this is the fifth post about my journey of vocal recovery.
if you’ve been reading about my vocal journey, you know that my vocal cords are thinning, due to aging. this is causing hoarseness, because they don’t fully touch when i speak or sing.
back in december, i had a procedure done where they injected a gel-like substance into my vocal cords. the theory is that this will plump them up so they do touch. the substance dissolves after a few months. i had a bump on one of my vocal cords, and this procedure helped that to heal. on a practical level, though, there was no audible improvement in my voice.
just over a month ago, i had another round of injections. this time, they used a different substance which dissolves more quickly. unfortunately, again i have observed no improvement at all. 🙁 following the procedure, there is supposed to be a short recovery time; it gets worse before it gets better. but it is supposed to get better, and there should be a time when my vocal quality is improved beyond where i was before the procedure. this has not happened. my experience both times was that it gets a lot worse, and then it gradually gets better until i’m back where i was. there has never been a time when my voice was better than it was prior to the injections.
i saw the ent again last week, and the strobe video shows some improvement. my vocal cords touch along a greater portion, especially at a higher pitch and a greater volume. however, this probably indicates that there is still some of the injected substance present, rather than an ongoing change. and this still has not translated into any practical improvement in my voice, speaking or singing. at this point, i am still worse off than i was two months ago. i will be going in again late next month for another follow up.
THE OUTLOOK IS NOT ALL BAD, THOUGH. as i mentioned in my last blog post, shortly before my most recent injections, my speech therapist (who is in the same clinic as the ent) gave me some new vocal building exercises. once we knew the bump was gone, i could start doing more energetic practices. i said it’s sort of like a workout for my voice. 🙂 i had only been doing those for a short time, but it already seemed to be having some positive effects.
i was supposed to do those exercises following my recent injections, but i found myself physically unable. i am only just now able to resume these exercises. i think this practice will get me moving back in the direction i need to be going, and i will return to recording my songs in the very near future.
thanks to all of you who have lent your support, financial, moral, or in whatever way. it means a lot to me. i intend to have better news for you soon.
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