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Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
August 23, 2007     Shelton Mason County Journal
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What's Cookin'? Andrea finds her singing voice agai By REBECCA WELLS Love of music brought her par- ents, as well as her grandparents, together. Andrea Densley clearly remembers the exhilaration she felt in first grade when she was able to keep up with her teacher in singing the full, broad vocal range in the "Star Spangled Ban- ner." From there, she grew to love music, especially singing. An- drea's own children inherited this love of music and singing. Trained and experienced in several vocal capacities, including voice-over acting and voice instruction, she even recorded an album of her singing and seriously considered concert performance as a career opportunity once her children were grown. So when a physician's assis- tant bluntly informed her after surgery that she would never be able to sing again, Andrea's heart plummeted lower than ever be- fore in her life. And her voice plunged into silence. "The miracle of speech, I guess, is what really hit me. Not just the sadness of the loss, but really the miracle of speech, of communication. Those little things," she says. She had undergone surgery for her parathyroid in college with no complications, but later growths appeared on her thyroid. With a history of problems with her en- docrine system and two relatives having developed thyroid can- cer, her doctor had to remove her thyroid gland from her throat. In spite of using the best, most con- siderate surgeon her doctor could find for her, complications dur- ing this surgery damaged a nerve around her vocal cords. THIS NOT ONLY paralyzed one of her vocal cords, it also hurt her esophagus. The first sign of trouble was when she wasn't able to swallow water. Then her throat stung and she could barely speak. That's when she found out the devastating news of what had happened in the operation. "My whole life changed from that mo- ment," she recalls. This was in September of 2005. Just taking a drink has become a chore, since she has to carefully sip through a straw instead of sim- ply swigging down a gulp. Even water fountains are tricky for her to use now. At a recent event she heard a girl shout across an au- ditorium to her friend, and it re- minded Andrea of how she can no longer even cheer for her children at sporting events or performanc- es. She couldn't even scream in self-defense. On the other hand, she has an excuse not to holler back at her sons when they yell for her from across the house. Party games in- volving loud, sudden outbursts, which she used to be so good at, are really frustrating to her now. Drive-through tellers at the bank also pose a challenge for her to be heard, since she has to take deep breaths between words and her voice is very quiet now. Some vowel sounds - including ones in her own name and phone number - have also turned out to be hard- er to pronounce. Talking alone can often be painful for her. A specialist assured her this type of complication from surgery is extremely rare. It is so rare, in fact, speech therapists are at UNDER THE GAZEBO where she plans to perform next week is local vocalist Andrea Densley, who has faced the prospect of never being able to sing again. a virtual loss in knowing how to treat he: problem. However, An- drea did find a very positive sing- ing teacher in Seattle who showed her tips on how to breath deeper and use her abdominal nmscles more to support herself. "Your whole upper body has to stay re- laxed, just like normal singing, or it's not going to work," she ex- plains. OVER THE LAST year and a half, she has made progress in vo- calizing. Just now she's reaching the point where she doesn't thel lightheaded when she speaks and she is becoming more audible. In fact, the other day at church a friend was sitting next to her and was excited about being able to hear Andrea singing. In past years, Andrea had loved belting out church hymns to her heart's content. Now she's learning to appre- ciate listening to other singers around her "and even those wom- en that were singing off key - to feel the heart and emotion was a spiritual experience for me," she says. "Or at Christmas time: To hear the whole choir sing the Messiah and I wasn't in it, but to be able to mouth the words and still feel the spirit was something I was still able to do." Andrea, who has always been very active in the community, saw this ordeal affect her busy lifestyle, too. In 1998 and 1999 she directed the queen coronation program of the Mason County Forest Festival. She has also di- rected the family history library for the Shelton community of the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- ter-day Saints. She has produced Shelton Youth Program's Summer Theater, belonged to the Friends of the Shelton Gymnasium, given a presentation at Career Days at "0000eri'ous money;, witfi 0000aving Trane XLi heat pump comfort system. lfora FREE ES TIMA TE today s500 off ," COMPLETE TRANE ® XLi ',HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS ! (*Consists of furnace, heat pump and Clean Effects air cleaner) I ! Present this coupon at time of appointment. Not valid with any other ofl:cr. I | Savings with this coupon only (:ash value 1/20€. Expires 8/30/07 I ! , .m Z ,,,,w Kamilche Lane SHELTON (360) 432-9965 "Dedioated to your ¢olfort" 1 CONTRACTORS REGISTRATION # CHEHASM252MH  ,,, n.m T,,,,op A 'r,.f Visit $ at www.chehalissheetmetat.com III1[ III II IIIII Page 14 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, August 23, 2007 Shelton High and coached vocals and did costuming for the high- school theater program. Current- ly, she still serves as public affairs director for the Elma stake of her church. Losing her identity - and her expected career - as a singer, An- drea began to feel isolated and un- necessary. Gone were her dreams of a future career in music, but so were her chances of finding just about any source of income. She couldn't even qualify for a job at a fast-food restaurant, since she couldn't talk to customers. EVENTUALLY, SHE found a part-time job with Gerbing's Heated Clothing of Union, work- ing in research and development to discover innovative designs and select just the right fabrics. "It's been a really good fit because I really don't have to talk to peo- ple in there except on a one-on, one basis, so it's working out re- ally well," she says. She has a bachelor of arts degree in fashion design from Brigham Young University and was named the Designer of the Year by the theater department there. She also earned an assis- tantship position in the univer- sity's costume department and is a graduate of the South Sound's Enterprise for Equity small-busi- ness training program. Andrea also has work experience in jour- nalism, education and as a library associate. On the side, she also runs her own fashion business, Legacy Design Studio and is a freelance fashion designer for the Simplicity Pattern Company. In addition to her struggles with sound, Andrea also deals with rapid-cycle bipolar disorder. All of the thyroid issues, along with a chemical imbalance in her brain, compounded the grief she was feeling from losing her voice. "I have never reached these depths of despair," she says. To other people going through depression, she offers this word of encouragement: "You are need- ed in the world. Even if you feel like you have nothing that you can give." Therapy and the right medication, she assures, is a wise way to deal with the problem. "It is okay to take medicine, just like you would take for your heart, just like you would take for diabe- tes. It's just another part of your body," she says. Trying to ignore it or self-medi- cate the depression can be haz- ardous. "Life can be sunny again," she adds. "And there's nothing that makes you less of a person, just because your brain chemicals are out of whack." THROUGHOUT HER depres- sion, Andrea would wake up early in the morning to pray and to read Scripture and motivational books. One evening, when she was feel- ing especially hopeless, a random thought came to mind: "Bethany Hamilton still surfs." Hamilton is a semi-professional ing phenomenon who to a shark attack while Instead of giving up the loved, the teen modified board and continued as a surfer in spite of her ity and the trauma she Other celebrities, such Andrews and Christopher who dealt with sim.ilar losses, also inspire Andrea. those people do what they doing. They do it diff they found a way to lives still go on and be so then the thought came 'Okay, there's got to be a my life.' I don' believe did this. I believe that God this was going to happen believe he put people in help me and I believe he me good thoughts to point the right direction of what next." So when her speakinl gan to return in the s drea began to wonder if she1 ever have the chance to again. A glimmer of' hope peared even earlier, in Andrea, who had also become a motivational was invited to address a children. She brought four children with her to help song as part of the Equipped with a crophone, Andrea, who barely hum at that point, up the nerve to sing the ing two lines of the song her children took over thl When Andrea began ing very quietly, the picked up her voice and came so emotionally she was moved to tears. She the boys behind her (Please turn to page 11/2 HOUR MASSAGE s50 BEAUJEAS GIFT SHOP : and Styling Salon ' 113 SOUTH SECOND * SUITE 101 427-8684 credit and debi[ Girds DIVA BROWN, LMF LiC, # MA0002357 7 Your Bare Dealer New Hours Wed-Fri O am-7 p TLI & Sal o am5 pgl 80 YEARS OF RAYONIER A Photograph Exhibit Mason County Historical Museum Shelton, Washington June 22- September 3, 2007 Program Event WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 7:00 PM Wildlife and Forestry on I,,dustria/ Forest/and Western Washington .- Dan Varland holds a Ph.D. in Animal Ecology and has worked as a wildlife biologist fi,r Rayo,fier 14 years. Rayonier is a publicly held timber company with 370,00() acres of forest land in wester, Washington and more tha, 2.7 million in total worldwide. In this presentation, Dan will describe large landowner approaches to and the Washington firest practice roles that guide these approaches. Dan's research and management activities arc, focused o, addressing the habitat needs of forest wildlife, especially threatened and endangered species, in the managed fi,rest environment. He will describe the ways in which Rayonier provides habitat for the n,,rthero spotted owl, marbled murrelet, bald eagle and other wildlife. Dan will discuss an innovative research project, national in scope and ongoing in Washington since 1996, focused on creating wood decay through the of trees with fungi. The goal of this research is to address the needs of cavity-dependent wildhfe, therely