Bev admits it's good to talk

BEV Donaghy is a self-confessed chatterbox who likes nothing better than talking to people. Imagine then, losing your voice after a brief period of illness, and six months later wondering if it will ever return.

Bev, from Forres, admitted she feared the worst at one stage. "It was scary. You don’t realise how much you use your voice until you lose it," she said. "It is something you take for granted."

Bev Donaghy (right) talks to therapist Debbie Paterson

It was October, 2009, when Bev, an admin support worker at Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin, was laid low with a bad cold. "A couple of weeks later the cold was gone, but I couldn’t speak at all. I thought it was related to the cold and would come back in a couple of days."

After making an appointment with her GP, she was referred to an ear, nose and throat specialist, and a scope of her throat revealed one side of her voicebox was not working properly.

Bev’s job involves speaking to people a lot and answering the telephone. Hospital bosses were very understanding and placed her on behind-the-scenes duties. "I was straining to talk, and the more I strained the worse it became," she said.

In April, 2010, a frustrated Bev was referred to speech and language therapist Sandra Anderson.

"I was frustrated that I couldn’t get anything across to anybody, and it was frustrating for other people who couldn’t understand what I was saying.

"My son Max (11) thought it was wonderful because I couldn’t shout at him and tell him off."

A detailed assessment with Sandra got to the bottom of the problem and put Bev, a former RAF servicewoman with a 22-year military career, on the road to recovery.

Sandra picked up the fact Bev said she avoided spicy foods and orange juice, and could only sleep sitting upright in bed.

"That all seemed to point to the fact I was bringing up a lot of acid in the night, and the acid had burned away at my vocal chords, and that is why I couldn’t speak," said Bev.

Members of the speech and language therapy team

She was prescribed medication by her GP which stopped her body producing too much acid and started an intensive course of speech therapy and muscle exercises to help her talk again. That included ‘blowing up’ a pretend balloon and deep breathing exercises.

Bev joked that people at her work started to think she was "barmy" when they would find her blowing up an invisible balloon at regular intervals.

"Within about three therapies I started seeing an improvement in my voice," she said.

Speech and language therapist Debbie Paterson said Bev’s story was typical of others who have lost their voice. The shared responsibility between the therapist and the patient is key to the recovery process, she added.

"We don’t have a magic wand and people need to take that on board. We have an open door and people can always come back when they need support."