A Voice Apart

Once again, reader’s discretion is advised. Also, due to the personal and intimate nature of the story, some names have been withheld.      At the beginning of the year 2016, we got an email and then (when we asked her) a call from a woman who was residing near Dallas, Texas and who had undergone a few surgeries on her thyroid (due to cancer diagnosis). And as a consequence, Ms. Schilling ended up not only with a paralyzed vocal cord but also with a hole in her throat due to a very "brutal" tracheotomy. Due to that, Ms. Schilling had a very hard time swallowing foods; and a lot of the times, she could not keep her food down and, apparently, had been expelling it quite often. Due to all of that, needless to say, J.M. was quite underweight and, obviously, did not possess a lot of energy. To boost the latter, we suggested to Ms. Schilling to order the specific natural herbal remedies with specific instructions just for her. Since she had difficulties swallowing, all of ...

Reader’s discretion is advised. Also, due to the personal and intimate nature of the story, some names had been withheld.      A few years ago, I got a call from Judy’s husband who told me that his wife, named Judy, has been suffering from Adductor Spasmodic Dysphonia. He also told me that they did not have medical insurance, as they were both accountants and both worked together from out of their house. Apparently, as being self-employed, they had been quoted an astronomical amount of money to pay monthly for their medical insurance. Interestingly enough and according to Judy’s husband John, they were ready and willing to pay from out of their own pocket (since they were not able to afford the medical insurance) to see an ENT specialist. Needless to say, they were addressed there by their physician. But when they arrived for a visit with such a specialist, they were refused to be seen - since they did not own medical insurance. So they started seeking alternative he...

Judy L from Chicago, USA - Case study: From Laryngitis to strained vocal cords and finally, and unfortunately… to Muscle Tension Dysphonia (MTD). A few years ago, Judy arrived to us with her husband from Chicago, speaking with a pretty raspy and hoarse voice. This is her story: Judy and her husband, Bill, being in their early 60’s, had two grown children who, unfortunately, had never been married - and thus, did not produce any grandchildren for this very nice couple. They, however, were hoping to become grandparents for sometime… From their words, their son had never introduced any of his relationships to his parents, and therefore, they didn’t even know if he actually was ever involved with anyone at all. According to them, they only saw their son, at best, a couple of times a month with his dirty laundry brought by him to his parents’ place. As for their daughter, who happened to be a child star of a very well-known TV show, and mainly lived on the residuals der...