His Voice

I almost feel brave about talking it about it now. Dad was diagnosed with thyroid cancer last month. I was devistated and didn't know what to do, how to think, or what to say. Although if you are going to get cancer, he got one of the better ones. It is 95% curable and only requires a surgery to remove the thyroid and take pills forever. The surgeons main concern was that if the cancer had wrapped itself around the nerves that go to the vocal cords. If these nerves were tampered with then he would have a very hoarse quiet voice or may not be able to speak. I know my dad is a handful with his bluntness, but his voice has always been one of my favorite features. Its deepness guides and always protected me. Besides, his voice matches so well with his pretty teeth and mustache.

He had his surgery today. Everything has gone well so far. They had to remove some of the surrounding muscle in the neck, since the cancer did a major wrap around in the tissues. There was a long wait for him to wake up afterwords to see if the surgery had left him voiceless. The surgeon warned us an hour before he woke up that it was a high possibility his voice was damaged for how much tissue they removed.

When he woke up, he talked a little, but highly complained of a sore throat, feeling like strep. His voice was week and scratchy, which is pretty common after having a tube down your throat for two hours. After about three hours in the recovery, he took a voice test and everything came out fine. He should be back to his smily self soon.

The surgeon believes he removed all of the cancerous tissues and was able to leave enough of the thyroid gland that it will be able to produce the calcitonin, which helps allows the body to absorb calcium, which means less pills for dad.

I am so relieved that he is going to be OK. I could never imagine growing up without him, and I still have a lot of growing up to do. Collin needs him here to show him about Harley's and homemade vehicles that run forever off of duct tape. He is still here. His voice is still here. I am so full of emotion....happiness, gratitude and...... a little bit of fear.