Shania Twain has spoken about the life-changing surgery she had to endure after Lyme disease led to her suffering nerve damage to her vocal cords.
In order for the surgery to be as successful as possible, the singer has revealed she had to be awake during the entire operation.
During an appearance on Thursday’s Lorraine to promote her new album, Queen Of Me, Shania admitted she was more afraid of not being able to sing again than the op itself.
Explaining her battle with Lyme disease and the life-changing surgery that restored her voice, she said: “It was quite depressing, devastating to imagine that I would never sing again, even speaking, really has always been difficult with Lyme disease.
“But I’m just feeling so grateful to finally sing and express myself.
“This’ll be the first album since my operation on my voice - you have to be awake for this operation.
“I was more afraid of never singing again than whatever it took to get through that operation...I chose the lesser of the two fears.
“The reason you have to be awake for it [the operation] is so you can sing during the operation. They have to be able to see your larynx in action, you have to speak and sing.”
The That Don’t Impress Me Much singer was diagnosed with Lyme disease after she was bitten by a tick while horseback riding.
In an earlier interview with the Associated Press, the 57-year-old star described the op as “horrible”.
“It was horrible,” she said. “I’m not going to lie. But there was no way around it. It was the only way. The decision to do the surgery was quick for me, but the recovery was quite long and very, very painful.
“They literally had to stretch the larynx, move everything over and put these crutches in there. You’re singing and you speak, so they understand that you have symmetrical closure — which I didn’t have before.”
Lorraine airs weekdays at 9am on ITV1 & ITVX.