Cue the Backup Plan...
This is my 3rd of 4 blog posts about navigating life with an uncommon form of laryngitis. View the others:
By Ailene Gerhardt, MA, BCPA, CSA®, Founder, Beacon Patient Solutions LLC & Navigating Solo Network
As an independent board-certified patient advocate, solo aging advocate, and community educator, I devote a lot of time to encouraging/assisting clients and community education presentation attendees to create a variety of plans.
Planning is needed to navigate the wide array of complexities of the healthcare system. Solo agers (older adults 55+ without the reliable support of adult children or family members) need to intentionally craft a plan for aging well that includes carefully chosen support system members, healthcare management, financial and legal plans, housing plans, and advance care plans. Every adult needs to plan for emergencies – medical, financial, natural disasters, etc.
All plans should ideally include backup plans.
As a community educator I am very fortunate to offer in person and virtual presentations in partnership with a wide variety of community organizations locally and nationwide. I am always grateful to have the opportunity to present at a conference.
I am honored to be one of the speakers at the Healthcare Advocate Summit in New Orleans during the first week of September. Planning is needed to present at and attend a national conference. In June, I was thrilled to receive an email that my submission for a session had been accepted. I booked my flight and hotel. I completed the requested speaker agreement, submitted a headshot, and confirmed my bio. In July, I submitted my slide deck by the requested deadline. I shared the news of my speaking opportunity on social media utilizing the graphics provided by conference organizers.
My plan was in place. August would be the time I would practice my presentation to ensure it would be as engaging as possible.
A need for a backup plan arose when somehow during the afternoon of August 2nd, three weeks ago today, I lost my voice. There was no warning. I was able to speak normally until about 3 pm that day when, while answering a phone call, I discovered my voice was gone. I had never experienced anything like that before and realized I had taken communicating with my voice for granted.
Since the condition continued, the following week I visited a throat specialist and was diagnosed with idiopathic ulcerative laryngitis. It is an uncommon form of laryngitis that takes an unpredictable amount of time to heal. In addition to the suggested speech therapy exercises, full voice rest is prescribed. That is not the news anyone wants to hear, especially when one relies on voice communication professionally.
Cue the backup plan.
In two previous blog posts, I wrote about my exploration of text-to-speech applications and voice cloning. While I am hoping/planning to be able to offer my presentation at September’s conference with my actual (healing) voice, I am preparing generative AI narration with my cloned voice to accompany each slide as part of my back up plan.
I am so glad technologies exist to create some alternatives to my original plan. My plan and my backup plan for my conference presentation are now in place.
It has also occurred to me that I need a plan to navigate the conference with laryngitis. Even if my voice has made tremendous strides in healing, I still need to be very protective and so my time spent speaking will need to be extremely limited. The upcoming conference is a large national conference that draws attendees from a variety of disciplines within the healthcare advocacy “space.” Not only does the conference agenda offer a robust schedule of educational sessions, but there is also a lot of networking and “schmoozing” time throughout the four-day conference.
To help in the creation of a plan, I decided to utilize an AI tool that is likely used by most of us frequently. I typed “how to navigate a conference with laryngitis” into my favorite search engine. It yielded a couple of helpful blog posts and a lot of articles about the condition of laryngitis.
Next, I decided to engage ChatGPT (an AI chatbot that uses natural language processing to create humanlike conversational dialogue) to see what it suggested and typed in “How do I navigate a national conference with laryngitis?”
As you can see above, it offered a compassionate response and a useful list of ten tips. I had thought of most of them but seeing them “spelled out” is helpful as I compile my plan and create a packing checklist.
My next step is preparation. To navigate the conference effectively, I plan to utilize low-tech and high-tech tools. I will acquire a small dry erase board and markers to bring with me. I will print out anything that will be of use. I will use my text to speech tools on my computer and phone to create an “elevator pitch” that I can use to introduce myself and my work. It is likely I will come across other needed tools or preparation along the way.
Giving detailed thought to these and other items for communication was not how I originally thought my August would go. I planned to attend the various leadership meetings, client consultations, and colleague meetings I had scheduled, and continue my work as usual with clients. I planned to accept invitations to be a podcast guest.
With the use of technological tools and the wonderful support of clients, colleagues, and friends, I have been able to follow much of my original plan. But I have also had to make adaptations and compromises. I have had to learn to navigate Zoom meetings speaking as little as possible. Here’s how ChatGPT suggests navigating Zoom meetings with laryngitis.
I have learned so much in the last three weeks about available technologies and about myself. Advocating for oneself, no matter what the tool used to make it happen, takes planning and patience. Knowing when to ask for and accept help also takes humility.
My experience during these last three weeks has expanded my world. I miss communicating effectively with my natural voice. I miss participating in phone calls personally and professionally. I miss verbally responding spontaneously in real time. At the same time, I am grateful for new and evolving technologies and my access to them. I am grateful for a great support system. I am grateful for the curiosity to land on solutions. I am grateful for the opportunities I have and the chance to make a difference.
I am also grateful to you for reading my thoughts and hope they offer something helpful to you.
Connect With Us: When the complexity of your healthcare situation is too challenging to navigate on your own, working with an independent board certified patient advocate can help cut through the “red tape,” reduce complications, and offer peace of mind at an emotional time. Contact Ailene to learn more about the value of working with a private patient advocate.