Me and My Polyp

Hello,

This is a story about a freaky experience I recently went through.

I had a ridiculously large vocal polyp removed a couple weeks ago. The doctor said it was one of the largest he had ever seen. After seeing a picture after the operation I scribbled on my notepad “That thing was HUGE” and underlined “HUGE” twice!

I had a checkup 8 days after the operation, about a week ago now, and I stated to the doctor “I don’t get how I was able to do perform like I could with that thing in there.” He explained that the way the polyp had grown it was essentially on a stem, so it was elevated off the chords and I was able to work around it. I kind of wish I had asked for a photo because it was seriously gnarly.

How did I get there?

I was diagnosed with the polyp condition back in October of 2015. I have a tendency to get the type of earwax build up that results in one or both of my ears becoming completely stopped up. I believe this is due to earplugs I wear pushing the wax deep into my ear, and I periodically go to the ENT to have earwax removed.

So, last October I went to the ENT to have the pro-style earwax removal (those over the counter solutions suck!). The doctor came in and asked me what was going on. By then, my voice had a developed a generally raspy quality from all the years of rockin’ and rollin’ across the world. I had some bad allergies at the time and my voice was sounding rougher than usual from sinus drainage. Or so I thought. The doctor heard me talking for a few seconds, could hear something was up, and recommended I get scoped.

That was when I found out I had a polyp.

The doctor recommended surgery to have the polyp removed and gave me a card with a number to call. After a bunch of phone with the scheduler I made an appointment to have the operation. It was only after scheduling the surgery that I started looking into what the procedure was and what the risks were. That’s when I got freaked out. It all felt a little rushed, and I canceled the surgery and went on with my life. I figured if it was a big deal someone would call me back, and, of course, I put off scheduling a followup because I was not exactly thrilled at the notion of having my vocal chords messed with.

So now I was aware I had the “polyp problem.” Then I started noticing a dull sort of pain in my neck that became annoying and was a constant reminder I had a polyp that was ultimately going to have to be dealt with. I was also having problems maintaining the quality of my voice. Persistent hoarseness and day-to-day stamina and range weren’t great, but I knew how to manage it well enough to perform when I needed to.

I was fooling myself if I ever thought it was going to go away.

At the beginning of June 2016, about 7 months after being diagnosed, and with the temperatures rising, we kicked the AC on at my house. I remember feeling a little run down as I went to bed one night. When I woke up the next morning my voice was completely gone.

As much as I had dealt with voice issues before after straining my voice by hard singing, screaming and yelling, and talking over loud music in bars, I had never had a complete loss of voice. Again, I was freaked out. After replacing the crappy air filter that had triggered what I assume was laryngitis, I resigned myself to the fact that this polyp was going to have to go, and I should do it as soon as possible.

Of course, being a musician and reading the news, I’m familiar with the doctor up in Boston who has treated many famous singers. Knowing that wasn’t a realistic possibility I started searching for someone in Georgia, and I got lucky and found a guy who was in my network who appeared to be just the guy I was looking for.

I scheduled an appointment and a few weeks later met with the doctor.

After a brief introduction, the doctor made a comment about already having had a surgery scheduled before. I explained I went in to the ENT to have my ears cleaned, and I walked out with a number to call to get my throat cut. It was a pretty big jump! I’ve worked hard to become the singer I am and going under the knife was something I was trying to avoid at all costs.

He proceeded to scope me and was immediately like “Yeah, that needs to come out. It’s one of the largest I’ve seen.” After another brief back and forth he pulled out his dictaphone and again reiterated “It’s one of the largest I’ve seen.”

I set the surgery up for the earliest date, which was August 8.

I also scheduled a recording session and cut vocals (pardon the pun) to 5 new songs. I was about to release a single called “Heart’s On Fire” (August 12) and was already thinking ahead to a follow up EP. I was also thinking that even in the best case scenario I probably wouldn’t be able to sing full strength for a couple months. I didn’t wan’t to consider a worst case scenario. Mostly, I wanted to get this one song recorded where I do my David Lee Roth by-way-of Little Richard squeals.

When it came time to have the surgery I was at peace. I was relaxed and my blood pressure was pretty much 120/80. I got hooked up to an IV and they walked me into the operating room. There was a radio playing and literally right as I went to lay down on the table the “The Waiting” by Tom Petty came on and it was quite a surreal experience. I started asking if it was the radio or some kind of joke, because the timing was serendipitous. It was the radio, go figure.

They strapped me onto the table, the anesthesiologist did his thing, and I was out.

When I came to I could see a clock on the wall and without thinking about not talking I blurted out “what time is it?” because I didn’t have my glasses on and I was instantly curious how long I had been under. After that I locked it up and went into silent mode.

The doctor came by, confirmed the surgery was a success, and presented sheet with a before and after photo. I couldn’t believe my eyes, the polyp was huge! The biopsy report I got later measured it at .8cm.

I ended up not speaking for 8 days until I had my follow up appointment. I grew anxious about the status of the growth and whether it was benign or not. Thankfully it was benign.

Since the checkup I’ve generally tried not to talk, but if I do I’ve kept it to a minimum. I haven’t pushed my voice at all. I was originally going to try and go 3 weeks without talking a-la Keith Urban, but my doctor seemed OK with me talking a little bit. It will be 3 weeks next Monday. I don’t plan on trying to sing again until I feel 100%. I read somewhere Sam Smith, who also had to have the procedure done, was out performing again after six weeks, that seems pretty adventurous to me, but I’m not familiar with his situation.

Now that I’m recovering I’ve had to give up all my favorite things like coffee, beer, and coca-cola. That’s probably for the best anyway. I plan on being much more focused on vocal health going forward and hope to be back in action hopefully in November, but I’m not rushing it.

I have my hands full trying to promote my current single, working on the music for my next 5 song EP, and also trying to get my website tightened up.

If you made it this far thanks for reading!

-Lightnin’ Ray

P.S. The title of this post was inspired by the Nilsson song “Me and My Arrow.”