Hey Everyone,
It is day three after surgery, and I am feeling good. This may be the most anti-climactic recovery ever. Seriously--within a day I felt fine, and that trend has continued. To all of you that have read this blog and sent me kind words of support thank you.
Here are some stats I'm learning about my readership:
1) People all over the world are reading this. Seriously. People in Qatar, South Korea, the Netherlands and Argentina are reading about this journey. It's kind of cool, but I'm also curious who you are. If you are in an exotic place, let me know who you are and where you're reading from.
2) Most people are reading this blog on either a mac or an iPhone. I guess I'm not surprised by this information--I'm more surprised that this info exists. Furthermore, someone reading this blog still has a Blackberry. WHY?
3) I haven't talked to many of you in years, and receiving messages/emails/texts feels really great. It is a nice reminder of what it means to be in community with people. Seriously, if you're reading, reach out and say hi. I'd love to know who is reading.
4) If there are particular questions you want me to answer about recovery/vocal cords/this whole process in this blog, just let me know. I'm going to run out of ideas really quickly. I already am.
On a closing note, it is only day three, and I'm already realizing how long this summer is actually going to be. PLEASE send me suggestions for movies to watch, TV shows to get into, or other random things to waste my time with. I have three months to kill, and I know between the nearly 500 people that have read this blog in the last two days, some crazy suggestions will exist.
Thanks for all the support, and here's another song for you. It's called The Plan:
https://soundcloud.com/beccarosenthal/the-plan
Friday, May 31, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
My Voice Over The Years: Why I Had Surgery
Hey Everyone,
Before I get into the meat of this post, I just want to give a brief update on how I'm feeling the day after surgery: I feel great. My throat is a tiny bit sore, but not bad at all. Plus, the amount of love and support I am getting from everyone is making this whole process easier. Thanks for your support, thoughts, and prayers. It means a lot to me. Seriously. Thanks.
And if you still want to send me emails, texts, fb messages, etc, I won't complain.
Onto the bulk of this post:
Why did I have surgery?
I figured the best way to do this was to show (not tell), how my voice has changed over the years to help give you an idea. Each of the links goes to a mashup I made from various songs written during the time period provided. They are all between 2-3 minutes and you can jump through them. If you want to hear the whole song, just let me know. I'll happily send it to you.
Here is my voice in High School:
This is a mashup of a few songs off my first CD that was written during my Senior year of high school. My voice isn't raspy, I can belt, and my vocal stamina at this point was incredible. People who met me in college, I promise, this is me.
Here's my voice in Israel (Yes, even the least musical person in the world can hear a difference)
In Israel, I lost my voice. While at camp or on retreats, I always lost my voice, it would come back within a few days. The same did not happen in Israel. I recorded a CD while I was there, and my voice had changed a tremendous amount. You can hear that it got lower, more raspy, and that it sounds like I'm working much harder to get sounds out. All of those things are true. I just didn't realize what that meant.
My Voice Freshman Year of College (As Bad as it Got)
When I got to college, I sort of assumed that my voice would get better, just like it did in High school. To say the least, it didn't. Here are some highlights (really lowlights) of what my voice sounded like at that point, before I went and saw the incredible team at the UCSF Voice and Swallowing center and got diagnosed with cysts.
This song is vocal rock bottom as far as my voice goes. It is written in memory of Ricky Normington
Lyrically, this one's fun, but vocally, it's not much better
Here are some other songs from Freshman Year. They're better, but not very much.
My Voice As it Started Getting Better
Last summer, I was diagnosed with Bilateral Vocal cysts . Here's what that means. I went to the UCSF Voice and Swallowing Center (which exists) and started working with an INCREDIBLE speech pathologist named Soha Al Jurf. She helped teach me how to properly utilize my breath, redirect the vibrations in my vocal tract, and reshape my relationship with my voice. A few weeks after working with her, this is what my voice could do:
As I kept working on what she taught me, my voice could do even more, and I felt myself writing music that sounded and felt like me again. I'm going to post a few songs that I am particularly proud of because I'm sick of making mashups. Flip through stuff if you're interested. If you're not, I won't take any of this personally.
My voice a month before surgery
Neither of these songs are really done, but they show how far my voice has come. The reason I am getting surgery is so that I can continue to sing like these songs show I can, but with increased vocal stamina.
To Wrap Up
If you read this far and actually listened to these songs, give yourself a pat on the back. This was a long post, and it took me a ton of time to do. I hope you all appreciated it.
