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BWH patient and musician Conor O'Brien (second from right) will be participating in BWH's World Voice Day on April 16.
Conor O'Brien, senior project manager in BWH's Division of Sleep Medicine, travels around the country, educating firefighters about the importance of getting a good night's rest. O'Brien depends on his voice to do his job, and he was hard at work when he first noticed some trouble.
"I was in Seattle, training a group of firefighters, and I was struggling to speak," O'Brien said. "It was a big concern." His anxiety was heightened due to the fact that he also sings in a band and teaches private voice lessons.
He came to the right place for care and made an appointment with BWH laryngologist Jayme Dowdall, MD. She diagnosed him with Laryngopharyngeal reflux, a condition linked to stomach acid that causes heartburn and irritates the larynx. She referred him to speech pathologist Chandler Thompson, DMA, MS, CCC-SLP, for an intensive 12-week therapy program.
Soon after, O'Brien was back to work, singing and teaching. "I don't know what I would have done without the care they provided," he said. "You don't realize how much your voice matters until it's gone."
Fittingly, "Voice Matters" is the slogan for the upcoming World Voice Day, an international celebration and awareness day for the human voice and the power it gives us. On April 16, BWH Otolaryngology will host a special event with musical performances by Dowdall, Thompson, O'Brien and patient Meryl Galaid to showcase the importance of voice and raise awareness in an entertaining way.
"The voice is so much of who we are," said Dowdall, who has special expertise in addressing issues and conditions affecting the voice. "We want people to know that they don't have to suffer from vocal problems; we have a team equipped with the expertise to help people overcome these issues."
BWH patient Meryl Galaid (in foreground) relies on her voice to perform at Children's Hospital.
Galaid, a singer and actress, sought the help of Dowdall when her voice began to feel strained from a cold prior to performing in a long-running production of Les Miserables. She then worked with Thompson for voice therapy, learning about the physiology of the throat and ways to better care for her voice. This was especially important for her work at Children's Hospital, where she is part of Clown Care, a community outreach program of the Big Apple Circus. Dressed as clowns, Galaid and her colleagues visit young patients at the bedside, singing to them and entertaining them to lift their spirits. "Our job is to change the energy in the room," Galaid says, noting how emotional this role can be.
"Drs. Dowdall and Thompson were incredibly accommodating and had such a high level of concern for me," Galaid said. "They taught me ways to breathe and relax before and during speaking and singing to help take the strain off my voice. I've been a performer for more than 30 years, and it was helpful to have people re-educate me and care for me."
Dowdall pointed out that vocal problems are not only an issue for singers and performers, but also for anyone who significantly stresses his or her vocal cords.
"It might come as a surprise, but working in a hospital often requires a lot of voice use," she said. "Interpreters and administrative assistants are talking all day in person and over the phone. Physicians talk all day during clinic and can spend hours dictating notes and teaching students. As part of our academic mission, our physicians and scientists are traveling across the U.S. and abroad to lecture and participate in courses to share their leading-edge research. We often try to power through when we have vocal difficulty, but there is treatment and therapy we can provide to help."
BWH's World Voice Day celebration will be held on April 16, from noon to 1 p.m., in Cabot Atrium. All are welcome to join.