Before and After Vocal Cord Surgery

Here is the before/after video that captures the improvement in my voice after surgery (medialization laryngoplasty with Gore-Tex and right arytenoid adduction). A little background: I had not been feeling well since about the start of the pandemic. Lethargic, trouble swallowing, and issues with my voice. In August of 2020 I discovered a lump in neck. Had surgery on February 3, 2021 to remove the half of the thyroid the lump was on. Pathology report showed it was a tumor (NIFTP), but thankfully not cancerous. However, the nerve that controls the vocal cords was damaged, or injured, during the procedure, resulting in right vocal fold paralysis and barely any voice. In April, I had my first appointment with a different doctor, Dr. John Ingle at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Over the course of a couple months, we tried two vocal fold injections, but the atrophy was so severe they didn’t take. Those procedures, along with speech therapy, did help me have a little more voice. Then, on September 21, 2021, Dr. Ingle did a medialization laryngoplasty with Gore-Tex and right arytenoid adduction. I'm thrilled with the results!