SLP who stutters AND has spasmodic dysphonia

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Re: Strategies

From: Irene Bullard
Date: 12 Oct 2011
Time: 18:12:05 -0500
Remote Name: 76.214.57.74

Comments

When I first got botox shots, my voice left me gradually over a period of days. With each day my voice would be different and it felt like I had to make adjustment each day to attain the best possible speech. At times when I get botox I lose my voice completely. Even after a few years of getting botox, my doctor and I are still trying to figure out what is the best amount of toxin to inject in my vocal cords to attain the least amount of down time (voiceloss) with the a gain in vocal quality that would follow. Generally the longer the downtime the longer the botox works to produce better voicing. It is sort of a juggling act. After one injection I had no downtime but the better quality voice was shorter in duration. When working I had to take sick time or vacation time when my voice was down. This was a definite negative in getting botox and I do not think my supervisor was too happy with it either. The voice loss following getting the botox injections is one of the reasons why I delayed trying this treatment in the first place. At this point I will go through the downside of getting botox injection because the upside is better than not getting the shots and we are figuring out a better dosage to use for minimal downtime. As to the question of connecting with patients on a more personal level and making it all worth while. I think what made my career choice worthwhile was being able to help people and seeing their appreciation for what I had done for them. It was in making a difference in a persons life. But in the end I think that by treating each person as an individual and finding what works for them is of great importance. I am not downplaying the knowledge that we SLPs all need.


Last changed: 10/12/11