Surgery Day!!!

Like I told you all, I'd make an update the day of surgery if I felt up to it and I feel good! I feel way better than I thought I'd feel after getting operated on lmao. But today was surgery day and it was crazy!

• I got up at 5am and got to the hospital at 6am to wait. I went through all the paper work and all that good stuff with the doctor, nurses and surgical team over the course of 1-2 hours. They also explained the procedure and anesthesia stuff to me.
• At around 8:00-8:30am, it was my turn! While I was in my room, they placed my needle in my arm and did a saline push (gross feeling by the way like holy shit), and then the needle was just there in me with a cap on it ready for later anesthesia, IV, etc
• I got carted off to the surgery room and was a bit nervous, but surprisingly I wasn't as anxious as I thought I would be!
• Surgical room was very bright, one of the nurses connected something to my needle to help me relax, and then another doctor had me breath in a mask to just "help me get oxygen" but I'm 1000% pretty sure it was a jebait so I wouldn't know I was breathing in anesthesia LMAO. Heard him say "just breathe" a few times and I was suddenly knocked the fuck out 😭
• Seconds later I was in recovery waking up from anesthesia with no recollection of anything in between breathing in the mask and waking up. Also had a sore throat but they gave me ice chips and strawberry jello and whatnot it was very yummy 🙂‍↕️

Surprisingly I was able to talk when I got back to my room, and my voice sounds so much better! It just feels like I have a sore throat now instead of a restricting lump in my throat. Being able to just speak without being hoarse, having a deep voice, feeling restricted, etc after 13 months of this being my life is so relieving! I legit almost cried in front of the nurses when said my first words after surgery and was just like whoaaa. And just an hour after surgery I was having that big of an improvement! Even now at 4pm after my nap I took when I got home my sore throat is hurting less and I can speak forward easily without my voice forcefully feeling deep. I can only imagine how much better I'll be sounding over the next few weeks!

Only negative post-op effects I'm having currently are the sore throat, occasional coughs which I'm trying to control and keep as soft as possible, and I also can't breathe in too deep because of the anesthesia and muscle relaxants they used on me so it feels uncomfy and triggers coughs when I do. But nothing too crazy! Also people said online that the coughs, sneezes, etc hurt but they don't hurt me they just feel mildly blegh??? Maybe I'm just built different 🫡 Doctor also prescribed me oxycodone in case my pain suddenly gets bad but if it doesn't I'll just stick to ibuprofen or tylenol.

Also turns out I'm not going on complete voice rest this weekend like I planned! The doctor + my notes said "absolute voice rest", which is not talking at all, is not recommended. Instead they want me to do "relative voice rest", meaning speak softly, minimally, and only when necessary. Good thing I do asmr and know how to speak soft 🙂‍↕️

My experience was amazing, though. My voice doctor, nurses and everyone else was so nice and amazing and made me feel so comfy and safe in their hands!

As for recovery, I'm committing to my care plan and taking things easy while I figure things out to pass the time. My next surgery follow up/speech therapy is October 11th, but you guys will be regularly hearing from me! Starting on Monday, I'll be doing weekly update posts on my vocal progression. If I'm comfortably able to next week, I'll record my first post-op voice recording so you guys can see the progression from the earlier days of my voice nodules versus after surgery.

I'm excited to share my updates and progress with you all and I'm grateful to have such an amazing and supportive community! 🩷