Saw Dr. Anderson today (although not until I had been pre-screened by everyone from the front receptionist to a med student to Dr. Halal who I saw the last time I was there) at her voice clinic. The news is a mixed bag of good and bad. My voice has improved and it seems to be coming along at the same rate my arthritis is improving. She thinks it's likely that my voice has not returned fully because I'm not in remission yet. The scope showed that I still have inflammation and also some scarring on the right fold of the vocal chords. The acid reflux is still not entirely gone, so I have to continue taking the Nexium. She has suggested some speech therapy to keep the elasticity and prevent further scarring. I have an appointment next week with the speech pathologist. She does not recommend surgery at this time.
It's hard to process all this. Singing has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I do it for a living, I do it for my own art, I do it for fun. Even though I can sing somewhat (I have good and bad days) I know my voice is not back to normal. My high notes (B and C - 3rd octave) and my break (G, A, and B - 1st octave) are rough and I never know how it will come out. I can't imagine not being able to ever sing to the best of my ability, but if I never go into remission that's my reality. I really can't get too bogged down in all this, I just have to hope for the best.
1 comment:
You're a mess, girlfriend. I profoundly hope that 2007 is the year of getting healthy for you.
And if you do end up not getting your voice back properly you would be well within your rights to grieve about it long and hard; I would be a big mess if I couldn't sing, and I only do it for fun.
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