Nicola's Posts

I walked into the appointment on my own under the asumption, that the ent consultant i saw back on August had basically told me that my right vocal chord was paralysed, and that this was supposed to be finding out which method of help would be best for me to help my speech. Unfortunately this wasn't the case. The diagnosis was completely diffetent and far worse. Both my vocal chords are working...which is good. But at the top, it's been so severely damaged, it's healed but so tight that my chords won't close, hence the speech/sound issue, and they don't open fully which makes my breathing hard as only have half my airway open. This is mainly what is restricting me from walking up any gradient or stairs. Cold weather, dry heat all makes it worse. And trying to sing or even hum sounds terrible and get out of breathe. I thought making my chords work harder they might work better but apparently it won't. I'm glad that I now know but on the other hand it's not what I wanted to hear. They could try and laser it but it comes with a huge risk of it healing from that and being even tighter. That would cause complete block of airways and would have to have another trachy. I really don't want to go down that route again. That would also mean further surgery to my windpipe to support it and most likely no voice/speech at all. It might work but it's a risk right now I'm not prepared to take. I'm seeing him again in 4 months and will have another chat and see how it is. He said if I get a sore throat and breathing gets worse, go straight to hospital for steroids and a nebuliser. Great. Another thing I need to add to my ever growing travel medical insurance! Apparently it's quite rare to happen and I'm special. Shame special doesn't make it better though 😣😣😣😣 I attended a return to work meeting and had just told them my new diagnosis, and they made a decision there and then. They are not taking me back. Goodness knows who will employ me now but im sure i will find something else eventually. Pretty rough week all in all 😣 But hey, onwards and upwards and not having to go to work is a good thing. More time to spend doing what I like 😊