We should probably have a subcategory for non-serious issues such as this. The question is: I have sung all my life, probably with more enthusiasm than talent, but at 2 years out from end of treatment, still am missing all the high notes. Is this common? The only singing I do these days is with the top down, the car full of friends, on the way to the beach with a 60's station blasting, so you know this is NOT a problem. I am just curious. I have other changed things about me which bother me not a bit, but this one still rankles just a tad.

Hi Joanna,

It took four years before I could actually sing again. I was just starting to enjoy being able to sing to the radio on my drives back and forth to the beach, when I got cancer the second time around, this time in the larynx. I will never sing again and cannot even listen to Christmas carols it breaks my heart so.

So take it easy. It does come back. Think of all the people on this board that are in bands and are able to sing again. Guess it depends on how much rads we had to the voice box.

Eileen

I have lost about 1/2 octave as well - I either have to dump a lot of the tunes I have sung for years or lower the key. I thought it would improve the more singing I did but it has not. At least I am not quit as "froggy" in the morning anymore.

I really get into whistling tunes sometimes and I have noticed the same thing with whistling on both the highs and lows. It gets so frustrating sometimes. I can't tell if it is from being dry or the tongue not working right.

Ed

I found it to be a long, sometimes frustrating, process when I tried to get back to the kind of singing I used to do (I was a first soprano in various choirs and small singing groups). Most of the difficulty was because of dry mouth problems. However, I've seen some real progress in the past few years as I've gotten better control over dry mouth with a combination of Salagen, Biotene and the ever-reliable water bottle. Between that and being in a group that does some fairly rigorous warm-up exercises before singing, I'm almost back to the range I used to have. (I discovered that on a good day I can make it to a high C!) I just have to focus more on enunciation because of my lopsided tongue.

Cathy

Ed, if you've had neck dissection it's probably because the nerve/muscles that control your lips were affected. I can't whistle at all anymore for some reason.

Bob

Thank you, friends. It is nice to have you to bounce this stuff off of. With regard to whistling, I was without bottom teeth for nearly a year and in addition to drooling (SO ladylike) I could not whistle, which is a problem when one has dogs. Now that I have some snazzy temporary lowers, the first thing I did was whistle, and get all excited about it, which caused the dental staff to take two or three steps back, but that's another story...

I'm not as far out from radiation as you guys, but I'm definitely Kermit the Frog in the AM. I'm assuming this is b/c the voicebox is so dry from lack of moisture during the night.

Can this damage our voicebox permanently? It was a question I'd planned to ask Dr. B at my next appointment, but since we're on the voice topic.....

Sabrina