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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 !!