biodiversity in an intensively managed environment. i(!i!i;::!i! ! :!: i;! [: : :iii:: ! I¸ ! i !! What's Cookin'? Andrea finds her singing voice agai By REBECCA WELLS Love of music brought her par- ents, as well as her grandparents, together. Andrea Densley clearly remembers the exhilaration she felt in first grade when she was able to keep up with her teacher in singing the full, broad vocal range in the "Star Spangled Ban- ner." From there, she grew to love music, especially singing. An- drea's own children inherited this love of music and singing. Trained and experienced in several vocal capacities, including voice-over acting and voice instruction, she even recorded an album of her singing and seriously considered concert performance as a career opportunity once her children were grown. So when a physician's assis- tant bluntly informed her after surgery that she would never be able to sing again, Andrea's heart plummeted lower than ever be- fore in her life. And her voice plunged into silence. "The miracle of speech, I guess, is what really hit me. Not just the sadness of the loss, but really the miracle of speech, of communication. Those little things," she says. She had undergone surgery for her parathyroid in college with no complications, but later growths appeared on her thyroid. With a history of problems with her en- docrine system and two relatives having developed thyroid can- cer, her doctor had to remove her thyroid gland from her throat. In spite of using the best, most con- siderate surgeon her doctor could find for her, complications dur- ing this surgery damaged a nerve around her vocal cords. THIS NOT ONLY paralyzed one of her vocal cords, it also hurt her esophagus. The first sign of trouble was when she wasn't able to swallow water. Then her throat stung and she could barely speak. That's when she found out the devastating news of what had happened in the operation. "My whole life changed from that mo- ment," she recalls. This was in September of 2005. Just taking a drink has become a chore, since she has to carefully sip through a straw instead of sim- ply swigging down a gulp. Even water fountains are tricky for her to use now. At a recent event she heard a girl shout across an au- ditorium to her friend, and it re- minded Andrea of how she can no longer even cheer for her children at sporting events or performanc- es. She couldn't even scream in self-defense. On the other hand, she has an excuse not to holler back at her sons when they yell for her from across the house. Party games in- volving loud, sudden outbursts, which she used to be so good at, are really frustrating to her now. Drive-through tellers at the bank also pose a challenge for her to be heard, since she has to take deep breaths between words and her voice is very quiet now. Some vowel sounds - including ones in her own name and phone number - have also turned out to be hard- er to pronounce. Talking alone can often be painful for her. A specialist assured her this type of complication from surgery is extremely rare. It is so rare, in fact, speech therapists are at UNDER THE GAZEBO where she plans to perform next week is local vocalist Andrea Densley, who has faced the prospect of never being able to sing again. a virtual loss in knowing how to treat he: problem. However, An- drea did find a very positive sing- ing teacher in Seattle who showed her tips on how to breath deeper and use her abdominal nmscles more to support herself. "Your whole upper body has to stay re- laxed, just like normal singing, or it's not going to work," she ex- plains. OVER THE LAST year and a half, she has made progress in vo- calizing. Just now she's reaching the point where she doesn't thel lightheaded when she speaks and she is becoming more audible. In fact, the other day at church a friend was sitting next to her and was excited about being able to hear Andrea singing. In past years, Andrea had loved belting out church hymns to her heart's content. Now she's learning to appre- ciate listening to other singers around her "and even those wom- en that were singing off key - to feel the heart and emotion was a spiritual experience for me," she says. "Or at Christmas time: To hear the whole choir sing the Messiah and I wasn't in it, but to be able to mouth the words and still feel the spirit was something I was still able to do." Andrea, who has always been very active in the community, saw this ordeal affect her busy lifestyle, too. In 1998 and 1999 she directed the queen coronation program of the Mason County Forest Festival. She has also di- rected the family history library for the Shelton community of the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- ter-day Saints. She has produced Shelton Youth Program's Summer Theater, belonged to the Friends of the Shelton Gymnasium, given a presentation at Career Days at "0000eri'ous money;, witfi 0000aving Trane XLi heat pump comfort system. lfora FREE ES TIMA TE today s500 off ," COMPLETE TRANE ® XLi ',HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS ! (*Consists of furnace, heat pump and Clean Effects air cleaner) I ! Present this coupon at time of appointment. Not valid with any other ofl:cr. I | Savings with this coupon only (:ash value 1/20€. Expires 8/30/07 I ! , .m Z ,,,,w Kamilche Lane SHELTON (360) 432-9965 "Dedioated to your ¢olfort" 1 CONTRACTORS REGISTRATION # CHEHASM252MH  ,,, n.m T,,,,op A 'r,.f Visit $ at www.chehalissheetmetat.com