Hi Katrina,I'll try to answer some of your questions. I'm ADductor SD, so I have not personally experienced these different techniques. Hopefully, an ABductor will post.
Dr. Bastian is at Loyola University in Chicago. I heard him talk at the DMRF conference in May 1999 in Victoria, BC. He does use a different injection technique - can't remember 100% how he does it - I think he does inject from a sideways direction instead of the normal straight on. He indicated that he was seeing better results this way - maybe he has refined it even more since then. He is one of the best SD specialists around and really takes an interest in his patients.
Finally, we have all been experiencing difficulty in logging in and posting to the BB since the actual Domain Name Server loction was changed on the internet. This problem has since been rectified. Be assured it has nothing to do with you not posting to the BB for a while :-)
Hi Katrina,Remember me? I posted some previous info about Dr. Robert Bastian from Loyola in Chicago and Kristina posted some info on him also. I met him in 1998 at the Chicago SD Symposium and again (like Kristina and Lloyd and others did) in Victoria in 1999.
Lloyd's info is good and, if you contact the NSDA and ask them to send you a copy of the Victoria Symposium Summary Book (and other info on Batian), you will get a better idea of his approach. Because Dr. Bastian is in Chicago (where the NSDA HQ is), he works closely with them and they may be able to provide quite alot of information to you. I don't know if they do that but you could try. Also, as Bastian is on the NSDA Physician Referral List (which means he signed a release form allowing himself to be put on the list), you could probably contact him at his office. Because the list is public for anyone who requests it, it should be OK if I put his office number on the BB. It's 708-216-3835. When I heard him present his unique AbSD Botox technique in 1998, I didn't take the best of notes because it didn't apply to me but I'm sure there are some journal articles or information that his office staff could send you or maybe it's even on the web.
Also, go back awhile on the BB and check out that long post that Doug Bishop put out (July?) talking about Tahitian Noni Juice. In that post, he gives Dr. Bastian (who was his doc prior to his move to Colorado) an excellent review from a patient-perspective.
Also, Dr. James Koufman presented three options for AbSD "surgery" at the Pacific Voice Conference in SF earlier this month, in case you ever get to that point. One of them is a fat injection so not a permanent surgical treatment. There has been some info from some of us recently on the BB on those approaches also. I'll write your private e-mail.
--Lynne
I have Abductor SD and have tried botox several times, but without any real help. About four years ago I saw Drs. Dedo and Ward in San Francisco, worked with researcher Kris Izdebski, and tried botox a couple of times. It didn't make me any more breathy than usual and didn't result in a whispering voice, but it didn't help either.About six weeks ago, I saw Dr. Berke in LA and had unilateral botox (I'm not sure what the amount was) and I've been breathy and with a weak voice since. It also appears not to have helped with the spasming, though I intend to try again after I get through two of our kids' weddings this spring.
Marcia
Marcia, I just saw my doctor today. I have had two botox shots each about a month apart. First the left side and then the right side.He had told me I would have none of the side effects that AD people have and he was right although both times I didn't see any real improvement until about a week later. He had said I'd see improvements within 36-48 hours.After the second shot I went right back to work. I am a teacher using a microphone. I have been lucky with Botox (praise God if that is allowed here). My doc was almost dancing today he was so excited with my voice. I was more reserved! Don't have a lot of volume but I am not spasmy with breaks in my voice like before. I asked him if I would get any volume and he prretty much said I only had a 1 in 3 chance to get what I have. Guess I should be grateful.I will have my next Botox shot in three months. I asked him today about other treatments for ABductor folks specifically the one mentioned here with the fat injections.He said that was highly experimental and the only one that looked like it had potential was one that NIH was doing, but it was years away from being perfected.
Maybe he is overly conservative, but he is a young doctor-30is and I know he works with the Univerisity of Arizona speech department.
Katrina
Dr. Bastians technique is available in a paper: Meleca RJ; Hogikyan ND; Bastian RW, A comparison of methods of botulinum toxin injection for abductory spasmodic dysphonia. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1997 Nov;117(5):487-92 The abstract is likely available on Medline. Barring your searching that out, I have detailed his technique on http://www.voicedoctor.net/guideline/sd/ab.html . He (and I) inject both sides simultaneously. Some of the pros and cons are listed on the above site. When you do get a bilateral or any PCA injection for AB SD, breathiness is not an issue. Noisy breathing and possibly shortness of breath is the issue or side effect of concern. It is really the opposite of the AD SD side effects of whispery voice.
In regard to the other question. Dr. Bastian is from Loyolo in Chicago. His site http://www.luhs.org/depts/otolaryn/F_bastia.htm
Related link:
voicedoctor.net info on AB SD