successful surgery!

Hi everyone! I was released from Stanford today and am home. I haven't had to take one pain pill since the surgery! I have some soreness, and the doctors said my voice would actually get worse before it gets better. I'm having some troubles breathing and swallowing, but they said that was all normal. The breathing problem is due to phlegm that started from the surgery. The swallowing issue is because they had to cut muscles that help me swallow in order to get where they needed to go. Both problems will clear up--hopefully very soon. He rotated my left vocal cord to the midpoint so that my right cord could meet it. He also grafted part of a nerve from another place in my neck to repair my damaged recurrent laryngeal nerve, and my singing voice won't be back to normal for a few months (3-4), but the speaking voice should be back much sooner. Right now I'm still having troubles talking on the phone, but as soon as it heals I'll be calling you! They also had to cut through many nerves that go to the skin on my face, so the bottom left side of my face and neck are completely numb on the outside. It could be six months to a year for that to completely heal. No big deal. It's not really bothersome. Both my doc and his assistant said the surgery went very well. In fact, the assistant said, "I was right next to him and was his right-hand man the entire time, and I can tell you the surgery could not have gone more perfectly." As if I don't know why. Thank you all so much for the prayers & emails. They help to heal me both mentally and physically!