So, last week I completely lost my voice for the third time since September. Enough enough enough. This time it was out for 2 days, and then kind of got grumbly for the rest of the week. I emailed Dr. Stan, and he wants me to come back to see the throat surgeon I saw last time, just to make sure things haven't gotten worse on the vocal cord front. To me, it's hard to quantify "worse", but since I've been totally silent three separate times in such a short amount of time, I think it's definitely worth getting checked out. I do notice that my voice fatigues at night when reading to Reagan after about 10 minutes or so now. Beyond that, how does one quantify such things? I have no idea.
The parotid gland still acts up every few weeks or so. I don't mind the salty taste in my mouth. That's not big deal. But when the "Charlie horse" starts in my cheek and below my jaw bone, it gets downright uncomfortable. I've tried biting on a lemon... that's what the dentist suggested to do... and massage. Neither seemed to work very well. Apparently, because there's no fluid being produced by the gland anymore, salt crystals form. The pain comes when the crystals get stuck. So, kind of like passing a gall stone.. in my cheek. Annoying, and ouchy. But it only happens every few weeks or so. I'm a big girl. I can handle it.
Bottom line, Rob and I will be heading back to Mayo next week, to visit with Dr. Kasperbauer, the ENT who discovered the paralyzed vocal cord, and who stated last time that he COULD do ethanol ablation on that lymph node full of cancer on my one intact laryngeal nerve, but wouldn't recommend it at that time because of the risks, and the fact that he couldn't reach the other two in my chest with his needle. Now wondering if it might be "worth the risk" of dealing with at least the one, if there's evidence of cancer invading the nerve. We will see what he says. We will see.
A full day at work last Monday with absolutely no voice whatsoever made me realize how impossible it would be to do my job without benefit of vocalizing. I NEED a voice. The text-to-speech app on my phone works some, but is not hands free and takes way too much time. I had one little one who knew some sign language, and that worked awesome for her session, but... not all kids know sign language. I just need to be able to talk. So best be safe rather than sorry, and back to Mayo we go.
Please pray for good roads and good news!