Thanks again for your support, and be in touch,
Becca
Before I get into the meat of this post, I just want to give a brief update on how I'm feeling the day after surgery: I feel great. My throat is a tiny bit sore, but not bad at all. Plus, the amount of love and support I am getting from everyone is making this whole process easier. Thanks for your support, thoughts, and prayers. It means a lot to me. Seriously. Thanks.
And if you still want to send me emails, texts, fb messages, etc, I won't complain.
Onto the bulk of this post:
Why did I have surgery?
I figured the best way to do this was to show (not tell), how my voice has changed over the years to help give you an idea. Each of the links goes to a mashup I made from various songs written during the time period provided. They are all between 2-3 minutes and you can jump through them. If you want to hear the whole song, just let me know. I'll happily send it to you.
Here is my voice in High School:
This is a mashup of a few songs off my first CD that was written during my Senior year of high school. My voice isn't raspy, I can belt, and my vocal stamina at this point was incredible. People who met me in college, I promise, this is me.
Here's my voice in Israel (Yes, even the least musical person in the world can hear a difference)
In Israel, I lost my voice. While at camp or on retreats, I always lost my voice, it would come back within a few days. The same did not happen in Israel. I recorded a CD while I was there, and my voice had changed a tremendous amount. You can hear that it got lower, more raspy, and that it sounds like I'm working much harder to get sounds out. All of those things are true. I just didn't realize what that meant.
My Voice Freshman Year of College (As Bad as it Got)
When I got to college, I sort of assumed that my voice would get better, just like it did in High school. To say the least, it didn't. Here are some highlights (really lowlights) of what my voice sounded like at that point, before I went and saw the incredible team at the UCSF Voice and Swallowing center and got diagnosed with cysts.
This song is vocal rock bottom as far as my voice goes. It is written in memory of Ricky Normington
Lyrically, this one's fun, but vocally, it's not much better
Here are some other songs from Freshman Year. They're better, but not very much.
My Voice As it Started Getting Better
Last summer, I was diagnosed with Bilateral Vocal cysts . Here's what that means. I went to the UCSF Voice and Swallowing Center (which exists) and started working with an INCREDIBLE speech pathologist named Soha Al Jurf. She helped teach me how to properly utilize my breath, redirect the vibrations in my vocal tract, and reshape my relationship with my voice. A few weeks after working with her, this is what my voice could do:
As I kept working on what she taught me, my voice could do even more, and I felt myself writing music that sounded and felt like me again. I'm going to post a few songs that I am particularly proud of because I'm sick of making mashups. Flip through stuff if you're interested. If you're not, I won't take any of this personally.
My voice a month before surgery
Neither of these songs are really done, but they show how far my voice has come. The reason I am getting surgery is so that I can continue to sing like these songs show I can, but with increased vocal stamina.
To Wrap Up
If you read this far and actually listened to these songs, give yourself a pat on the back. This was a long post, and it took me a ton of time to do. I hope you all appreciated it.
Thanks again for your support, and be in touch,
Becca
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Surgery is Done
Hi Everyone,
I had surgery this morning, and my doctor (the wonderful Dr. Courey), removed cysts from both of my vocal cords. Going in, he wasn't sure if he would be able to get them both, but he did, and I'm thrilled. It went really well.
Here's what my recovery is going to look like:
This week: I'm a total mute
Next Week: I can talk about 5 minutes per hour, including vocal exercises
The Week After: I can talk 10 minutes per hour
And after: 15 minutes
Then: 20 minutes
All the way up to 40 minutes per hour (which no one should be talking that much anyways).
It is at 2 months, when that happens, patients normally go back to school and work, still being VERY cautious about their voice when that happens. For me, though, at 2 months, I'm going to be getting in the final preparations for next year, where I'm spending the fall semester abroad in Jordan, and the spring semester abroad in Israel. I picked this time for the surgery to give me maximal time at home.
If I talk more than that, my vocal cords have the potential to scar over, meaning the whole surgery will be basically undone. I don't want to do that. Skyping, using the phone, and any of those platforms require me to speak more loudly than I'm going to want to given the sensitivity of my vocal cords, so don't take it personally when I refuse to do that.
I expect to be able to sing again at the end of this recovery process. Based on how my voice was doing pre-surgery, this is a likely outcome so long as I take care of myself. My voice sounded better in the weeks before surgery than it ever had in my life. I kid you not. I sounded freaking awesome.
HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH ME
https://soundcloud.com/beccarosenthal/heard - THIS IS WHAT MY VOICE HAS SOUNDED LIKE RECENTLY. This song explains how I plan on communicating in the next months. Listen to it, and be surprised at what my voice sounds like now. It has changed a tremendous amount in the last few years.
