In late January, the Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer told fans on her MySpace page that she would soon be going under the knife. Nodes had formed on the pianist/singer's vocal cords, and it would require surgery to remove them and get her throat back into shape.

As she wrote at the time: long story short: i'll be getting this done in march and they ask that you go easy on your voice leading up the date. then it's 2 weeks of no talking (not even whispering) and another 4 weeks of rehab (and i said no, no, no). the good news is that i will have a shiny new set of vocal chords to sing with and the surgeon is the best in the country and just happens to be in boston. so i lucked out.

Bostonist checked in with Palmer recently to see how she's doing on this side of the surgical procedure, and Palmer filled us in on all the node news. See what she had to say (and by say, we mean write, as she could not speak) after the jump!

Check in tomorrow for a Bostonist interview with Brian Viglione, the percussive half of the Dresden Dolls and recent Nine Inch Nails collaborator! Photo of Amanda Palmer by flickr user photofalcon.

So, the quick and gritty details on the surgery: when did it take place? How long did the procedure take? How did everything go and how are you feeling now?

surgery was march 4th (auspicious date, eh? i was happy).
the whole thing took about 2.5 hours. it went fine...when i woke up i felt like someone had roto-rootered my throat but the pain went away within the first few days. they also gave me some liquid percocet, can't argue with opiates!

On your blog, you showed off the pre-surgery images of your vocal cords and the nodes. The way we understand it, the folds are supposed to close normally, but the nodes made it impossible to do that, which then basically messes everything up (we're highly technical, clearly). Is that correct and did the doctors have any idea of how long the nodes have been an issue?

exactly, you got it on the money. nodes don't just pop up overnight, they grow like callouses from years of vocal abuse. i've been abusing my voice regularly since i was, oh...25 and started touring. so i would say this suckers were probably 6 years old, at least. the doctor is a huge deal, he's worked on steve tyler, julie andrews, cher, tons of folks. i ran into ozzy osbourne and his wife sharon the first time i had an appointment with him. he's the man (the doctor, that is. the ozman ain't shabby either).

How were you feeling right before the surgery? What was going through your mind?

i was flirting with the anesthetist. he was pretty cute. i was sort of self-conscious because i didn't have my eyebrows painting on and that's a strike against me in any flirting process because it makes me look like an alien or bob geldolf from the wall (post-eyebrow-shaving, of course).

On the other side of the procedure, what was your first thought that you recall after waking up?

i think i had two simultaneous thoughts:
what is this thing on my face? (it was a steam mask).
and
OW. (it hurt, they hadn't administered my liquid percocet yet).
it was an excellent chance to practice yoga. had to just breathe right into that shit and wait.

You said that you can't speak for two weeks. Is there anything in your normal routine that you had to eliminate for the time being, for the fear of getting riled up and accidentally speaking/shouting/whatever?

i don't think anyone ever "accidentally" shouts. it's not hard at all. i've gone on silent meditation retreats and not talking isn't hard at all. It's actually relieving. it sure says something about our culture when i relate the fact that i can't talk and people tell me that they're jealous of me. it simplifies the shit out of things. no bullshitting, no commenting, no contradicting. just the facts, ma'am. my trip to the post office today was interesting.

brian and i have been working together on the selection of photos for the bands next songbook and i've just been communicating via sticky note son my mac. i really have to need to say something in order to say it. it's a reminder that 89% of what comes out of our mouths (or my mouth, i should speak for myself, no pun intended) is unnecessary drivel. i have to say, this is calmest and happiest i've been in ages. i did forget completely after watching a movie on the first night and started to say something, then remembered . my voice just sounded like a horse whisper.

You have a crazy schedule approaching - the release of "No, Virginia," the release of the solo album, your performance with the Pops this summer. Timing-wise, is this a nice "calm before the storm" type of situation (as nice as it can be given that it included surgery)?

Hells yeah. I am digging out of sixth months worth of backlogged emails, cleaning out my apartment, just generally Getting Shit Done that i've been ignoring for years in some cases.

Next year is going to be INSANE. i'll be touring non-stop, so i'm soaking up the home-rays while i can.