My five week medical leave is officially over! I return to work at WTAM 1100 starting Monday, March 7. However, I will not be anchoring news on “Wills and Snyder in the Morning,” for at least the first few days.
Quick rewind here.
On January 27th, I had surgery to remove an acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor on the nerve that connects the ear to the brain. The surgery was successful. The tumor is gone. The problem is the tumor also had connected to the nerves that control facial muscles. I came out of the surgery unable to control the left side of my mouth, and also unable to close my left eye tightly.
On February 24th, I had a second surgery, which is still kind of groundbreaking. The muscles that control the left side of my mouth were lifted a bit, connected to some other nerves, and then were also hooked up with a temporary sling, made from Gore-Tex.
Since then, feeling is returning to that side of my face. Motion is returning to that side of my face. Before last week’s surgery, I couldn’t even smile. Now, I can smile, and I can speak more clearly than before the surgery. However, I don’t speak as clearly as I did before the surgery. It could take weeks for that to return.
Fast forward to today.
My two surgeons have said, in writing, that I can return to work. But, working in radio is a bit different than working in other professions. If I was in a sales position, or a computer programmer and I had had this situation, I’d be right back on my old job. It doesn’t matter how you talk.
But in radio, your voice is your talent. If your voice isn’t perfect, listeners may turn off the station.
I heard today from people who have dealt with similar situations. One Facebook friend couldn’t speak clearly after returning to his radio news job after a double root canal. For a while, he wrote and produced all the newscasts, and someone else delivered them for him. Another radio news anchor had had a case of Bell’s palsy. He had to hold up the droopy side of his face.
While at the Clear Channel studios today, I spoke to Tracey Carroll, producer for “Lanigan and Malone” on Majic 105.7. Some time ago, Tracey dealt with a situation in which the upper portion of her mouth needed to be rebuilt. She told me that she had her own problems with speaking on the air, but she dealt with them.
Anyway, I’ll be back to work come Monday, but I’ll be working from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. My first day, I’ll anchor some afternoon newscasts, put stuff up on the web and on Facebook, and work the desk. My second day, and future days, we’ll see.
No matter what, I feel glad that I’ll be back at work for the first time in over five weeks.
As I return to work, I want to thank all the WTAM 1100 listeners who have sent me encouraging e-mails, along with those who signed up for my Facebook page. A man from Vermilion read my blog, and e-mailed me because he also had an acoustic neuroma. He had radiation on his. I chose surgery. He and I have exchanged a lot of e-mails over the past week. We have compared how our lives have changed (both of us, for instance, lost hearing in one ear).
I have joined an organization called the Acoustic Neuroma Association. It’s based in Atlanta. It’s a national organization for people who have, or have had acoustic neuromas, along with their families and their doctors. Their web site has a lot of information, and they also have people across the country willing to talk with others about acoustic neuromas. Who knows? I may become one of those speakers.
Quick rewind here.
On January 27th, I had surgery to remove an acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor on the nerve that connects the ear to the brain. The surgery was successful. The tumor is gone. The problem is the tumor also had connected to the nerves that control facial muscles. I came out of the surgery unable to control the left side of my mouth, and also unable to close my left eye tightly.
On February 24th, I had a second surgery, which is still kind of groundbreaking. The muscles that control the left side of my mouth were lifted a bit, connected to some other nerves, and then were also hooked up with a temporary sling, made from Gore-Tex.
Since then, feeling is returning to that side of my face. Motion is returning to that side of my face. Before last week’s surgery, I couldn’t even smile. Now, I can smile, and I can speak more clearly than before the surgery. However, I don’t speak as clearly as I did before the surgery. It could take weeks for that to return.
Fast forward to today.
My two surgeons have said, in writing, that I can return to work. But, working in radio is a bit different than working in other professions. If I was in a sales position, or a computer programmer and I had had this situation, I’d be right back on my old job. It doesn’t matter how you talk.
But in radio, your voice is your talent. If your voice isn’t perfect, listeners may turn off the station.
I heard today from people who have dealt with similar situations. One Facebook friend couldn’t speak clearly after returning to his radio news job after a double root canal. For a while, he wrote and produced all the newscasts, and someone else delivered them for him. Another radio news anchor had had a case of Bell’s palsy. He had to hold up the droopy side of his face.
While at the Clear Channel studios today, I spoke to Tracey Carroll, producer for “Lanigan and Malone” on Majic 105.7. Some time ago, Tracey dealt with a situation in which the upper portion of her mouth needed to be rebuilt. She told me that she had her own problems with speaking on the air, but she dealt with them.
Anyway, I’ll be back to work come Monday, but I’ll be working from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. My first day, I’ll anchor some afternoon newscasts, put stuff up on the web and on Facebook, and work the desk. My second day, and future days, we’ll see.
No matter what, I feel glad that I’ll be back at work for the first time in over five weeks.
As I return to work, I want to thank all the WTAM 1100 listeners who have sent me encouraging e-mails, along with those who signed up for my Facebook page. A man from Vermilion read my blog, and e-mailed me because he also had an acoustic neuroma. He had radiation on his. I chose surgery. He and I have exchanged a lot of e-mails over the past week. We have compared how our lives have changed (both of us, for instance, lost hearing in one ear).
I have joined an organization called the Acoustic Neuroma Association. It’s based in Atlanta. It’s a national organization for people who have, or have had acoustic neuromas, along with their families and their doctors. Their web site has a lot of information, and they also have people across the country willing to talk with others about acoustic neuromas. Who knows? I may become one of those speakers.
