La Bene Vita

Vocal Fold Atrophy

2021 was a difficult year. It was the year before my Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) and Parkinson's Disease (PD) were properly diagnosed and treated. I lost 75 pounds without trying and spent most of the year binging on Netflix shows. I couldn't even play games. I just stared at the TV. All. Year. Don't get me wrong; I got shit done that needed to be done, but it was the bare minimum.

That's the year I lost my voice.

I lost the other instruments, too: piano, guitar, violin, drums. But I could still play slow songs, and piano was decent since the PD only affected my right side at first. My left hand picked up the burden. But I couldn't sing.

I have a great support network, so I didn't wallow in depression. But now that I'm medicated for both diseases and have regained maybe 90% of the mobility I lost in '21, I'm working hard to get all the instruments back, including my beloved voice, which I didn't realize was such a dear friend. Frankly, I'm pissed at PD for taking it away from me.

Quick side note: the doctors and all the literature blame the PD, and it's well established that PD impacts the voice. But it was the T1D that stole my energy: my cells weren't getting any fuel. That surely contributed to barely using my voice for a year.

Either way, the ENT shoved a camera up my nose and proclaimed: vocal fold atrophy.

So I saw a speech therapist for about six weeks, and I've been working hard to get my voice back. It's so slow going that I decided to document the journey, maybe just to convince myself the progress is worth it. I took some earlier videos, but I need to dig through them to build the history. For now, this was yesterday: Oct. 26, 2023.

For any Preppers concerned that I threw in the towel on my own prep, this is one of the things I'm prioritizing over creating a new novel project I don't currently have time to write. My music, my school, and my family are much more important.




Musically,
Michelle

MTMS, Music Lessons in Columbus, Ohio