Two Days Before Losing Her Voice, Melodie Woods Reflects on Isolation, Care, and Community

Two days before she was scheduled to undergo a 12-hour surgery that could permanently take her voice, Melodie Woods spoke quietly but candidly about fear, isolation, and the community that has stepped in to help carry her family through an unthinkable season.

Woods, a Peachtree City resident diagnosed with Stage 4 salivary gland cancer, is scheduled for surgery Tuesday at Emory University Hospital. The procedure will remove most — and possibly all — of her tongue, depending on whether surgeons are able to preserve a critical artery supplying blood to the left side.

Both of her daughters will accompany her to the hospital.

At home, her husband Wesley — who lives with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurological disease — will remain in the care of close friend Jody Toth, who has traveled from out of state to stay with him during Woods’ hospitalization and early recovery.

A brief look back

In December, The Citizen reported on the dual medical crises facing the Woods family: Melodie’s cancer diagnosis and Wesley’s need for round-the-clock care after losing his ability to speak and function independently.

As surgery neared, the situation became more urgent. Woods would be hospitalized for weeks, unable to care for Wesley herself, while facing the possibility that she, too, would lose the ability to speak.

A GoFundMe launched by longtime friends helped stabilize the immediate crisis, allowing the family to begin hiring caregivers and preparing for a future that would require care for both spouses.

Living in isolation

In her conversation with The Citizen, Woods described how caregiving had already narrowed her world long before her own diagnosis.

Because Wesley cannot be left alone, Woods said she was unable to leave the house — even briefly — to run errands, pick up prescriptions, or buy groceries. Everything had to be delivered.

“I couldn’t go anywhere,” she said. “I couldn’t go get groceries. I couldn’t go get prescriptions. Everything had to be delivered. You never see anybody.”

Wesley understands everything spoken to him, Woods said, but he cannot talk back. Over time, the lack of conversation — and the inability to leave home — led to deep isolation.

“For years, I hardly heard another human voice,” she said. “People stopped coming. I think they felt uncomfortable. I was just here — all the time.”

She described months passing without face-to-face interaction, aside from doctors or occasional work-related calls.

“That kind of loneliness,” she said, “is its own kind of terrible.”

New medical realities

Since the couple’s last update, Woods’ medical outlook has grown more complex.

A new scan showed the tumor has grown slightly and now sits just millimeters from a major artery supplying blood to her tongue. A second surgeon, Dr. Peter Kahng, has joined her care team to attempt microsurgery that could preserve part of her tongue.

“He thinks he has about five millimeters,” Woods said. “In that space, he has to get a clean margin and still save the artery. It’s tiny — but he’s hopeful.”

Last week, Woods underwent surgery to place a feeding tube in preparation for the procedure. She said she was surprised by how painful and disruptive it has been.

“I thought it would be uncomfortable for a day or two,” she said. “It’s been a week, and it still feels like I’ve had abdominal surgery.”

Doctors have told Woods that even if she regains the ability to swallow, she is unlikely to be able to consume enough calories without tube feeding.

Preparing to lose her voice

Beyond the physical consequences, Woods said the emotional reality of losing her voice has been difficult to process — especially given that Wesley already cannot speak.

“I’m very frightened,” she said. “Knowing I’m never going to be able to talk again, or taste food again — how are Wesley and I going to communicate?”

She has tried to complete voice banking to preserve recordings of her speech but has struggled to get the technology fully functional. After surgery, she expects to rely on typing or text-to-speech.

“It’s hard to wrap your mind around,” she said. “I know it’s going to be frustrating.”

Help arrives — and stays

In the days leading up to surgery, support has arrived in tangible ways.

Professional caregivers have begun rotating through the home to learn Wesley’s routine. Woods’ daughter Melissa has been coordinating care logistics. And longtime friend Jody Toth — who has known Woods since childhood — is staying with Wesley during the first weeks of Woods’ hospitalization..

“When you walk into the house, you see the love immediately,” Toth said. “The way they look at each other — you can’t miss it.”

Toth said Woods quietly carried the responsibility of caregiving for years without asking for help.

“She’s done this alone for a very long time,” Toth said. “That’s love and commitment.”

Gratitude for a community response

As of Monday afternoon, the GoFundMe established for the Woods family had raised $99,659, with donations ranging from $5 to $4,500 — a breadth of giving Woods said has deeply moved her.

“I’m grateful from the bottom of my heart,” she said. “Some of these people are complete strangers. And every single gift matters.”

The funds are being used to support professional caregiving, medical expenses, transportation, and household needs. Woods said she has come to realize that caring for both herself and Wesley will require more help than she initially understood.

“You can’t have one caregiver taking care of two people,” she said. “It really takes more than that.”

More than the financial relief, Woods said the response has restored something she had lost.

“I felt so lonely and so hopeless before,” she said. “Now people have shown up. I picked the right place to live. This is still the right place for me to be.”

Looking ahead

After a twelve-hour surgery and two to three weeks in the hospital, Woods expects to return home but will require frequent trips back to Atlanta for follow-up care. She will not be able to drive, and Wesley will continue to need full-time assistance.

Whether radiation or chemotherapy will follow surgery will depend on post-operative pathology.

For now, Woods said her focus is narrow and immediate.

“I just want him to be safe,” she said. “And I’m trying to be strong enough to get through this.”Those wishing to support the Woods family can find the GoFundMe at:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-wesley-melodie-woods-health-journey