shhh, or, why i’m hoarse

Filed Under goings on, makes me sad | 1 Comment

*disclaimer: there is a medical photo in this post, so if you’re a queasy one, be forewarned. it’s near the bottom…

So, I’ve been losing my voice progressively worse and worse since February, which is very difficult for me since my job requires a lot (!) of talking. First I thought I was recovering from a cold. Then I thought I might have developed allergies. Finally, I went to an ENT specialist who scoped my throat to take a look at my vocal cords and found…

NODULES. (gasp!)

Also known as nodes, these develop from overuse and over exertion of the voice. This feels devastating because I studied voice/speech in grad school. Every. Day. And we did this in school so as to learn how to use our voices correctly in order to avoid things like nodes. Ugh. But with the amount of teaching and workshop leading I’ve been doing since January, it’s not surprising that my vocal folds are crying uncle. And it’s rather emotional to deal with voice loss. I don’t sound like myself.

A Vocal Cord Nodule is a mass of tissue that grows on the vocal folds. A vocal cord nodule reduces or obstructs the ability of the vocal folds to create the rapid changes in air pressure which generate human speech. Symptoms include hoarseness of speech, painful speech production, frequent vocal breaks and reduced vocal range. Females are most likely to develop nodules.
*thank you wikipedia.

So, I am taking a medication and have been prescribed some speech therapy which will be like physical therapy for my voice. With diligence and by changing some of my bad habits they should go away. I sure hope so, because I really, really, really want to be able to talk without a scratchy voice again. And sing.

If you are a curious mind, here is a photo of a vocal fold nodule (though not mine)…

See the lower case ‘n’s? Those are nodes.

Ew. Me no likey.
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tiny facelift

Filed Under goings on, snapshots | 1 Comment

I know a major blog post (or two) is overdue. But I’m still rifling through honeymoon photos and hoping to find some time to sit down and do it.

In the meantime, you’ll notice a slight change to this blog’s name. It’s now called…

Allison Lee
(if you can’t see this, manually type in alitaylor.com to your browser and press return to update your bookmark)

I mean, seriously. Who is Ali Taylor anyway? No longer relevant whatsoever.

And because blog posts are better with photos. Here is a cute one from our wedding. Rory had just stepped on my veil from behind and his reaction is priceless…

click on the photo to see a larger version
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5 days to go…

Filed Under goings on | 2 Comments

The weather is looking better!

Thank you, my dear friends (and my fabulous fiance) for helping me stay positive…
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sneak peak

Filed Under goings on | 1 Comment

my bachelorette party weekend was fantastic! my girlfriends took such great care of me and i got to dance, dance, dance! we stayed in a beach house in san diego, where it rained for a lot of the time, but there were pockets of sunshine in which i ran outside to play in the sand and water. here is the cheesiest thing i did all weekend…