Hi Zarker

I had severe displacia of the vocal chords around 5 years ago and was told that I needed laser treatment immediately as it "was very close to cancer". I had laser treatment a few times and had to have biopsies done around every 2 - 3 months but in my case it had gone too deep so they could only laser the surface and it kept coming back. If you are a smoker you should give it up immediately as my consultant told me to avoid smoke at all costs.

I went on to have larygneal cancer but I was stage T2-3 when I was eventually diagnosed. I was successfully treated with radiotherapy 28 months ago and touch wood everything is fine and my voice is better than it's been for years.

On a positive note they are closely monitoring you and as you are at a very early stage hopefully they will be able to get rid of it with laser treatment alone.

I wish you well and hope that the next laser treatment will be the end of it.

Marion x

Hi Marion ,

Thanks very much for your reply it was most helpful. I hope you don't mind me asking but how long was it from when they found displacia to you being diagnosed with laryngeal cancer? As this is what I think may be happening to me. They said inicially It could be treated with laser alone and after my last laser treatment yesterday that the return was on the surface only and did not warrant rdiotherapy at the moment and he had done deeper biopsys which he says hes sure arn't cancerous. This has as you know been a very difficult time for me as i'm so scared of loosing my voice or having to have a laryngectomy which I've been told is unlikely. i'm reassured to know that after your treatment your voice is now good. Thank you again and I hope you continue to do well. Andy

p,s gave up smoking 5 years ago and after this will never go back to it!

Hi Marion,

Thanks for that and of course same to you, yes that is a coincidence. I always get worried about the check ups as I hate the whole experience having to wait for ages as the clinics always over run, I get really stressed worrying about the result but i'm trying to stay positive as the last result was encouraging so keeping my fingers crossed. Yes lets compare notes and hope we both get good news. speak soon.

Andy x

Hi Marion, Hope all is well with you. Hope you don't mind me messaging you again but things have taken a bit of a dip with my voice. Up to about the end of feb my voice was really good almost back to normal then on my 50th birthday I threw a party and noticed that with all the noise my voice became very hoarse and it was a real struggle to talk to everyone, this had'nt been a problem since my last op but since that night things have become steadily worse and I now struggle to speak normally above back ground noise and seem to have no volume in my voice. Its really getting me down as I thought I had got my voice back almost to normal after the op and now I feel back to square one. I feel incredibly self conscious when I meet new people as they always ask whats wrong with my voice or they can't hear what i'm saying.

At my last check up they said the left side of my vocal chord looked sore and that they thought it was due to the scarring from the laser treatment,and they are keeping an eye on it to see if it changes. The consultant also said that my voice may never get any better and the more lasering I have the worse it will get, which was really depressing to hear. You mentioned that your voice came back to normal after radiotherapy. I just wondered did you have lasering done too? I'm thinking that perhaps if the cancer has come back I might be better off having radiotherapy as I can't bear the thought of my voice getting worse. I would love to have the hope that one day my voice like yours would improve but I know every case is different. Have my next check up on weds and am dreading it as I have a feeling they are going to say I need more treatment. Hope you don't mind me getting in touch but am feeling very isolated as friends have been good but they don't really understand how difficult this is for me. Best wishes. Andy

Hi Zacker.

I had 10 weeks of radiotherapy on my vocal cords, I had trouble with my voice after, is took a long time to come back but it wasnt as strong as before, you say you are seeing your doctor, is he giving you a check up after your treatment or do you thing it is something else, you may be worrying to much, I had the same as you 2 years ago and got through it stay calm and dont worry till you find out with your doctor, let me know what he says.

joeninty

Hi Andy

How weird, I don't go on this site very much but I decided to look today and saw your message.

I'm really sorry to hear your voice is not so good. Another coincidence - mine has been a bit hoarse the last couple of weeks which is quite unusual for me and I have just brought my appointment forward to this Wednesday - so again, we are going on the same day!

