Here are five things you may not think of before neck surgery, from the perspective of a speech-language pathologist who is undergoing neck surgery.
Free DIRECT download: Resources for neck surgery (patient handout). (Email subscribers get free access to all the resources in the Free Subscription Library.)
Outline:
- Save a copy of your voice, just in case.
- Write your living will with this easy form.
- Use a pill box, even if you never needed one before.
- Repeat back everything that you’re told. Seriously.
- Ask questions and organize your notes.
- Related Eat, Speak, & Think posts.
Save a copy of your voice, just in case
My surgeon assures me that the chance of having any lasting changes to my voice (or swallowing) is minimal, but the chance of permanent voice injury is not zero.
Even if I only lose my voice for a few days or a few weeks, I may want to use my own voice in a communication app. And if my voice is lost or changed for the long-term, then being able to use my own voice would be meaningful to me and my loved ones.
I made two kinds of copies of my voice using voice banking and message banking.
First, I created a synthesized (digital) version of my voice through The Voice Keeper. One major update since I wrote my tutorial is that you can now use your Android phone to create your voice. I also wrote a tutorial for voice banking through Acapela and ModelTalker.
Second, I’m recording short messages on my Sony digital voice recorder in .wav format and uploading them to myMessageBanking.com. That message banking website is a free, joint effort between Boston Children’s Hospital and Tobii Dynavox. I wrote a tutorial about this process, too.
Write your living will with this easy form
I’ve been meaning to put advance directives into place for years. Before neck surgery seems like a great time to get this done.
I found all the forms for my state on CaringInfo. The forms for your state may vary. The PDF for my state was easy to fill out and included:
- Living Will.
- Appointment of a Health Care Representative.
- Designation of a Conservator.
- Document of Anatomical Gift.
- Signature and witnesses.
- Optional witness affidavit.
The PDF also provided instructions for what to do with it after you’ve filled it out. I’ve talked to my partner and family about my wishes. I sent copies to each of them, and I’ll take copies to my surgeon’s office and the hospital.
Use a pill box, even if you never needed one before
If you’re in a lot of pain, on painkillers, sleep-deprived, or stressed, you may want to consider using a pill box and setting reminders on your phone. Any of those situations can impact short-term memory.
Be proactive about being 100% accurate in taking your medications, especially if you’re taking anything that can cause problems if you miss a dose or two.
Pro tip from personal experience this month: Don’t be on autopilot when you take your medications, even if you’re only taking one or two. Not even when pulling them out of a pill box. Look at each pill as you take it. Make sure you recognize it. You can even look at your med list and mentally check off each one as you take it.
I’ve written about 31 creative ways you can remember to take your medication.
Repeat back everything you’re told. Seriously.
Being on leave of absence from work and facing surgery has given me a surprising amount of work to do. I have made dozens of calls to various medical offices, HR at work, insurance offices, you name it.
Research shows that we immediately forget 40-80% of the medical information that we hear, and almost half of what we remember is wrong.
I know I definitely miss things and misunderstand things when I’m not at my best. And probably even when I’m at my best.
But I still want to “be normal”. And for me, “being normal” is behaving as if I get it all the first time.
So I furiously write down notes during phone calls. Then later I discover that I missed something. And then I have to call back and start over.
It’s a waste of time. It’s also potentially costly or even dangerous.
After a few of these situations, I’ve started doing what I often teach my patients.
Politely ask the person on the other side if I can repeat back what I understood, just in case I got something wrong.
It works.
They always say ‘yes,’ and it has allowed me to catch holes in my notes or correct errors.
And sometimes, hearing my summary prompts them to add additional information we hadn’t even discussed.
So my advice? Repeat back everything that you’re told, even if you’re sure you understand.
Ask questions and organize your notes
Question everything.
Don’t assume that your providers will tell you everything you need to know.
There is usually at least one middleman between me and my doctor. When I go to the office, I usually get information from multiple people. It can be easy for information to fall in the cracks.
And even if they do tell you everything, don’t assume that you’ll remember everything they tell you. (Did you read this research abstract? Chilling.)
Make sure you understand your care plan or treatment plan.
You don’t need to understand on the same level as your doctor, of course. But you should be able to understand it on your level.
You should also feel comfortable that your medical team knows you and is confident about why they chose your treatment plan for you specifically.
And if you need a way to organize your notes, check out these two ways to organize your notes in my post on making a memory notebook. I use them both in my daily life.
Related Eat, Speak, & Think posts
- Easy voice banking with The Voice Keeper.
- Voice banking tutorial: Acapela and ModelTalker.
- Message banking tutorial.
- Learn two easy ways to make a memory notebook.
- 31 creative ways you can remember to take your medication.
Free DIRECT download: Resources for neck surgery (patient handout). (Email subscribers get free access to all the resources in the Free Subscription Library.)
Featured image by Irina Gonchar from pexels.
Lisa earned her M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Maryland, College Park and her M.A. in Linguistics from the University of California, San Diego.
She participated in research studies with the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) and the University of Maryland in the areas of aphasia, Parkinson’s Disease, epilepsy, and fluency disorders.
Lisa has been working as a medical speech-language pathologist since 2008. She has a strong passion for evidence-based assessment and therapy, having earned five ASHA Awards for Professional Participation in Continuing Education.
She launched EatSpeakThink.com in June 2018 to help other clinicians be more successful working in home health, as well as to provide strategies and resources to people living with problems eating, speaking, or thinking.
When I had my C4-6 ACDF I had dysphagia post op, especially the first two weeks. It then steadily improved but a year post I still occasionally cough when drinking.
Thanks for sharing that! I met someone last month with a similar story.