My boyfriend can't use his voice as well lately. I don't want to jump to conclusions and think "cancer!!" but I just lost my Mom to it a couple months ago, so it's on my mind a lot.
He's a singer and recently he can't hit any notes he used to. He hasn't had a cold or sore throat or any symptoms of pain. His vocal chords just seemed to stop working correctly. He hasn't strained his voice at all recently.
He is a smoker (please no lectures - he knows how much he needs to quit - my mother's death really pummeled that into him), he drinks obscene amounts of coffee. He does not drink alcohol ever.
He's also very underweight. He's 6'1 and weighs around 150 - maybe even less. He's blamed his lack of appetite on some medication he takes, but he's been losing weight steadliy in the past 3 years - before he was on the medication. He's just never hungry and if I didn't force him to eat meals he wouldn't.
He refuses to go to the doctor. It took about 6 months for me to get him to go for a major problem a few years ago - if I can convince him it will not happen tomorrow.
I'm just worried - can anyone help? I just remember Mom thinking she had a chest cold and it turned out to be stage iv lung cancer instead - so I freak out at the little things now.
Hope you can persuade your friend to see an ENT doctor.
I had an aggressive squamous cell cancer of the right vocal cord seven (going on eight) years ago. The doctors blamed it on my smoking. I had quit smoking about 10 years before this happened, but I guess the residual effect got me..
A little history: I led singing at church and also sang with a local group. My problem started when I noticed that my vocal cords felt like they "locked up" - became immobile - when I tried to hit higher notes. This progressed steadily to a point that my voice became very mushy in sound (best way I can describe it) - and eventually I lost my voice entirely.
I saw my ENT, and it took him only a short time to tell me that my vocal cords "looked scruffy". He scheduled a biopsy and that showed malignancy..
I underwent 33 radiation treatments. That left me with a "one note" voice - very low bass. But with time, my voice has returned to near normal. I still enjoy singing. There have been no recurrences of the cancer. I have an exam with a scope at least once a year, though.
I would hope that you can use your powers of persuasion to get him to see an ENT doctor. It may be nothing serious. Or if it is cancer, the sooner he gets treatment, the better his chances for full recovery.
Hi There, I just thought that i would chime in..... My father had throat cancer
TWICE !!!!! It all started when he was having reocurring episodes of "losing is voice", he had no pain with it (or at least he didnt complain of any) and his family doctor kept diagnosing him with Laryngitis. After several reocurring episodes the dr. finally referred him to a specialist and that is when the cancer was found. He had several rounds of the radiation and the cancer was gone and he was in remission.
When he went back for his "5th year anniversary" they found cancer again. That time he had NO SYMPTOMS. That time they did surgery and removed his voice box and he also had a tracheostomy put in. He had to talk with a speech aide. When his first cancer appeared he had stopped smoking 20 plus years before that!!!!!!
My father has since passed, however, surprisingly enough it wasnt cancer that killed him, it was Parkinsons Disease. There is so much hope for anyone with throat cancer, you just have to be agressive and catch it early on. My father lived a wonderful quality of life even after his cancer surgery!!!!
Thanks for your replies - I will now drag him screaming, kicking or biting to an ENT. Like I said, after my mother's ordeal, I don't take things as lightly.
