I had surgery a year and a half ago to have my tonsils removed and one of the things they tell you is that because of the breathing tube your vocal cords can be temporarily or even permanently damaged.

I had a nasty bacterial infection in my lingual tonsils that took a couple of months to diagnose and cure. I'm left with a raspy , sore throat. After all of the tests, the ent says it's because the vocal cords were damaged and inflamed and it can take up to a year for them to be back to normal.

I am a family therapist and talk all the time as I have two jobs and work a minimum of 50 hours/wk. 1 yr ago I had to have a series of nerve blocks done in my neck due to a pinched nerve in my neck. After the 3rd injection I lost my voice for about 24hours. It than returned but has been very hoarse. It has never returned the same. I took two months off work and have been seeing a voice therapist. I have also been taking medication to treat acid reflux even though I don't have heart burn. I returned to work the beginning of Feb because I needed the money and my voice was not getting any better. The therapist said that I may need collagen injection or start looking at disabilty. What do you think?

I had carotid artery surgery on May 20, 2009 and as of this writing, June 16th, my voice continues to be hoarse. My vascular surgeon said that hoarseness was an unusual result of the surgery. I will see an ENT specialist in 2 days. I am hoping that my voice will return within the immediate future. Is hoarseness after carotid artery surgery unusual? Prognosis?