Surgery is Done

Hi Everyone,

I had surgery this morning, and my doctor (the wonderful Dr. Courey), removed cysts from both of my vocal cords. Going in, he wasn't sure if he would be able to get them both, but he did, and I'm thrilled. It went really well.

Here's what my recovery is going to look like:

This week: I'm a total mute
Next Week: I can talk about 5 minutes per hour, including vocal exercises
The Week After: I can talk 10 minutes per hour
And after: 15 minutes
Then: 20 minutes
All the way up to 40 minutes per hour (which no one should be talking that much anyways).


It is at 2 months, when that happens, patients normally go back to school and work, still being VERY cautious about their voice when that happens. For me, though, at 2 months, I'm going to be getting in the final preparations for next year, where I'm spending the fall semester abroad in Jordan, and the spring semester abroad in Israel. I picked this time for the surgery to give me maximal time at home.


If I talk more than that, my vocal cords have the potential to scar over, meaning the whole surgery will be basically undone. I don't want to do that. Skyping, using the phone, and any of those platforms require me to speak more loudly than I'm going to want to given the sensitivity of my vocal cords, so don't take it personally when I refuse to do that.

I expect to be able to sing again at the end of this recovery process. Based on how my voice was doing pre-surgery, this is a likely outcome so long as I take care of myself. My voice sounded better in the weeks before surgery than it ever had in my life. I kid you not. I sounded freaking awesome.


HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH ME

https://soundcloud.com/beccarosenthal/heard - THIS IS WHAT MY VOICE HAS SOUNDED LIKE RECENTLY.  This song explains how I plan on communicating in the next months. Listen to it, and be surprised at what my voice sounds like now. It has changed a tremendous amount in the last few years.

I won't talk, but that doesn't mean that you should be discouraged from getting in touch with me. I can type on skype while you talk (it's weird at first, but then it's totally fine), I can text, fb chat, gchat, respond to emails (beccarosenthal@gmail.com), or write on a pad of paper while you sit next to me (if you want to brave my handwriting).

Don't hesitate to reach out.

Though I do have some work things happening, I will largely be spending my summer on my butt watching netflix with Emma, my sister. If you have any suggestions for good movies, TV series' (Game of Thrones is already on the list everyone, calm down), or random things to watch, send them my way.

JEWS - Put me in your Mi Sh'berach Prayers Please

If you want to say a refuah shlema for me, my Hebrew name is Rivka bat David v'Leah.
Non Jews, you can (and should) keep me in your prayers too. The sentiments are no different--you just don't generally ask me for my Hebrew name.

What this Blog Will Have

I'm going to use this blog as a forum to keep people in the loop of how recovery is going, what exactly has been going on with my voice, and what kind of trajectory I'm on. In the next post, I plan on posting a recording of my voice over the years with bits of different songs I've written that show the changes. I don't know how much I'll actually use it or if I'll post a few things and then give up with I get into Game of Thrones (I hear that happens to people), but I'll give it a shot.

In the mean time, though, thanks to everyone for their love and support, and feel free to ask questions, say hello, and check up on me. Talk to you soon,

Becca