Singing FAST and brain damage

Subject: Singing FAST and brain damage
From: Mrrzy
Date: 22 Mar 01 - 12:19 PM

Question: this happened to a friend of mine, anyone hear of this happening to anyone else?

Friend is in an industrial accident that causes him to seriously overexert himself attempting to fix/get out; he ended up doing so much tissue damage to his muscles that he was breaking down muscle fibers into something that crystallizes in the presence of acid. These crystals thus trashed his kidneys, causing a total kidney failure that wasn't noticed for almost a week (he had all the symptoms of a stomach flu, apparently your kidneys won't let you swallow anything they don't think they can handle).
Fast forward several years, his kidneys recovered fully, he didn't even need long term dialysis. The doctors coundn't be sure whether or not there might be brain damage from the buildup of poisons from not having working kidneys for 5 days. The ONLY residual symptom is he can't sing patter-songs any more. He was very into Irish music and now just cannot keep up with the whackfolthediddles or tiddlyohtos. He still recalls all the words, and can sing the songs if he can sing them slowly, he just can't keep up with the recordings (or me).

??? Does this make sense to anyone? Anybody have any similar experiences, losing something musical while maintaining all other f-a-c-u-l-t-i-e-s intact, to quote Esmé with love and squalor?

Subject: RE: Singing FAST and brain damage
From: GUEST,Les B.
Date: 22 Mar 01 - 01:56 PM

Hell, with me it's just age. I'll never be a rap star, maybe a balladeer.

Subject: RE: Singing FAST and brain damage
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 22 Mar 01 - 02:35 PM

mrrzy, I just saw this post, (we've got to stop meeting this way *BG*). I mentioned my MS in another thread, you asked if I were doing OK...YES, and thanks.

MS randomly affects the nerve coverings in the central nervous system, so individual persons have widely differing symptoms. I mentioned that I've lost quick repetitive movements in my hands which hinders my ability to play ragtime piano. But you asked about your friend and his inability to sing fast patter songs. I also have speech and swallowing problems which I think are a combination of nerve damage in the coordination part of the brain (cerebellum and nerve tracts leading to and from it) and muscle atrophy due to just not being able to send messages to certain muscles. The muscles involved in speech are quite extensive. Then if you take into account the vocal chords you'll see why singing is so complex. Alice has provided lots of links to the singing voice, and some are quite good. I think the one to a clinic at Wake Forrest is one that may interest your friend. Unfortunately, most doctors I've seen (and there have been a lot) wait until the symptoms are very evident before they even consider them. Ten years before I was diagnosed, I noticed I couldn't say "World War One" or "Where were we" quickly. Being a piano player, I could actually measure the loss in speed of playing quick repetitive notes. But it's hard to get a doctor to understand much less believe such a "subjective" observation.

So, if your friend is concerned enough to pursue it, I would recommend getting all the info and then finding a good doctor who would work with him. Unfortunately, that's nearly impossible, especially if he's limited financially or geographically. He probably doesn't want just an explanation of his deficiency, but would like to know if there's any therapy which can help. Unfortunately again, this is uncharted territory. I've managed to get more information from various therapists than doctors. Keep me posted and let me know if I can provide more info or links. Does anyone know of a speech therapist who is a singer?

Subject: RE: Singing FAST and brain damage
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 Mar 01 - 11:38 AM

Thanks, MinK, and thanks for the PM, as no, I hadn't seen this post yet. See my thread on ragtime piano, too... and in this case, I doubt it's anything degenerative, it's been 10 years since the kidney thing and nothing has gotten worse... so here's hoping!