RV-related and other recreational activities > Making music on the road

Sans voice

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Tom:
For our Framily singers, this was a bit of a rollercoaster ....

I haven't sung a note in almost 3 months. This started as a sinus infection and post-nasal drip, that really did some stuff to my throat. It then turned to bronchial infection (aka difficulty breathing), which also isn't good for singers.

After several weeks, and 5 courses of antibiotics, I went back to the doc and said "this is something else". He diagnosed laryngytis, prescribed a steroid treatment, and gave me a referral to an ENT doc "if it doesn't get better in two weeks". After a week and a half I realized things weren't improving, and made an appointment with the ENT Guy for last Monday.

He (the ENT guy) sprayed some anaesthetic (two different ones) up my nose, and proceeded to feed his camera into each nostril in turn. I couldn't feel anything in my nose, but I sure felt the camera going down my throat, especially when he kept asking me to make some vowel sounds and clear my throat.

The good news - it's all benign and treatable, whew! There were two things going on:

1.  The vocal chords are inflamed, for which he prescribed a steroid in a much stronger dose than my regular doc, in an attempt to "whack" it.

2.  Some residual infection that the prior antibiotics (5 courses) didn't take care of. He prescribed a different antibiotic in a stronger dose.

He asked if I get heartburn and, when I explained that I occasionally get acid reflux (while in bed), he said that was the cause of the inflamed vocal chords. He gave me a list of (dietary) things to help avoid the acid. He also gave me a list of other things to avoid, including ceiling fans, which apparently can cause irritation of the vocal chords.

A big relief for sure. I'd been going through all kinds of scenarios in my mind; I thought a lot about my first boss having his voice box removed because of "throat cancer", and how I'd explain it to the grandkids when Grandpa spoke from his stomach. I also thought about the young English singer Adele who had a benign tumor removed from a vocal chord, and she performed at the Grammys (sp?).

Yesterday was the last of the steroids, which had me dehydrated big time; I've been drinking LOTS of fluids, which has meant frequent trips to the bathroom. I sang just one song yesterday, and sang a few more today. I'm still hoping I can close out our uke show with my God Bless America solo.

Edit: Fixed typos and added a couple of things for clarification.
 

Tom and Margi:
Bless you, Tom.  Losing your voice would be a huge loss to all of us who have had the pleasure of hearing you sing.
 
Margi

SeilerBird:
I am very glad to hear your voice problems are not serious. I seem to remember a few months ago that you were bragging about not needing a microphone since your voice was naturally loud. I mentioned that it was not a good thing to do because singing loud is bad for your voice. You dismissed what I was saying. Coincidentally you are having voice problems. Now I know that your problem could be caused by other things than singing loud, however even if your problem was caused by something else singing loud would not help the situation at all. Professional singers that are concerned about the length of their careers spend at least a half an hour warming up their vocal cords by singing scales and such before a performance. Singing without warming up can lead to a disaster. Mick Jagger does an hour of scales before a performance.

Tom:
Thanks Margi. I told the ENT Doc that I need to sing the solo to close out our upcoming show, and he asked me what we sang. When I explained, he was captivated and, when I explained that I could only mimic Tiny Tim, I got this blank stare; I said " you're not old enough to remember Tiny Tim" so I did my best to interpret him, and the Doc said "OK I got it"  ;D

Tom:
Aye Tom, a big relief.


--- Quote ---I seem to remember a few months ago that you were bragging about not needing a microphone since your voice was naturally loud. I mentioned that it was not a good thing to do because singing loud is bad for your voice.
--- End quote ---

Not 'bragging' per se, but I have a naturally 'loud' voice that has no trouble projecting in a large auditorium. The ENT Doc volunteered "I can see that you'd naturally boom it out with your voice", and saw no reason I should curtail my singing. Unlike other soloists, I don't expect to need a mic at our upcoming concert  ;)


--- Quote ---Professional singers that are concerned about the length of their careers spend at least a half an hour warming up their vocal cords by singing scales and such before a performance. Singing without warming up can lead to a disaster. Mick Jagger does an hour of scales before a performance.
--- End quote ---

Aye Tom. Shirley Bassey (Welsh gal from the Tiger Bay area of Cardiff, the capital City of Wales, and singer of the Bond movie theme tune 'Gold Finger') lost her voice while performing one day. After that episode, she practiced vocal exercises for several hours each day.

Wish me luck at tomorrow (Tuesday)'s final rehearsal for our show.

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