Music & Illness

Have you ever experienced a medical condition that threatened your musical capabilities? 

Overall, I have not had too many medical issues that have had a direct effect on my singing or piano playing. 

I have Ankylosing Spondylitis, so when I practice piano my SI joints, shoulder blades, and spine flare-up, causing me a great deal of pain, but the actual piano-playing is not hindered directly. 

I have Hereditary Angioedema, which (among other things) can cause swelling in my throat, especially if I am particularly nervous or excited. Luckily, I have a medication that helps with these symptoms, so even though the swelling can affect my vocal cords, I do have ways to troubleshoot this problem. I also have specific training that has helped me sing over or adjust my singing in a way that distracts from this problem. 

There is, however, one illness that I have that has been worrying me a bit more lately. I am very lucky that I am in the early stages of this disease, but I know that it will eventually be impossible to ignore. I have an early onset of Macular Degeneration - where drusen builds up in my macula, eventually resulting in the loss of my central vision. My father-in-law also has this disease and was also diagnosed in his twenties. 

I am still in the early stages, so with both eyes I have 20/20 vision (with contacts/glasses to correct near-sightedness & astigmatism), but with each eye separately, this is an example of what I see when I read: 

I know that, as this disease progresses, I will adapt to the situation and (for instance) learn how to read braille in order to read music, and we are a looooonnnnnng way off from that situation, but I think the idea of not being able to read music will hit me the hardest. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this won't be an issue until I am well into my 80's or 90's, when sight-reading is not such a priority, but it nevertheless makes me wonder. 

I am lucky that, with all of the illness I DO have, none of them directly affect my ability to share music. Obviously there are symptoms that make certain aspects of performing difficult (like energy levels, pain, weakness, varying symptoms, swelling, lack of sleep, etc...), but my lungs are in great shape, my vocal cords are not currently damaged, and the arthritis I do have does not reside in my fingers. 

So my question: 

For those of you who DO have disabilities and disorders that directly affect your musical capabilities, how have you adapted? What tricks and tips do you have of resiliency? 

I love My Musical Life!