In answer to your question about lasering, I did have lasering done about 3 times but had at least 9 biopsies without laser. My voice was really quite hoarse most of the time and I was always getting asked if I had a sore throat. After laser treatment my voice was bad for about 2 weeks or so then it slowly recovered - but it was always (and still is) very prone to straining. I don't think we realised how much we're shouting over noise but it's very difficult when you are in that environment.

I know you are worried that your dysplacia will turn to cancer but it doesn't mean it is inevitable that will happen although that won't stop you worrying! I'm fed up with people telling me not to worry - they haven't been through it!

It is strange that my voice went back to normal after 38 blasts of radiotherapy - I had naturally assumed that it would be worse than when I had the dysplacia. I don't know if everyone is as lucky though as I was told my voice could be better or even worse than before - everyone is different.

Please let me know how you get on at the hospital on Wednesday and I will let you know how I got on too.

I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Take care and try and think positive (easier said than done I know).

Love Marion x

Hi Marion, thanks so much for your reply its good to know there are people who understand how frustrating this whole thing is, was having a down day today just feeling like i'm the only person around suffering with this as everyone I hear has nice loud clear healthy sounding voices something I miss so much. It was really good of you to reply and thank you for your kind words and reassurance. Thank god for the internet, to find people like your self, although we have never even met who are willing to share their experiences, it is most appreciated. Will let you know how I get on on weds, am dreading it but trying to be positive I hope yours goes well and I will be thinking of you on weds. Thanks again Marion

Love Andy x

Thank you very much for your reply, had my last treatment in dec so they are keeping an eye on me monthly. will let you know how I get on. m thanks

Andy

Hi Andy

Everything was fine with me (thank god) and I go back in 3 months time. How did you get on? I was thinking of you today when I was waiting in the clinic.

Let me know, hope it was all ok.

Love Marion x

Hi Marion,

Glad to hear all was ok with you. Surprisingly my result was a lot better than expected. He had a look and said it looked the best he had seen it and the area affected on the surface was greatly reduced and that he thought I was 95 per cent there with the treatment, although he still wants to see me every month. I was so relieved to hear that as my voice has been so bad this wk I was convinced it would be bad news. He also said my voice would improve in time and that my current hoarseness is probably due to me straining my voice, not getting enough voice rest and getting stressed about how I sound. I'm taking my self off to the lake district this w/e walking so I can rest my voice. Thanks again for your support and great to hear you are ok. Have a lovely w/e.

Love

Andy

Andy,Marion

I have just read your posts and would like to say that good news comes in three's. However I can't. I had a check up yesterday (by coincidence) and mine has come back again. The consultant sais it looks beningn but needs to take it off and biopsy as per ususal.

Obviously I am a bit down and annoyed but am learning now that stress and worry is making it worse so I am trying to keep calm, but this is not easy with a new 1 week old babay in the house, but you can't choose when it comes or not.

By coincidence I was speaking to a friend of my neighbour who had exactly the same as me a few years ago, mine is caused by the HPV virus causing papillomas with dysplasia in them, and he had 12 op's in 4 years. However he now sounds great after the virus just regressed for no reason and he has had no signs of it coming back so there is light at the end of the tunnel. The hardest thing at the moment is the worry of keeping my Job as work is getting a bit scarce it it comes down to survival of the fittest!!!!

Anyway glad you both had good results and will keep you posted. I am having my op next Wednesday so fingers crossed.

Chris

Hi Chris.

Hope your operation goes well there is not a lot that you can do about cancer all you can do is stay possitve, I have had 3 operations for throat cancer and a major op to get rid of it I am well now not back to how I was before but better, I did a abseil down a castle last saturday for Hope House charity only 65 feet, so best of luck , best of health and happyness for the future.

JOENINTY

Hi Chris.

Hope your operation goes well there is not a lot that you can do about cancer all you can do is stay possitve, I have had 3 operations for throat cancer and a major op to get rid of it I am well now not back to how I was before but better, I did a abseil down a castle last saturday for Hope House charity only 65 feet, so best of luck , best of health and happyness for the future.

JOENINTY