Thank you both for your thoughts and prayers. Your support means a lot for this little lady from Aus! It has been a very long and rough road, as I’m sure everyone on this forum can attest to. So thank you for your support.
So yes it was the thyroid cartilage hitting the hyoid bone that was the problem for me. As my click was at the very front of the throat, the length of the hyoid was thought not to be the main issue but rather the height of the cartilage and the friction when it moved. Very strange phenomenon. I had my chiropractor say to me “how did you sign up for this?!” If i knew, i wouldn’t have signed up!
@F_t YAY!! I am so happy to see this you gave me the confidence boost I needed going into my surgery in 22 days. I’m so excited to get rid of the click too! My surgeon did tell me she will have to reteach me how to swallow in the hospital the day after so I’m preparing to be somewhat impaired for a little while lol. Thank you for the advice and happy healing to you, friend
Surgery and hospital stay is done! I just got back to my Airbnb and I am so excited to report that it was a success! Clicking throat is GONE I noticed right as I woke up from surgery. I am still amazed! What I will say though, recovery is tough! Swallowing is still pretty difficult and my voice is super raspy. It has improved since yesterday and I am able to eat a little more now, but it was really frustrating at first. It’s also really painful like strep throat x1000 lol but I know it’s going to improve each day. I noticed my first night before the swelling took hold that I was hearing less tinnitus, had no ear pain and no jaw pain either, so I am excited to see what happens when I’m fully healed! This group has been life saving for me! I’m so grateful for my new outlook and I’ve never been so excited for the future! Thank you all so much for your support through my journey to solving the click!! I’ll be here to help future members 🫶🏼
That is amazing news @a_catindisguise!! Thank you for the update & now I’ll pray for your post op recovery to progress steadily so you can get back to living your life! Remember that days 3-5 post op are when swelling is at it’s worst so keep up icing & pain meds on schedule during that time. Sucking on ice chips or popsicles can help reduce throat swelling & pain. I look forward to hearing how your recovery progresses. Be patient, give your body the rest it asks for, & you’ll be on your way to feeling great again!
@Isaiah_40_31 thank you!! That is so nice of you I’m almost done with day 2. I’m so excited to get out of that window. It has been a surreal couple of days. I have a follow up appointment Monday where I finally get my bandage off…that sh!t is itchy as far as meds go, my doc set me up with the liquid stuff which takes any pain away in an instant and I do have my neck ice wraps going. Today I ate my whole bowl of Mac n cheese for dinner which I was excited about lol. I am very determined to get eating again, that’s my favorite activity
Great to hear @a_catindisguise! What an amazing relief it is to have that awful click gone hey!! Give it a while for your voice to return, mine was back to normal after a few weeks then i caught a cold so back to raspy again!
Eating well be funny for a while, especially because the whole swallowing function is messed up. Can i ask what they ended up resecting? And did she explain what she saw? So glad it is over for you also now. And don’t worry, you’ll be back to your normal eating very soon.
@F_t YES! What a relief!! She ended up resecting the greater cornua of my hyoid bone on both sides and the superior cornua of my thyroid cartilage on both sides. They told me both parts were elongated and I was, in fact feeling them click on my C-spine. I’m so happy to hear your voice came back! I am a singer so that kinda worried me. It seems like when I’m in less pain it’s not as raspy or when I’ve been awake and talking for a while it kind of clears up. Also happy to know I will be eating normally soon thank you 🩷
Thank you @Jules
I had my post op appointment yesterday and got my bigger bandage removed. There’s steri strips left but doc says they will fall off within the next week! They had to scope me again and told me that I have an intubation granuloma which is just irritation from the breathing tube. They told me it should heal on its own so I am trying to not let it freak me out. If it’s still affecting my voice in a month or so I will probably see an SLP and do a few sessions of speech therapy. Other than that I am healing well and eating is getting easier everyday! Not so much of a chore anymore. 🩷
YAY for being able to eat normally! I remember after my first ES surgery it was several weeks before I could eat normally because my throat was sore, my jaw was sore & half my tongue was paraylized. Everything went into the blender. It was really nice when all the moving parts started working better (except my tongue which took 6+ months to recover) but at least I could chew & swallow again!
I’ll pray for that granuloma to dissolve quickly so you really feel top notch & can start singing again!
@Isaiah_40_31 oh man! That eagles surgery is tough. This is already a lot i could not imagine. I’m so happy you were able to get through that period and you started to feel better! And thank you so much! I’m hoping it will too. From the looks of it, it is pretty small and they did not seem concerned at all so I’m gonna try and forget about it for now lol! I’ve been through enough this past week. My hometown got hit really hard by a hurricane the night before surgery and one of my cats passed away earlier that day when my friends came to get them for the storm Luckily our house got minimal damage but I miss my cat so much so many emotions!!
