Dear Students, Friends and Colleagues,

I’m glad and grateful to be writing this update, my first in months.

I haven’t dropped off the proverbial face of the Earth or been traveling on an extended vacation. Rather, I got really sick with intestinal disease and am now recovering from major surgery.

This health journey started back in April of 2023 when I first mentioned on-and-off abdominal pain to my doctor. For reasons I won’t get into here, it took well over a year before we had any kind of diagnosis or treatment plan. I had suspected diverticulitis because my father had suffered from it. Dad passed away in June while I was in the throes of the worst of the illness, and I was unable to fly to South Dakota for the memorial service and spending time with my family there. Heart-breaking.

A December partial colonoscopy showed severe diverticulosis, pockets in the intestinal lining, which is common in the US and often asymptomatic. They were not able to complete the procedure because of intestinal narrowing, caused by the condition. A follow-up colonoscopy was also only partial. A CT scan initiated in the ER finally confirmed a highly infected case of diverticulitis with “angry” abscess in the colon.  (A friend who experienced colitis, colon inflammation, and was hospitalized for it after a heat stroke, and has born children, said the colitis was more painful for her than childbirth.) Surgery to remove much of the colon with colostomy (“poop bag”, hopefully temporary) was done at the Providence hospital in Newberg September 18. The surgery was more complicated than expected because the infected abscess had attached to my uterus and another part of the intestine. I was in the hospital for two weeks, including two days in the ICU with 2 blood transfusions following a nasty secondary infection in the pelvic region. Other complicating factors have been a large, painful draining fecal mass in the rectum and need for catheter three different times thus far. My weight has dropped to 102 pounds. (To think many actresses and models can live on starvation diets to get this scrawny – give me 25, 35 more pounds!)

That’s the short story, friends!

It’s now over a month post-op. As difficult and challenging as this dark night of the soul (that’s truly what it feels like – there were times I simply wanted to give up on life) has been, I’ve also experienced gobs of grace. Like when I was scheduled to have yet another surgery in the hospital to drain the secondary infection, and it “magically” drained itself. The procedure was canceled at the last moment, after yet another pre-op CT scan.  I received truly amazing care from the CNAs and nurses in the hospital. I learned to surrender and be “out of control” – more about that another time! My husband has been a phenomenal caretaker and my rock. And the support, prayers, visits, messages, calls, flowers and cards I’ve received from family and friends have left me feeling grateful and blessed, knowing I am loved.

These are the blessings and miracles I remember while I’m learning to eat solid food again –  enough to rebuild muscle tone and mass, walking up and down the hallway to regain stamina, or taking my first mini-shower with a shower chair.

I should be ready to pick back up discussions with my new colleagues for the SPEAK UP! workshop  by year end and resume teaching private students some time the first quarter of 2025, when I can hopefully resume most of the regular activities of daily living. However, the colostomy resection surgery will likely take place in a few months, and that will require a recuperation period as well.

Until next time, I want to share a book gifted to me by the mother of one of my teenage voice students: SUPER GUT by William Davis, MD. I’m about halfway through it right now – this experience has left me with some issues concentrating on reading. There are a lot of other available resources regarding gut health, yet this book is as great a place to start as any and maybe better than many. Gut health is SO important – it impacts every area of health and the body. And I know from personal experience how painful gut issues can be, along with how challenging to diagnose and treat. I’m going to start working with a naturopath again to help restore my microbiome health as soon as I’m able to get out and about.

God bless you and yours. Go make some music!

Love Your Voice & Voice Your Love,

Laura