I won't talk, but that doesn't mean that you should be discouraged from getting in touch with me. I can type on skype while you talk (it's weird at first, but then it's totally fine), I can text, fb chat, gchat, respond to emails (beccarosenthal@gmail.com), or write on a pad of paper while you sit next to me (if you want to brave my handwriting).
Don't hesitate to reach out.
Though I do have some work things happening, I will largely be spending my summer on my butt watching netflix with Emma, my sister. If you have any suggestions for good movies, TV series' (Game of Thrones is already on the list everyone, calm down), or random things to watch, send them my way.
JEWS - Put me in your Mi Sh'berach Prayers Please
If you want to say a refuah shlema for me, my Hebrew name is Rivka bat David v'Leah.
Non Jews, you can (and should) keep me in your prayers too. The sentiments are no different--you just don't generally ask me for my Hebrew name.
What this Blog Will Have
I'm going to use this blog as a forum to keep people in the loop of how recovery is going, what exactly has been going on with my voice, and what kind of trajectory I'm on. In the next post, I plan on posting a recording of my voice over the years with bits of different songs I've written that show the changes. I don't know how much I'll actually use it or if I'll post a few things and then give up with I get into Game of Thrones (I hear that happens to people), but I'll give it a shot.
In the mean time, though, thanks to everyone for their love and support, and feel free to ask questions, say hello, and check up on me. Talk to you soon,
Becca
I had surgery this morning, and my doctor (the wonderful Dr. Courey), removed cysts from both of my vocal cords. Going in, he wasn't sure if he would be able to get them both, but he did, and I'm thrilled. It went really well.
Here's what my recovery is going to look like:
This week: I'm a total mute
Next Week: I can talk about 5 minutes per hour, including vocal exercises
The Week After: I can talk 10 minutes per hour
And after: 15 minutes
Then: 20 minutes
All the way up to 40 minutes per hour (which no one should be talking that much anyways).
It is at 2 months, when that happens, patients normally go back to school and work, still being VERY cautious about their voice when that happens. For me, though, at 2 months, I'm going to be getting in the final preparations for next year, where I'm spending the fall semester abroad in Jordan, and the spring semester abroad in Israel. I picked this time for the surgery to give me maximal time at home.
If I talk more than that, my vocal cords have the potential to scar over, meaning the whole surgery will be basically undone. I don't want to do that. Skyping, using the phone, and any of those platforms require me to speak more loudly than I'm going to want to given the sensitivity of my vocal cords, so don't take it personally when I refuse to do that.
I expect to be able to sing again at the end of this recovery process. Based on how my voice was doing pre-surgery, this is a likely outcome so long as I take care of myself. My voice sounded better in the weeks before surgery than it ever had in my life. I kid you not. I sounded freaking awesome.
HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH ME
https://soundcloud.com/beccarosenthal/heard - THIS IS WHAT MY VOICE HAS SOUNDED LIKE RECENTLY. This song explains how I plan on communicating in the next months. Listen to it, and be surprised at what my voice sounds like now. It has changed a tremendous amount in the last few years.
I won't talk, but that doesn't mean that you should be discouraged from getting in touch with me. I can type on skype while you talk (it's weird at first, but then it's totally fine), I can text, fb chat, gchat, respond to emails (beccarosenthal@gmail.com), or write on a pad of paper while you sit next to me (if you want to brave my handwriting).
Don't hesitate to reach out.
Though I do have some work things happening, I will largely be spending my summer on my butt watching netflix with Emma, my sister. If you have any suggestions for good movies, TV series' (Game of Thrones is already on the list everyone, calm down), or random things to watch, send them my way.
JEWS - Put me in your Mi Sh'berach Prayers Please
If you want to say a refuah shlema for me, my Hebrew name is Rivka bat David v'Leah.
Non Jews, you can (and should) keep me in your prayers too. The sentiments are no different--you just don't generally ask me for my Hebrew name.
What this Blog Will Have
I'm going to use this blog as a forum to keep people in the loop of how recovery is going, what exactly has been going on with my voice, and what kind of trajectory I'm on. In the next post, I plan on posting a recording of my voice over the years with bits of different songs I've written that show the changes. I don't know how much I'll actually use it or if I'll post a few things and then give up with I get into Game of Thrones (I hear that happens to people), but I'll give it a shot.
In the mean time, though, thanks to everyone for their love and support, and feel free to ask questions, say hello, and check up on me. Talk to you soon,
Becca
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