III1[ III II IIIII Page 14 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, August 23, 2007 Shelton High and coached vocals and did costuming for the high- school theater program. Current- ly, she still serves as public affairs director for the Elma stake of her church. Losing her identity - and her expected career - as a singer, An- drea began to feel isolated and un- necessary. Gone were her dreams of a future career in music, but so were her chances of finding just about any source of income. She couldn't even qualify for a job at a fast-food restaurant, since she couldn't talk to customers. EVENTUALLY, SHE found a part-time job with Gerbing's Heated Clothing of Union, work- ing in research and development to discover innovative designs and select just the right fabrics. "It's been a really good fit because I really don't have to talk to peo- ple in there except on a one-on, one basis, so it's working out re- ally well," she says. She has a bachelor of arts degree in fashion design from Brigham Young University and was named the Designer of the Year by the theater department there. She also earned an assis- tantship position in the univer- sity's costume department and is a graduate of the South Sound's Enterprise for Equity small-busi- ness training program. Andrea also has work experience in jour- nalism, education and as a library associate. On the side, she also runs her own fashion business, Legacy Design Studio and is a freelance fashion designer for the Simplicity Pattern Company. In addition to her struggles with sound, Andrea also deals with rapid-cycle bipolar disorder. All of the thyroid issues, along with a chemical imbalance in her brain, compounded the grief she was feeling from losing her voice. "I have never reached these depths of despair," she says. To other people going through depression, she offers this word of encouragement: "You are need- ed in the world. Even if you feel like you have nothing that you can give." Therapy and the right medication, she assures, is a wise way to deal with the problem. "It is okay to take medicine, just like you would take for your heart, just like you would take for diabe- tes. It's just another part of your body," she says. Trying to ignore it or self-medi- cate the depression can be haz- ardous. "Life can be sunny again," she adds. "And there's nothing that makes you less of a person, just because your brain chemicals are out of whack." THROUGHOUT HER depres- sion, Andrea would wake up early in the morning to pray and to read Scripture and motivational books. One evening, when she was feel- ing especially hopeless, a random thought came to mind: "Bethany Hamilton still surfs." Hamilton is a semi-professional ing phenomenon who to a shark attack while Instead of giving up the loved, the teen modified board and continued as a surfer in spite of her ity and the trauma she Other celebrities, such Andrews and Christopher who dealt with sim.ilar losses, also inspire Andrea. those people do what they doing. They do it diff they found a way to lives still go on and be so then the thought came 'Okay, there's got to be a my life.' I don' believe did this. I believe that God this was going to happen believe he put people in help me and I believe he me good thoughts to point the right direction of what next." So when her speakinl gan to return in the s drea began to wonder if she1 ever have the chance to again. A glimmer of' hope peared even earlier, in Andrea, who had also become a motivational was invited to address a children. She brought four children with her to help song as part of the Equipped with a crophone, Andrea, who barely hum at that point, up the nerve to sing the ing two lines of the song her children took over thl When Andrea began ing very quietly, the picked up her voice and came so emotionally she was moved to tears. She the boys behind her (Please turn to page 11/2 HOUR MASSAGE s50 BEAUJEAS GIFT SHOP : and Styling Salon ' 113 SOUTH SECOND * SUITE 101 427-8684 credit and debi[ Girds DIVA BROWN, LMF LiC, # MA0002357 7 Your Bare Dealer New Hours Wed-Fri O am-7 p TLI & Sal o am5 pgl 80 YEARS OF RAYONIER A Photograph Exhibit Mason County Historical Museum Shelton, Washington June 22- September 3, 2007 Program Event WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 7:00 PM Wildlife and Forestry on I,,dustria/ Forest/and Western Washington .- Dan Varland holds a Ph.D. in Animal Ecology and has worked as a wildlife biologist fi,r Rayo,fier 14 years. Rayonier is a publicly held timber company with 370,00() acres of forest land in wester, Washington and more tha, 2.7 million in total worldwide. In this presentation, Dan will describe large landowner approaches to and the Washington firest practice roles that guide these approaches. Dan's research and management activities arc, focused o, addressing the habitat needs of forest wildlife, especially threatened and endangered species, in the managed fi,rest environment. He will describe the ways in which Rayonier provides habitat for the n,,rthero spotted owl, marbled murrelet, bald eagle and other wildlife. Dan will discuss an innovative research project, national in scope and ongoing in Washington since 1996, focused on creating wood decay through the of trees with fungi. The goal of this research is to address the needs of cavity-dependent wildhfe, therely biodiversity in an intensively managed environment. i(!i!i;::!i! ! :!: i;! [: : :iii:: ! I¸ ! i !!