Thursday, June 5, 2008

Are You Really Out There?

Hi All!

Are you really out there? I ask because I keep seeing people show up on my site's web tracker thing which tells me where the people who visit my blog come from. However, only two or three people ever comment. Coffee Bean - who I adore - and Ecolo - ditto - are my two regulars but, I just know that there are a lot of you just hanging out and reading.

Could you throw me a bone once in a while and comment? Nothing spectacular - just maybe say "Hi!" If you are feeling brave, you can tell me what you think about my posts. OR - you can even tell me why you don't normally comment and what you would like to hear about!

I would love to have some kind of contest like Coffee Bean but . . . I don't have a good prize in mind yet. I will work on it but, in the meantime, I will tell you what I will do - leave me a comment and I promise to read your comment and - if you ask me a question - I will even answer it!

I know I am feeling needy here but . . . I know you are out there - somewhere!

I hope!

Trisha

Voice Update:
Okay - yesterday I was being lazy! I didn't do much of my exercises but I did massage once. Not too good but . . . hey - I am human! My voice is still holding steady and I even talked on the phone yesterday! And not my beloved amplified phone either! I do have to say that I have noticed that if people ask me to repeat something I said - I suddenly can't say whatever I just said as plain as day! Frustrating! I have started reading out loud again - yeah!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm here via Coffeebean via PW... I've never heard of your (or Coffeebean's) condition. Does anyone know what causes it? I know I need to do some reading now that I've been made aware, but I just want to tell you that I totally admire you for putting yourself out there and making people aware of this condition. My hat is off to you !!

Helen G.

Anonymous said...

Hi Trisha!!! I'm here! I'm reading and I'm lovin' you and your blog! Hang in there!

Trisha said...

Helen-

I am glad that you are interested in learning more about Spasmodic Dysphonia. When I was diagnosed, I had never heard of it and had to do a lot of research to understand what I had.

Currently, it isn't known what causes SD. There has been some research done which suggests some thinning of mylan surrounding nerves in the brain. Also, there are some studies which suggest that it might be inherited in the female line of a family. However, nothing is definite now.

The only thing that is positive is that no one really knows what causes it or how to cure it!

I hope you come back to visit my blog again!

Thanks for the comment!

Anonymous said...

Hi, first time here! Thanks for coming by my site.

I've added you to my reader!

Anonymous said...

I'm back home and have access to your blog. We had a great time at my stepson's graduation. It was a nice break.

As we were driving to MN (13 hours), every hour on the hour I would massage my throat. Trish, you would be so proud of me. AND you want to know what: my voice seemed so much stronger! I'm not sure whether it was the humidity in the air, the massage relaxing the larynx, or what. No one mentioned my voice (both good or bad). Not sure how to take that. I was in situations where I was meeting a lot of strangers and if the voice is really bad people ususally people make some kind of comment. No one did.

I did notice when we were driving back, as we neared western Nebraska, I needed to clear my throat and cough more. I'm sure the dry weather has something to do with it. Throat hydration and drinking lots of water is a factor.

Have you noticed weather changes affecting your SD situation? I think I will need to take notice of that. Perhaps it's similar to arthritis, barometer fluctuations!!! Ha!

I'm not too versed in blog logistics, but since I'm writing a response days after your post, you do get a notification that this comment has appeared, right?

If I don't see a response, I will contact you in a different way AND I will be better about leaving a comment even though you know I'm checking out your blog daily (if not more frequent).

Good to be back and in contact once again.

Trisha said...

Ecolo -

Glad that you are back and that you had a good time at the graduation.

It sounds like the massage might be helping a bit. Its purpose is to relax those muscles and allow the larnyx to "reset" to a normal position. Apparently, when those muscles are tense, they can pull the larnyx out of position making it more difficult to talk.

I am not sure about the weather thing. I will have to pay more attention!

You are great for commenting. I will admit I was feeling a bit needy when I posted this blog. I am better now - a bit more secure so don't feel obligated to comment -even though I love to hear from you!