How Dana Grooms' journey in losing her voice helped others find theirs

Dana Grooms didn't expect to wear a physician's white coat when she found her chosen career. From a young age, she wanted to become a chef, then a teacher, and finally, after singing in choirs, realized that her true passion was music. She loved the thrill of performing in front of a live audience and using her vocal cords and instrumental abilities to engage with others.????

"I wanted to be a chorus teacher," Dana Grooms, a speech-language pathologist at The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH) in Murray, Utah, said. "I loved singing and the school environment."??

As she continued participating in high school choirs and other musical programs, her voice began to work against her. The young musician would lose her voice for weeks at a time and sometimes, it wouldn't be there when auditions came up, causing a roadblock in her goal to become a choir teacher.????

"I remember being extremely frustrated," Dana said. "I would imagine it's like how an athlete feels who has an injury and can't perform in their sport. When I'd wake up, my voice wouldn't work the way I wanted it to, and it was rough."????

She knew that to succeed in her goal of pursuing music, she'd have to address this issue.????

"So, I went to go see an ENT at the recommendation of my voice teacher," Dana said. The ENT performed some surgeries that helped reduce her sinus infections, but she was still experiencing ongoing voice issues.???

Achieving her goal of going into music and helping others find their voice didn't feel like a reality anymore, and she concluded her body wasn't equipped for that sort of profession.???

"I didn't have the tools or the equipment to make it better or to make it happen, and that was frustrating," Dana said. "Up to that point, I had been practicing, rehearsing, planning trips to Universities to start auditioning, and then all of a sudden, I wasn't doing that anymore."??

Even though she couldn't help people find their voice, her desire to help others through other means remained. While looking into possible medical careers, her mom suggested doing speech pathology. After shadowing some physicians and speaking with her voice teacher about how the voice works, she felt that even though she couldn't necessarily train people to sing, she could help others find their voice.???

While pursuing her degree in speech pathology, a lesson on voice happened to coincide with the day she had lost her voice. Her professor suggested she'd make a great case study for some graduate students. Guided by a clinician, she received voice therapy from undergraduates, who worked with her to reduce vocal tension through exercises to improve airflow and resonance. This experience gave her a first-hand perspective on the impact voice therapy can have on a patient's life.??

"Since going through voice therapy, I've lost my voice twice in the last ten years versus the ten times a year I'd lose my voice before therapy," Dana said. "After going to a speech pathologist, I learned how to properly use my voice, which was amazing!"????

Since beginning her practice, she has met patients who face similar challenges to hers. This shared journey has deepened her understanding of their feelings and experiences, enhancing her ability to connect and empathize with them. She has also come to appreciate that everyone has their own unique vision of what a fulfilling life means.??

"My personal experiences have definitely shaped the way I interact with my patients," Dana said. "I really like being able to empower patients with their decisions and meet them where they're at. It's frustrating that I can't fix everything with a magic wand but giving them back a quality of life they felt they may have lost is so special."?