Back to your regularly scheduled program

I know it's been a while since I said this would be my next post, so here is "Therapy and How I Got a Job."

I went to go see one doctor, who officially diagnosed me with SD in March of 2006, which involved the scope and tearing up the bottom of my tongue. He did some voice therapy with me, which wasn't too extensive and not very helpful. When talking with him and doing some research online, I found out some people with SD have gotten disability and help through their state's vocational rehabilitation center. After finding that out, I set everything in motion.

When trying to get help on the state and/or federal level, things will take a long time. I applied for disability, which I was only trying to get until I could get a job. I didn't have a lot of training in anything, and I already tried retail, as I have talked about here, and it didn't really work well for me. if you can't talk, you are kind of out of luck with many jobs. The way I was trying to get a job was through training through Wisconsin's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. Your state should have a similar thing. It's involved with the Department of Workforce Development. I had interviews both with Social Security and with a counselor at DVR. At DVR, we set up a plan. I would get training in a field I wanted to be in, and then we would set up a work plan. If I needed it, I could have gotten an amplifier for my voice. I was also to get voice therapy sessions. My plan was to get a job in medical transcription, since at the time I was mother to an almost 2-year-old and pregnant with my second, and most MT jobs can be worked from home. As these services are free to those in need (I was put on the second tier of disability, which is moderately disabled according to them), you are put on a waiting list. Those with the most severe disabilities get help first. I was told I was on a six month waiting list.

While getting help from DVR, I was turned down for disability. This was no shock, but a little disheartening. I applied again shortly after, this time with more information from a different doctor.

In the fall of 2006, I went to a more specialized clinic for SD. Even though these doctors had more experience than my prior one, I was still only the second case or so that they ever had of someone with the abductor type. I was also one of the youngest. My doctor said that the youngest he ever had with SD was 17 or so, I think, and at that time I was 25.

My new doctor was much more beneficial than my last one. The voice exercises worked better for me. It was determined that I had a mild case of SD, and with minimal voice exercising I was able to get it to almost a normal speaking level. This was, of course, when I pushed myself to stop talking in a softer tone. I don't know what happened, and apparently it was subconscious, but over the time I've had SD I've become softspoken, probably to minimize the voice breaking out. You can hear how soft I am in my videos.

Late summer I also I got off the waiting list with DVR. My wait was more like five months instead of six. I was able to get training for medical transcription through a local college, both at the campus and online. This was the best thing for me since I had the toddler and was pregnant. I had to take a break from school because I had the baby in December. However, I did graduate in March, which was ahead of schedule.

I was once again turned down for disability. Once again, no surprise there.

After I finished school, I started applying places. The problem with medical transcription is that everyone wants experience. I didn't have that yet. So, I was able to get help through a job placement specialist. She got me work experience at a local hospital. After a few months there, my boss suggested I work for a company that does work for that hospital, and I've been there since October of 2007.

Effects of sickness and physical factors

This will be a relatively short post, no video. It was prompted today by my visit with my grandfather, who is 90.

My grandfather has been hard of hearing for longer than I've known him, due to his stepfather "boxing his ears" which was a form of punishment that involved hitting both ears (not sure if it was simultaneous or not, but it was done to both sides). Not really a punch--it involves the palm of the hands instead, and hitting the ear like that can cause hearing issues if done just right or repeatedly. So, because of this punishment from his stepfather, he has needed hearing aids, headphones, or whatever else to help him hear in different situations better.

Sometimes he doesn't wear the hearing aids, like if he uses the phone. It's difficult for him to hear an average person speak, but you combine my voice and his being hard of hearing and it's a bad situation. He didn't have his hearing aids in today when I first came over with my girls, so he had to put them in while I was talking to him. Later, my daughters got rowdy, and the screaming was painful when he had his hearing aids in. It's not a good situation for him to be in, and it's a difficult one for me to adapt to.

My voice is softer than it usually is right now because I have a cold. If I have an illness that affects the throat, my voice will generally be affected. This can involve mucus drainage, a sore throat, or even throwing up, which I suspect is due to the stress on my throat.

I can also be affected by something physically hitting my throat. I've touched upon this before. The time when this is most apparent is when one of my daughters will accidentally headbutt me in the throat while picking her up or if I have a cat decide that my throat is a good sleeping place.

Trauma to the outside of the throat can be just as harmful to trauma to the inside of the throat to me. Screaming makes me lose my voice, as it does for many people.

I'm back!

I know I've been gone for a while, but July totally sucked. We had to finish moving out of the apartment, and I had three family members in the hospital that month. At least they were in at different times!

I've made a new video. This video showcases how bad my voice can get when reading out loud. I'll update the rest of the blog in time, but I thought I'd make the video today to do something a little different. It's one thing to write about SD, and another to hear how it affects someone.