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Vocal cord paralysis

Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) | Last Active: Jan 2, 2023 | Replies (83)

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@dand

My heart goes out to your daughter. I have bilateral vocal cord paralysis due to an unknown cause. I was diagnosed with a rare form of non-hodgkins lymphoma in February. The cancer occurred in my nose and sinuses.i received radiation and chemotherapy treatment, and the good news is I've been in remission since September. However, the VC issues keep getting worse. Every doctor i see first makes the assumption that it was caused by the radiation; however, the problem started before I ever received any cancer treatment, so that cannot be the cause. I've had a tracheoatomy since January due to the problem.it has gotten progressively worse, and my voice is now gone completely.there is no airflow at all through my airway (i.e. when I cover up the trach, I cannot breathe at all). I am beginning to have trouble swallowing as well, and we have discussed the possibility of having to have a feeding tube. All of the doctor's I see have no clue why this is happening. I suggested nerve damage, since that is the cause you always read about on the Internet, but they say that the likelihood of both the right and left nerves being affected simultaneously is unlikely. Please help,if you have any ideas I would really appreciate your time in replying. Thank you

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Replies to "My heart goes out to your daughter. I have bilateral vocal cord paralysis due to an..."

Hi @dand, welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Thanks for sharing your experience - I'm sorry to hear what you're going through. From what I understand, it's fairly common for doctors not to be able to identify the cause of vocal cord paralysis, and I can imagine how frustrating it must be to not have an answer.

Some of the known causes are included in the link below. Did you experience any kind of neck or chest injury before the symptoms began?

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/vocal-cord-paralysis/basics/causes/con-20026357