I’m so glad your house had minimal damage from the hurricane but am so, so sorry about your cat, @a_catindisguise. Our pets certainly take over our hearts & our homes, don’t they! I’m a cat lover, too, but married a guy who’s terribly allergic so cats haven’t been apart of my life for many, many years. I do cuddle those belonging to friends whenever I get a chance though!
I hope your heart, your throat & your vocal cords all heal alongside each other and soon!
@Jules@Isaiah_40_31 thank you both! They sure do take over our hearts and homes. It seems really quiet around here now but I do have my other cat to love and cuddle through my recovery- which is going so well by the way! 1 week and 1 day out and I’m pretty much back to eating normally. My swallow still feels a bit funny like it’s not quite the same every time and sometimes I swallow tiny little air bubbles that I have to burp out lol, but I’m sure as swelling goes down it will be back to normal! I’m so grateful this has gone pretty smoothly. I’m going to start weaning off my pain meds tomorrow and just try to do ibuprofen during the day between my morning and night dose! So nice to not have that clicking nagging me anymore
We were watching that hurricane from here in Australia. Looked pretty extreme! Glad to hear that there was minimal damage for you.
My swallow still feels funny too. I think it is the 12 months of dysfunction affecting the muscles and general weakness in them after surgery. I have lost about an octave in my singing voice, highest range, so i suspect intubation and muscle issues as well. I am gaining about a note every couple of weeks a my muscles become stronger. And i absolutely get the bubble swallowing. Feels weird hey. I think SLP can help with that one, but i haven’t got to that point yet. I think we’re on the same path, you and I!
I’m so pleased @F_t & @a_catindisguise that you’re both healing well & that you both are click-free! Hopefully the swallowing will get more normal with time
I’m very happy that I found this forum! I’m also having a click in my throat since this year and times are rough since that!
I live in Austria and so far I just got either " We have no idea what you have" or “You are imagining it”.
Because of your posts I contacted Dr Dewan and we are chatting about it at the moment.
I hope she can help me with this.
Glad to hear that you got rid of this awful click @a_catindisguise
May I ask if you had other symptoms aside the click as well? Cause my throat is feeling tighter everyday and I started to feel a globus sensation which makes it even worse at the moment
All the best for everybody
Anna
@anna_pogu - Welcome to our forum! We’re glad you found us, too! I’m happy to know you have already spoken to Dr. Dewan. I hope she is able to help you. I’m sorry your throat symptoms are so uncomfortable, but I hope you’re able to find the right doctor to help you as soon as possible.
We are here for you all along your journey to healing.
@F_t I think so too! It may take as long as we were swallowing weird to avoid the click, to have it feel 100% normal again. I’m honestly ok with it, it’s a little annoying but not as life altering as the click. If we made it through that, we can do anything at this point! I’ve also noticed since being off my pain meds that the left side of my throat where I was having most of the issues still hurts a bit when I swallow, I’m chalking it up to nerve irritation and I’m going to go back to my massages again once my incision is fully healed, maybe that will help calm it down. Glad to know I’m not alone with the voice thing. Today was my first day driving again and I was trying to sing along to my playlist while running errands and I was just laughing at myself cause I sound crazy trying to hit the higher notes May think about seeing that SLP after my 1 month follow up. I’ll definitely keep updating here!
If i knew, i wouldn’t have signed up!
you gave me the confidence boost I needed going into my surgery in 22 days. I’m so excited to get rid of the click too! My surgeon did tell me she will have to reteach me how to swallow in the hospital the day after so I’m preparing to be somewhat impaired for a little while lol. Thank you for the advice and happy healing to you, friend 
I noticed right as I woke up from surgery. I am still amazed! What I will say though, recovery is tough! Swallowing is still pretty difficult and my voice is super raspy. It has improved since yesterday and I am able to eat a little more now, but it was really frustrating at first. It’s also really painful like strep throat x1000 lol but I know it’s going to improve each day. I noticed my first night before the swelling took hold that I was hearing less tinnitus, had no ear pain and no jaw pain either, so I am excited to see what happens when I’m fully healed! This group has been life saving for me! I’m so grateful for my new outlook and I’ve never been so excited for the future! Thank you all so much for your support through my journey to solving the click!! I’ll be here to help future members 🫶🏼
as far as meds go, my doc set me up with the liquid stuff which takes any pain away in an instant and I do have my neck ice wraps going. Today I ate my whole bowl of Mac n cheese for dinner which I was excited about lol. I am very determined to get eating again, that’s my favorite activity 
Luckily our house got minimal damage but I miss my cat so much 
so many emotions!!
May think about seeing that SLP after my 1 month follow up. I’ll definitely keep updating here!