Elizabeth’s Story

Elizabeth (Age: 18-24)

Singing … is the reason I have been able to push through my symptoms and continue living my life.

SINGING PRACTICE

Elizabeth is a choral education major and sings in multiple choirs. She also enjoys taking voice lessons, writing songs, and singing outside of classes and rehearsal.

ELIZABETH’S STORY

One day during her senior year of high school, Elizabeth woke up with a sudden onset of overwhelming fatigue. She originally attributed her symptoms to a COVID-19 infection but kept  testing negative. She used to be  the dance captain for her high school’s show choir, but  after the onset of her symptoms, she often was dizzy, nauseous, and unable to think, frequently sleeping for 18-22 hours a day. Doctors attributed her symptoms to everything from anorexia to drug withdrawal symptoms to depression. After about 3 months, she was diagnosed with generalized dysautonomia and years later received diagnoses of POTS and orthostatic hypotension. 

The only thing that kept me from dropping out of school altogether was my show choir. Nothing else brought me joy except for singing with other people. I remember falling asleep more than once in uncomfortable choir chairs during the 2-5 minutes my director was working with other parts, but I still kept coming back. I remember dragging myself to voice lessons knowing I hadn’t practiced at all, and asking my teacher to just let me sing through things I already knew just to feel some joy. Singing, specifically in a choir, is absolutely the only reason I graduated high school.

After my onset, I absolutely wondered if becoming a choir teacher was something I could pursue, or if it was smart to try to do so. But at the same time, I had gained such a strong appreciation for it and knew I wanted to provide other kids the same experiences of community and joy that had kept my life from falling apart during my onset.

Has your singing practice or pursuit of singing shifted in any way since your diagnosis/onset of symptoms? 

In general, my progress is extremely slow with almost everything when it comes to my voice. 

I can’t sing for very long without getting dizzy or without my blood pressure dropping to dangerous levels. I absolutely cannot sing while doing cardio for hours at a time. In fact, I can’t dance at all anymore.

I struggle greatly when it comes to memorization due to my brain fog. I can make lots of progress in a practice session and come back the next day to discover I’m starting at level 0 again, with absolutely no “muscle memory” of what I accomplished the day before.

ACCOMMODATIONS THAT HELP

Electrolytes in water, compression garments, sitting during rehearsals, voice lessons, and performances, use of a service dog to alert to high heart rate or low blood pressure.

ELIZABETH’S ADVICE

For singers: 

Just keep showing up. It can get incredibly discouraging to see people make progress faster than you … but every bit of progress matters.

Celebrate the little things, and try not to compare yourself to others. Try to eliminate the perfectionist all or nothing outlook on practicing. If you can’t do a full practice session, warm up for 10 minutes. If you can’t sing at all, look through your pieces. If you can’t look through your pieces, listen to them. Doing something is always better than doing nothing at all. 

For professionals working with singers with these conditions: 

Be aware that even if little to no progress is being made, it does not reflect the amount of work the singer has put in. Believe when a student says they have practiced, even if it sounds like nothing has changed since last week. If a singer says they haven’t been able to practice this week, believe it’s for a very good reason, even if they don’t want to go into why. Meet your student where they are at. Don’t assume laziness, assume effort.