O For A Voice To Sing

I’ve heard of athlete’s insuring their limbs. I’ve heard of musicians insuring their fingers. I’ve even heard of singers insuring their voices. I used to think of it as vanity. Now, I kinda understand why.

Last year I caught a cold – well actually, the flu. But it was right before I had a few important engagements. And there were lots of things going on at church as well. So, I had to sing through it. When I got over the virus, my voice didn’t fully recover. Eventually, I had this “popping” that was going on in my voice. It was a bit frightening. It lasted for months. I remembered that a former pastor of mine had those symptoms and found that he had a growth on his vocal chords, which required surgery. So, I went to an E.N.T. (Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist). He put a probe down my throat and looked at my vocal chords and reported that things looked normal. Then, he put me on Prilosec (for what he suspected might be acid reflux) and Prednisone (steroids). In a week, my voice was as clear as a bell.

Well, when I got back from my European tour on New Years Eve, I was quite hoarse. I think it was from the frigid ride on the van from Treia to Milan… or maybe it was the fact that I had only gotten about 5 hours sleep in that 48-hour span. Fatigue will affect your voice – especially after you’ve been using it heavily. Whatever the reason, I was very hoarse. But, I had to lead worship that night – for the New Years Eve service. Then I had to get right back into my schedule of rehearsals and my rotation for leading worship. It took several weeks for my voice to clear up. But about late February, it was starting to sound good again.

Then… of course… I got the flu. Yeah, this was that ugly, nasty strain of the virus that went around this winter. But, it happened right when I was scheduled to do a couple of high profile, very important events. So, I sang through it.

Eventually, I got over the flu. But my voice didn’t clear up. And then I started hearing that “popping” noise again. Here I was at the beginning of March, with a live recording session coming up on April 25th, and my voice sounded like the creature from the movie “Signs.” I started trying everything I knew. I did the lemon tea. I did vocal rest. I did lots of sleeping – well, not lots… just more than usual. I tried vocal workouts from my favorite vocal people – Vocal Coach. Nothing was working! I then started getting nervous. What was I going to do? I couldn’t record a live session with my voice sounding like that.

Then, I remembered last year. I remembered that it happened before. I thought about the medication I was prescribed and took a trip to the pharmacy. I got the sinus meds and the acid reflux meds. But they didn’t bring any change. Finally, I broke down and went to my doctor. Thank God for Dr. Eric Lipton!! He reviewed my case from last year and wrote me a prescription for prednisone. Two days into treatment, my voice was 300% better.

But it’s not as clear as I want it to be right now. I really think that’s because I’m tired. My body is tired. But, we’re in the grind right now. We have 7 days until the recording and there is a list of things that need to happen between now and then. So, I can’t really rest yet. I’ve got to hump it out.

Pray for me. I need a voice to sing. A clear voice.

You know what…

It’s going to be just fine.

God is in control!