My new voice

Monday was the big day. We went back to UW for more treatment. This time it was even more "interesting." I sat up in a chair and they put a scope down into my throat. This one was bigger because it had a tube in it for squirting anesthetic in my throat. They had to twist and turn it to get it through my nose. Then they stuck a needle into the outside of my throat and watched for it to come out inside my throat where they could see it in the scope.

Twice I had to swallow which bent the needle so that had to put on a new one and try again. Finally they found the right spot and squirted the collagen into into the vocal cord. Then they asked me to say an "e" which came out pretty loud because I was used to pushing a lot of air to try to whisper loud.

It was a little strange to suddenly be able to talk out loud. I discovered that I would sometimes forget that I could talk and start whispering or reach for my note board.

Today on my way to the hospital to volunteer I was singing along with Michael Buble, as I am wont to do. I think I pushed it a little because by the time I got inside I could barely croak a little. That eased up over a couple of hours and I am mostly back to normal.

Monday we went to UW for a nerve conduction test on my vocal cords. It was really exciting. They had me lay down in a chair and then the stuck a needle into my neck. No anesthesia, not even an alcohol wipe. The skin penetration was a little painful, but after that when they were hunting around inside my throat was just kinda weird-feeling.

I was not able to follow the two Docs talking to each other except that they said my "recruitment" was good. When they were all done, they said I had to have an MRI of my brain, so maybe they think the problem is on the other end, in my brain. I say tumors, lots and lots of tumors. (Thank you Asher.)

Today we went to the VA and they gave me my Spokeman Voice Amplifier. It works pretty good in some situations. The only problem is that the boom microphone/headset is made for someone with a normal size head, so I have to wear it kinda sideways.

According to the box, it will make me young, attractive and female.

If you can read the fine print, you'll see that I can now "Cater For At Least 100 Audiences!"

I thought maybe that was Chinglish, but it says "made in Singapore." Maybe that is near China.

So yesterday I backslid a little and went to Wendy's for my usual triple combo. I was standing just out from the ordering line writing my order on my whiteboard (since I can't talk). Within a few seconds I find two middle aged guys in Wendy's shirts standing on either side of me. They are both very interested in what I was writing. I thought maybe they thought I was the competition writing down their prices or something. Mostly I couldn't figure out what was going on. When they saw I was just writing out my order they yelled to the back "he's just ordering" and laughed.

Later Joelene suggested they might have thought I was writing out a robbery note. "Put all the hamburgers in this bag and hurry it up."

It was fun.

I think this is my all-time favorite picture. The year is around 1978 or so and Ricky and I are moving irrigation pipe on a farm in Idaho. As you can see, I am doing most of the work. Funny how he looks so much older now and I look just the same as in this picture.