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I'm a professional actress, voiceover talent and VO teacher, with a background as a classically-trained vocalist (mezzo-soprano with a wide range: until recently, it was pretty easily E3-C6, through I've gone as low as A2 and as high as the "Queen-Of-The-Night" F6). A few months ago, I had a really frustrating experience. I was auditioning for an awesome character for a popular kid's cartoon--an audition I'd been dreaming of since I started training in the field--and I found that I wasn't able to perform with the character voice I'd usually use for such a role. In attempting to vocalize at pitches that were nothing out of the ordinary for me in the past, my voice would simply..."squeak out", or crack. I attributed it to not having warmed up enough and was careful to do so more attentively over the next few days, but to my dismay, I found that not only was I having the same issue every time I tried, but in trying to sing songs that have always been within my comfortable natural range, I was having trouble reaching anything beyond my natural speaking range, and my voice would break somewhere around G5/Ab5. This was not only vocally unpleasant, but really emotionally disturbing; my voice is an important part of my identity, and not being able to do with it what I *know* I can do was really disturbing in a way I can't quite convey in words. Anyway, I kept an eye (ear?) or things for a few weeks, but they didn't improve. I kept an eye on my diet, my hydration, my sleep schedule, etc...but all of those things were better than they'd ever been, if anything. I've pretty much ruled out acid reflux as well, which I've heard can have similar symptoms. I started looking into ENTs for consultations, and just about died when I found out what consults (and potentially surgery and/or voice therapy) would cost out of pocket, as I didn't have health insurance. Fortunately, I just became eligible and immediately applied for health insurance again, and as soon as I received confirmation that I was covered I scheduled a consultation with an ENT, which is this Tuesday. Obviously I'll find out for sure after my consultation, but as someone who teaches this thing I know what the symptoms are for vocal nodes, and I have a pretty strong feeling that I have them and that surgery is a very real possibility for me. As someone whose entire livelihood depends on her voice, the prospect of undergoing a surgery that, while minor, has the potential to alter the quality of my voice forever, is utterly terrifying to me. I have a huge, career- and life-changing role that I'm scheduled to record at the end of November, and I would have to get everything in motion within the next few weeks to be completely rehabilitated by then--not to mention that I need to be working (teaching and/or acting, both of which would use my voice) by mid-October to be able to pay my rent and bills and such. Anyway--I would love to hear from some people who have gone through the surgery themselves; I think it would make me feel better to hear from people who have gone through it and can vouch for it being a success much more often than not. I'd like to hear what your experience was like with it, how you were diagnosed, how long everything took from your initial consultation to your surgery, what you did beforehand and how you felt, what recovery was like, how you felt after, if anything changed for you, how your voice recuperated afterwards, how long recuperation took for you, etc. As it is, I'm a nervous wreck--the disaster stories (like Julie Andrews' botched surgery) have been outweighing all of the less-terrifying ones in my head.
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Aug 31, 2014 05:46
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| # ? May 3, 2024 19:54 |
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I don't have any experience in this, but you may want to ask in GoonDoctor.
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Aug 31, 2014 16:44
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Thaaaat makes a lot of sense. Posting there now. Thanks!
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Aug 31, 2014 19:21
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