Article
Cancer: The Experience of Voice
Author(s):
On feeling low and flying high after cancer surgery
Facing major road blocks
Cancer near my voice box
Get me to the best docs
Panic on a big scale
Surgeons need the detail
Send it overnight mail
Multi-city detour
Options there to try for
Found the best team on tour
Gurney to the O.R.
Road ahead looks so far
Surgeons are my North Star
Waking up the next day
Tubes are in my airway
Getting through it some way
Regimens to follow
Fighting hard to swallow
Feeling scared and hollow
Tripping on the pain med
Colors fill my whole head
Nights are long in this bed
Wakeful as a night owl
Nerves are on the late prowl
Can't say even one vowel
Scribble notes on loose leaf
Pile up a big sheaf
Writing brings me relief
Midway through the next week
Surgeons add a new tweak
Suddenly I do speak
With a tiny voice back
Physically I'm on track
Mentally a new tack
Listen on the inside
Cancer is a rough ride
Emphasize the upside
Healing starts to creep in
Confidence will deepen
Crooked roads can straighten
