Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Good News!

Hi All!

I had speech therapy today - I used to have appointments every Wednesday but am down to only every other week.

Anyway - I wanted to share with you. Susan (speech therapist extraordinaire!) said that my voice sounded the best it has ever sounded - the tone was good and it sounds "normal!" Did you catch that word - normal! She played me a recording from two weeks ago and then a recording I made today - what a difference! She was so excited! Needless to say - so was I! There was even talk of going to every three weeks and eventually once a month. Progress is being made!

We had the same conversation we have had each appointment for the past several months - why is my voice doing so well? The answer is still "Who knows!" but, we both agree that my latest baby step of improvement is from the fact that I am becoming better able to "catch" my voice in a decline before it goes totally haywire. Then, after I notice my voice going down, I remediate with a much lower volume and more of the exercises - especially inhalation voicing. Did I tell you that I read totally on the inhale for about 5 minutes yesterday? Just wanted to see if I still could do it. Susan said that probably helped a lot to whip those darn muscles back into shape.

Another HUGE contributing factor was the use of my Spokeman. I just love that darn thing! Even writing about it makes me think fondly of it! Using the microphone helped keep me from stressing my voice by pushing for volume and allowed me to slowly make progress while still being heard.

I am so happy that I am doing well! Of course - I thought I was especially fine voice today but . . . I am always a bit nervous about going to Speech. Sometimes she sees things I don't - like pushing my voice too far. However, I am STARTING to get better about that!

More exercises, massaging, and reading. Can't stop now!

Trisha

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Both my speech pathologist and otolaryngologist said speech therapy was a waste of time for me. sigh. I have a chattervox but I need a new mic.

Today is my daughter's birthday. My kids' birthdays always make me a little sad because the time has just flown by. I won't be able to sing her happy birthday later. Trying to sing shuts everything down completely. I guess I could YELL Happy Birthday. I hate SD.

Trisha said...

I hate SD too. But, I am learning how to "dance" with it in my life. I just have to get in sync with it so I know how to "counter" its steps to mess with my voice.

Have you gone the whole Botox route?

I know what it is like to not be able to sing Happy Birthday - I am sorry! At least she knows you would if you could!