Did anyone's voice become nasal following tonsillectomy? Was it a permanent change? Does radiation mess with your voice too?

I sound like Lily Tomlin's Ernestine the Operator, for those old enough to know who that is. My voice and diction were crystal clear before. I make my living talking so this is no small matter to me.

I didn't ask my surgeon about my voice, but he did tell me that I'll soon stop feeling like food and drink are heading up my nose. Maybe that's connected. I have no idea what is going on anatomically here, but my tonsillectomy created quite an excavation site (23-gram tumor plus retro node).

I'm embarrassed to fret about something so frivolous when others here have endured far greater losses, and I know I'll have more to adjust to post-radiation. I just feel very sad about how unpleasant my voice has become.

I'm sorry to hear that, mamacita. I noted a change in my voice as well but it went the other way: it got deeper. But this happened more than a year after my treatment. So I'm figuring that changes can happen progressively. Maybe your voice will return to all or close to what it was before all this mess. You might also consider speech therapy, which many people here including myself have found helpful.

All in all I'd say hang on and be patient. Your surgery was barely a few weeks ago and you've still got a ton of healing to do. Mainly, congrats on getting through it! You're on the road now.

Oh and you don't say if you're having further treatment or not. That can certainly affect voice among other things.

It could also be that if you're in pain you are using more head voice. I have no doubt it can affect your vocal cords depending on where the radiation is aimed. I can tell you my voice is normal. But I didn't lose it either during treatment. My radiation painted my nodes but was aimed at my tongue primarily. Hugs girl.

Thanks for the reassurance David and Cheryl, I will work on the patience thing

My tonsils rarely hurt now, but I think I know what you mean by "head voice" and I may be doing that. I see the SLP again around the 23rd and will ask her if I'm not closer to normal by then. She has me on a puree diet until then for swallowing issues and I hope she releases me for solid food so I can have even one week of "memory meals" before radiation starts interfering with my eating!

It's only natural that our voices change to a degree with OC. Surgeries, biopsies and treatments alter the physical structure of our mouths, throats and other structures (I was surprised at the size of the chunks of flesh they took out of my throat!)

I also make my living with my voice. I speak on the phone all day in my job. I'm also a professional musician (guitar/vocals). When I met with my team at Hopkins, one of my major concerns was being able to perform again. While I don't make a living performing full time anymore, it still is/was a rather substantial part of my income. I know my RO tailored my rad field to spare my larynx and vocal chords. Despite that, I had no voice by the end of treatment. There were a period of a couple of weeks I was at a whisper.

At 15 weeks post Tx I have my speaking voice and it sounds normal. However, by the end of the day, I'm hoarse and my voice is tired. Lack of saliva complicates this as well. Unfortunately, my singing voice has definitely been compromised, at least for now. I have my lower register but I sound hoarse. My upper registers are not there yet and I lack control. My last scope showed that my throat has narrowed due to scar tissue from the surgeries and biopsies. My ENT/Surgeon feels we can correct this with therapy to break up the scar tissue.

While I feel my voice will return eventually, it may be up to a year before I know the end result and it more than likely will be different in timbre and range.

Patience and work will be the key in this instance I'm afraid. As much as it pains me, it will be a year or more before I can return to the stage.

Positive thoughts and prayers

"T"

I'm another with a deeper voice. I have a ring of scar tissue (feels like it's just below my Adam's apple) that I suspect is the culprit.

In my case (and I suspect many other's as well) the very thick saliva that my surviving salivary glands produce likes to hang on that scar tissue. And it usually hangs below. Sometimes, it annoys the living **** out of me, because the thick saliva seems to cling to it and the surrounding tissue, and when I try to cough it up, my cough just passes over it. Drives me nutz, sometimes.

And yes, thank you very much, Monsieur would very much enjoy a slice of Fromage to accompany that whine... (he said with a friendly grin...)

Radiation can also damage, paralyze the vocal cord or flap. Mine on the left side has paralysis, but not enough for a collagen injection.