Kastasia

Post Op + Speech Therapy Appointment!

Added 2024-10-12 19:56:23 +0000 UTC

Hello! I had a couple of important follow-up appointments with my doctor and speech therapist yesterday, and I’ve got a lot of good news to share! 🎉

Doctor’s Post-Op Appointment: My vocal nodules are officially gone! 🙌 My doctor did notice my vocal folds still look a bit “beat up,” likely due to the healing process or the sinus infection I got two days after surgery. There’s some mild inflammation, along with steroid residue and mucus, but this is all part of the healing process and nothing to worry about. Overall, my vocal cords are healing well, and I don’t need to see my doctor again for six months unless something comes up!

Speech Therapist Appointment: We reviewed images of my vocal folds, and while the nodules are gone, there’s still some raised tissue from where they were removed. This is normal and will smooth out over time as my vocal cords continue to heal.

We’ve set a goal for me to get back to work by November or December, depending on how my voice progresses! She did say since my nodules were larger than normal, my full healing will take about 6-8 weeks (which is longer than the 3-6 weeks for most patients), but I’m already a little over 3 weeks post-op, so I’m making good progress!

Because whispering and soft speaking still cause some neck strain, she added new soft/quiet exercises to my routine to help with tension. She also told me to practice reading lines from books or my scripts each day to get ready for my audios.

The best news is that my next speech therapy appointment is on November 7th, where she’ll scope my vocal folds to see how far along I am. If all goes well and I’m fully healed/not inflamed anymore, we’ll start easing me back into recording audios!

While I can’t wait to return, I’m being cautious to make sure I come back strong and healthy! Rushing could set me back, and I want my return to be permanent, not temporary! I'll go into more details about my audio release plans as we get closer to me being fully healed, but my current plan is to take it easy in terms of recording frequency until I'm at 100 percent!

Thanks for all your support—I’m super motivated to get back! 🩷✨