Sickness and singing

Day 1: Out of no where there's a sore spot in the back of my throat. I notice it while I'm teaching. No no no no no no no. I can't be getting sick. I begin Neti pot usage, but I think I'm too late.

Day 2: Lymph nodes are swollen. I feel feverish during my church gig.

Day 3: Congested. I skip my swim workout today. I figure rest will do me more good than exercise. First day of opera rehearsal (of course) but I can sing. All the stuff is in my sinuses and doesn't affect my voice.

Day 4: Still pretty congested and my energy is down. The stuff must be as thick and dense as cement, because it's not coming out when I blow my nose. I can feel it growing and becoming more powerful by the hour. It's hiding up in my sinuses where the Neti pot can't reach it. It's a smart little bugger. However, I can still sing, so I'm feeling like all is not lost.

Day 5: More of the same. However, I'm able to blow out some seriously dark green, thick snot. I have the day off rehearsal, which I'm hoping will help speed the healing process.

Day 6: I'm feeling a bit better in the morning so I go to swim, which effectively clears out my sinuses. I'm feeling good at home and sit down to practice. Throughout the hour I can feel the mucus descending into my throat. F*ck.

Day 7: I have very little voice in the morning and still lots of congestion. This is the first time I've ever been sick while having singing commitments. I'm not really sure what to do. If I had a student who sounded like me, I'd tell them not to sing. But. I'm pretty sure my chords aren't swollen, that it's just the gunk on the chords that's causing the problem. Also, I can't afford to take a day off from rehearsal, this score is really difficult. On the other hand, I can't afford to damage my voice either. I decide to sing through the 2 hour rehearsal. It's not pretty, but I figure I have the weekend to recouperate.

Day 8: Still sick. Still no voice. It's too bad I have to teach today, otherwise I could stop talking altogether. I feel like I'm never going to get well. My gut tells me I just need to be patient, but I'm having a hard time. Aleks assures me that I will most likely NOT die from a cold.

Day 9: My voice is the worst it has been. Husky and inconsistent. At times I can't phonate. I sound like a dying goose in the morning. By evening things are starting to move around. I've blown out more snot than I knew I could produce. I'm coughing a lot more as well. I'm not sure if I'll be able to sing tomorrow, it could go either way. I make myself rest and it's the best decision I've made so far.

Day 10: In the morning I don't notice a whole lot of change. There's still lots of gunk in my throat and I'm blowing out tons of green stuff. It does seem to have thinned considerably. And it's lighter in color. Miraculously my voice seems to be coming back. There is a hint of the instrument I have, even though it is temperamental and husky. I sing in rehearsal. At this point I'm not sure if that's the right decision. I still don't think my cords are swollen, but I'd hate to exacerbate the situation.

Day 11: I put myself on vocal rest and only talk minimally during my 4 hours of teaching. (FYI, it's really really difficult to teach voice lessons when you can't really talk.) Rehearsal isn't great, but I can hear my voice coming back and it's clearer than last night. The most frustrating thing is that this score requires lots of muscle memory. It's hard to find starting pitches and many times I rely on how it feels in my body to know if it's correct. Since I'm sick, it's near impossible to rely on my body.

Day 12: I'm going to say it. I think I'm getting better. I don't have rehearsal today and I only teach for a short while, so my voice will get a break. However, it's definitely clearer and the mucus is starting to lessen. It's the first time I've started to feel hopeful.

Day 13: This morning when I wake up there's hardly any mucus. My throat is mostly clear and I think I'm at the tail end of this bug. Finally. Today we start singing through the opera, but I'm going to have to be careful not to overdo it. I'm sure my cords aren't as strong and supple as they usually are.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be even further down the road to complete health. It's been a long time since I've been sick and especially as a singer, it is so frustrating. Here's hoping my family doesn't catch this bug!