Thanks for the update. Glad of the outcome.
The ability to add to this sort of thread is one of the things I really like about the Dope.
I missed this first time around. I lost my voice in much the same way back in high school. On advice from my doctor and my voice teacher I tried and mostly succeeded to keep my mouth shut - no talking or singing - for a week. During that time our select choir had a performance. I had to lip sync for that one. After a week I could talk and sing, but had to be very careful not to push too hard. Advice from my voice teacher kept me from losing it again.
The second part of your revival post brings back more recent memories. My colon cancer two years ago was discovered because of my appendix. I went in for an appendectomy and woke up with no appendix and a couple of inches of bowel removed. My father survived cancer on his kidney that probably would not have been detected in time had it not been for needing his gall bladder removed.
I heard about a woman whose colon cancer was discovered in a similar way, during a c-section that she hesitated having because she didn’t think it was necessary. That baby saved her life!
I’m glad the OP’s co-worker’s disease got caught in time, and that in the end, the OP made a full recovery.