ENT Visit

For those of you who are curious about the outcome...

I went to the ENT Thursday afternoon for my voice and found out that I do, indeed, have nodules on my vocal chords, as I feared. Fortunately, they are in the beginning stages and can be healed non-surgically. In case you're unfamiliar with what they are, nodules are callouses on the vocal chords that can develop from several things. Usually, the main culprits are over-use and acid reflux. Although I show no signs of having acid reflux, my doctor went ahead and prescribed medication for it just in case. He instructed me to go off of my allergy medications because the antihistamines dry out the throat. So, here's hoping for a mild allergy season!!! He also prescribed me to speech therapy and I should be starting my first session soon. I'm going to have to talk to my principals this week about a voice amplification system as well. Other than that, the main thing I can do for myself is vocal rest. No singing when I don't have to, no long periods of talking when not teaching, and definitely no"loud-talking." My classroom is going to change a lot, haha! I'm sure the kids will be relieved that I can no longer justify raising my voice... :)

I go back in two months for a check-up and I'm really, really hoping that visit will show healthy vocal chords!