@jbell22. The reason why my left vocal cord is paralyzed is unknown. I appear to have a mild case of Parkinson's and while speech problems are common with Parkinson's, paralyzed vocal cords are not typical. So the mystery remains:) My vocal cord surgery was performed 2 years ago at Cleveland Clinic. They put a silastic implant in the paralyzed cord so that it would close up with the other cord. My speech, swallowing problems cleared up very nicely. There was a 4 week period of time before everything settled down and then I began speech therapy which I continue with once or twice a year. I always thought I had sleep apnea because I would wake up at night gasping, however, sleep studies did not prove that diagnosis. After the implant was put in the vocal cord that problem disappeared (very good news). I have some heart problems as well: aortic insufficiency, diastolic dysfunction and a left bundle branch block so I have a fair amount of "left-sided" problems. I've talked with neurologists who don't think these "lefties" are related, but I'm not really convinced. I recently began a new symptom, left-sided drooling, while drooling is common to Parkinson's folks, the left sided thing makes me wonder. I'm not sure if any of this info is helpful in your situation, however, keep in touch and I hope that your vocal cord surgery goes as well as mine. Best wishes and welcome to Mayo Connect!