'm relaying all of this very serious information to my husband when he says jokingly, "If one of the vocal cords of a woman with a 12 year old voice is damaged - does that mean she will sound like a 6 year old girl?" This struck me as being incredibly hilarious and provided me with the levity I needed at the time.