A keen singer who feared she would never be able to hold a note again after her neck swelled “like a frog when they puff out their neck” and underwent surgery to remove thyroid cancer now says she can “sing like a bird” after enjoying a remarkable recovery. Dinny Hinds, 76, had to retire early from her job as a nurse when thyroid cancer in her throat meant she could no longer shout for help on the wards.
A keen singer, Dinny said it was frustrating to not be able to sing along at church and communicated with her family through written notes for six months while she recovered from surgery, which saw surgeons cut her from “one ear to the next so they could get in and remove the lumps”. After having a balloon fitted into her vocal cord, the mum-of-two regained her voice and in September 2019, she took part in her first 5K run “to say thank you” to the people who had helped her – undertaking another in June this year.
With her husband, Leslie, 75, a retired post office worker, since being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Dinny is a regular participant in Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life and she is often accompanied by her children to raise funds and awareness. Dinny, who lives in Birmingham and is mother to her daughter Allison, 44, and 37-year-old son Adrian, said: “Discovering a lump on my tongue marked the start of a long process.
“Even though I’m a nurse, it never crossed my mind I had cancer. I knew something wasn’t right when I began to feel really tired, as if I didn’t have enough strength to get out of bed. Since going into remission, my husband has been diagnosed with cancer and it makes me want to spread as much awareness as possible. If we did not get things checked or keep up to date with routine appointments, then things could have been a lot worse.”
For Dinny, it was back in 2005 when she was working on night duty as a nurse that she first started to have problems with her throat. Finding a lump on her tongue, she booked a doctor’s appointment.
Dinny said: “The lump wasn’t painful but I kept looking at it all the time and I knew there was something wrong with it. The doctor didn’t think there was anything to worry about but kept an eye on it and when it started to grow over time, they decided to cut it out.”
Recovering from the procedure, Dinny hoped that marked an end to her health problems. Months later, however, she noticed that her neck was beginning to swell.
She said: “I looked like a frog when they puff out their neck, there was something still not right.” Going back to her doctor, Dinny was referred to Solihull Hospital for an ultrasound – where the doctor said he could see lumps in her neck.
She added: “They investigated it and found nodules in my throat so ran some tests and scans on it. Then, I went on holiday to Tenerife because I just thought it was thyroid problems and my son received calls every day asking for me to come back into hospital urgently.”
Returning to the UK, Dinny went back to the hospital where medics broke the news to her that she had thyroid cancer. Reeling from the “shock” of her diagnosis, Dinny said there was not much time to “come to terms” with the news, as doctors needed to act fast and she was recommended for surgery.
She said: “As soon as they told me it was cancer, I asked how long I’d got left. It felt like a death sentence. I was shocked beyond belief. I had what is known as a smile surgery, where you’re cut from one ear to the next so they could get in and remove the lumps.
“The surgery was a success but doctors had warned me that I could lose my voice and that I might have to have a tracheostomy.” Recovering from the op, Dinny did not need a tracheostomy but her paralysed vocal cord meant she could no longer sing or be understood while talking for around six months.
Despite finding it “frustrating” to be understood in conversation, Dinny said she followed doctor’s advice “to the letter” as she hoped her voice would make a recovery. She said: “The cancer stabilised and that was the most important thing. When you find out you have something like cancer, you do whatever doctors say, even if you can’t talk or sing anymore, which I love to do.
“I didn’t want to do any damage to my voice by straining it so I stayed as silent as possible until another operation was scheduled to repair my vocal cord. Everything I wanted to say was written down.” Having a balloon inserted into her left vocal cord, Dinny’s speech has now improved.
She said: “My voice was all gravelly and I had to retire from work because they said I wouldn’t be able to shout for help on the wards but with the balloon surgery and speech therapy, even though my voice isn’t quite the same, I’m able to talk again. I sing like a bird again too, I sing around the house all the time and I love to sing in church.”
Now in remission, Dinny takes medication and has check-up appointments so doctors can monitor her cancer. “I wouldn’t get the all-clear, I knew that I’d be living with cancer for the rest of my life but when it stabilised, and I went into remission, I knew that I wanted to do something as a way to give back,” she said.
Signing up to Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life, Dinny took part in her first 5k run with her daughter, Allison, in September 2019. Dinny said: “It was very special to race alongside my daughter. It was in Birmingham and my husband and son were there to cheer us on. They greeted us as we came to the finish line and were very supportive.”
On June 11, 2023, Dinny took part in another 5K race in Birmingham with her son, Adrian, with her next challenge being a third run on July 2. Dinny said: “I’m taking part in as much as a I can because I want people to be aware of their bodies and raise awareness for cancer. People should look out for anything on their body that is not normal and if they see anything, then they should go to the doctor.
“There are some cancers that are not talked about so much like thyroid cancer. If I hadn’t gone to the doctor when I noticed something wrong, then I might not be here now. And my husband, who now has prostate cancer, went to a routine scan and didn’t have any noticeable signs of cancer but was diagnosed as a result. If he hadn’t gone, it could have got so much worse.
“Doing things like Race for Life is important to me, it’s my way to give back to those who have helped me.” Dinny is supporting Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life 2023, in partnership with Standard Life.
Sign up to your local event at raceforlife.org
