Sunshine Coast bar manager loses her voice for eight months after getting a cold

Why you should NEVER ignore a common cold: Bartender, 28, loses her voice for EIGHT MONTHS after falling sick – and jokes ‘I was the perfect girlfriend because I couldn’t speak’

  • Sunshine Coast bar manager lost her voice after damage to vocal cord nerves
  • Kaitlyn Grace ignored what she though was a cold and continued working
  • Didn’t become worried until months later when her voice hadn’t returned 
  • She spent $6000 on collagen injections to get her voice back eight months later
  • She now takes better care of herself when rundown and listens to her body 

Ignoring a cold has had devastating consequences for a Queensland bar manager, who lost her voice for eight months.

Kaitlyn Grace, 28, began suffering from what she thought was a common cold in May 2016.

But instead of taking time off to recover, the Sunshine Coast woman worked through her illness and only became worried about her lack of voice until months later when it still hadn’t returned. 

 

Kaitlin Grace spent more than $6000 on injections and surgery to get her voice back

Hand gestures and whispering were the only ways she could communicate. 

‘Initially it was like this big joke, that I was the perfect girlfriend because I couldn’t speak, and the perfect sibling because I couldn’t whinge about anything,’ Ms Grace, 28, told Yahoo News Australia. 

‘I remember crying to my mum, saying that I was never going to have my voice back, and never going to be the way I was before. It was kind of hard.’

She spent three months desperately trying to get answers from doctors before she was a referred to a specialist with a two month waiting list.

Ms Grace was eventually diagnosed with left vocal nerve paralysis – an uncommon complication of severe laryngitis.

Kaitlyn (pictured) needed collagen injected into her vocal cords to get her voice back

Kaitlyn (pictured) needed collagen injected into her vocal cords to get her voice back

The Sunshine Coast resident now takes better care of herself and listens to her body

The Sunshine Coast resident now takes better care of herself and listens to her body

She required a procedure that involved collagen injections into her vocal cords.

Ms Grace was awake during the procedure and after the first round injections, her voice returned for the first time in eight months.

Her voice continued to get stronger after a second round of injections a month later.

The only way Kaitlyn Grace could communicate was through whispering and hand gestures

The only way Kaitlyn Grace could communicate was through whispering and hand gestures

But the injections are only a temporary solution.

Ms Grace has been told she may eventually need reconstructive surgery to repair the severe nerve damage.

Ms Grace has so far spent more than $6000 on getting her voice back and now takes better care of herself when she’s feeling rundown.

‘I know now I need to listen to my body really early, because I caught the common cold and continued working the whole time, so I don’t know if I did more damage by doing that,’ Ms Grace said.

Ms Grace was awake the whole time while the specialist was doing the procedure (pictured)

Ms Grace was awake the whole time while the specialist was doing the procedure (pictured)

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk