The voice- Luxury or Neccesity?

In 2015 I was sixteen years old and studying drama, music, and english in sixth form. I was also playing on of the lead characters in the school's production of "Annie". I remember in a rehearsal having to sing and saying a phrase which by that point I was very used to saying: "It won't be very good, I'm losing my voice" and one of the teachers commenting that I always seem to lose my voice. I hadn't really noticed before, but she was right. By the end of the last performance of the show I couldn't hit the high notes I had been hitting in the first show, not the end of the world, but, I did begin to uestion whether this was normal. The next year I was rehearsing for an exam which was a concert as part of my BTEC music course with a singing teacher who had been brought into the school. She suggested that I get an appointment with an ENT (ear, nose and throat) clinic so that they could see what was going on with my "husky" voice. When it came to the concert I could hardly sing and was under a lot of stress due to my voice loss.

After a complicated year of being referred to an ENT, diagnosed with "tension dysphonia" and a "phonatory gap", prescribed vocal therapy, then never receiving an appointment, the demand on my voice had only grown. I was now teaching drama to classes of loud children and in my first year of university studying drama. I didn't want to be a nuisance, and a friend commented that "of course your voice probably isn't a priority of the NHS." But I pushed for another referral and eventually was booked in for a vocal therapy session. However, as I have learned recently, it is unlikely that the Speech and Language therapist I saw at the hospital in Liverpool was qualified enough to treat my voice disorder. Another year of passes and my voice is still no better, again, I'm teaching even more and am taking the Musical Theater module at university which ends in a show that I am unable to sing in due to complete voice loss.

Thankfully, I found a singing teacher who referred me to the professional performers clinic in Manchester and I am hopefully on the right track to having a proper diagnosis and the right treatment. I am aware that this does not seem like a huge issue; I wasn't in pain or at risk or even ill. However, the ordeal has brought me an awareness of the importance of a person's voice. Especially if that person uses their voice professionally, not necessarily as a performer but even just a teacher or public speaker. If I lose my voice, I can't sing or speak, which means I can't teach, therefore I lose money. Is this not similar to a person who has a physical disability that stops them from working? Is it acceptable that I have waited three years for a voice disorder that should have been fixed within half a year to be properly treated? I don't even begrudge having to go to Manchester to attend speech therapy sessions, what isn't right is that the staff at the hospital in Liverpool did not refer me to a more specialized clinic after my speech therapy with them was not working. Or that the GP wasn't aware that as a voice user and singer I should have been referred to the specialist performers clinic in Manchester from the start.

For an actor, singer, teacher, or anyone that uses their voice professionally, the voice is their irreplaceable instrument and it should be looked after properly to save distress, loss of income and other problems.