VFS surgeons on West Coast

[LovelyLuci]

Hey All,
I have been doing a bit of research on VFS and have decided that i want it to be the first surgery that i get done, so that i can focus on recovery and my transition for a few months.  I have been considering going with Dr Haben in New York and getting the Triple, as i have no desire to travel out of country to go to Yeson.  I am excited to get the surgery done so that i can spend a few months working on my voice and working with a vocal therapist post surgery.  The reason i am interested in this surgery so much is that i want the natural pitch of my voice to be higher so that i dont have to strain my voice to maintain that pitch.  Currently i can raise the pitch of my voice at least 1 octave so i know that i have decent upper range, its just that my normal speaking voice is low and its hard to always speak in my other voice.

A few questions for you fine ladies:

• Do you recommend Dr Haben?
• Any unexpected complications with booking Dr haben?
• Are there any good surgeons besides Dr Haben and Yeson on the west coast?  I have heard of only 2 others, Dr Meyer in Bev Hills and Dr Thomas in Portland.  My mom wants to make sure i am picking the right place and not overlooking west coast options.
• Am i crazy for wanting to have this surgery performed before spending years on vocal therapy?

Thanks!
Lucy

[kwala]

Hi, Lucy. 

Do you recommend Dr Haben?
Dr. Haben definitely has the experience.  I will caution you that his recovery times are often a bit longer than his website suggests.

Any unexpected complications with booking Dr haben?
Not at all.  He is available via email to answer any questions you may have before surgery (just fill out the form on his website) and calling the office for scheduling and other things is a breeze.

Are there any good surgeons besides Dr Haben and Yeson on the west coast?
The two you mentioned are the only ones I know of and to my knowledge they do not perform a glottoplasty.  Side note: Not west coast, but you could also look into Dr. Spiegel in Boston, who has at least one amazing example posted on youtube.

Am i crazy for wanting to have this surgery performed before spending years on vocal therapy?
No!  Vocal therapy can work wonders and no one is knocking it.  It can even enhance surgery results in almost all cases.  But it's your life, your body, and your money.  If you have done some research and feel that this procedure will help you then you are absolutely NOT crazy for considering it.


I had surgery with Dr. Haben in mid-October and 3+ months later I still have many many issues and my voice is nowhere near normal sounding.  I am the exception rather than the rule, so I'm not sharing to dissuade you but to let you know that unexpected things can happen and that every patient reacts and heals differently even if, in many cases, they follow the post op instructions to the T.  Best of luck, and be sure to gather as much information as you can before committing to surgery.

[iKate]

• Do you recommend Dr Haben?
• Any unexpected complications with booking Dr haben?
• Are there any good surgeons besides Dr Haben and Yeson on the west coast?  I have heard of only 2 others, Dr Meyer in Bev Hills and Dr Thomas in Portland.  My mom wants to make sure i am picking the right place and not overlooking west coast options.
• Am i crazy for wanting to have this surgery performed before spending years on vocal therapy?

Thanks!
Lucy

I don't have experience with Dr Haben as I went to Dr Kim. However others seem to have good experience.

CTA, part of the "triple" can mess up your ability to sing because you lose pitch control. YMMV.

There may be other surgeons but their track record is unknown.

Not at all. I skipped voice therapy completely. I started with basically a blank slate and it has turned out well for me. However, understand that VFS may not be a magic wand for everyone like it was for me. Prepare yourself for training after your op as well. In fact, voice exercises are part of the Yeson recovery and probably for Dr Haben too.[/list]

[anjaq]

I heard quite a few good comments on Dr Thomas. He seems to be quite experienced and offers different techniques - laser, CTA, glottoplasty and his unique laryngoplasty where he completely changes the larynx in cases where the voice cannot be feminized with the other options.

[Lara1969]

I had vfs witj Dr. Haben last December. You can follow my thread in this forum.

There is a risk of damaging the surgery result of the vfs in future surgeries during anaethesia. This was one reason why vfs wasbmy last surgery, I started with hair transplantation und FFS.

[jollyjoy]

Yes, I would recommend Dr. Haben. But please be very patient with your recovery, some girls can recover under 3 months, others might take 6 months or even longer, just know that everyone heals differently.

[Dena]

I went to Dr Haben and it's all in my thread BUT you should understand what your starting voice is before you look into surgery. This may take a few sessions of speech therapy. With that information you will be able to make an informed decision. Because improvement runs around 80Hz, you may not need  the triple or in my case, I needed VFS and a trained voice. The triple wouldn't give me enough increase in pitch to eliminate the trained voice at the triple would cost me range which I badly needed. I want to understand exactly what and why a doctors is doing something to me and that requires doing my homework before I see the doctor.

I had the therapy 35 years ago so it was simple for me to apply what I knew to my pre surgical voice to determine what I needed. When I saw Dr Haben, his opinion agreed with mine so I was comfortable as to what the surgery would deliver.

[LovelyLuci]

Thanks for all the great feedback ladies! 

I am leaning more toward the double at this point than the triple, for similar points that you mentioned Dena.  In terms of vocal range i have a range of 120hz - 260hz and would consider myself to be able to sing in both a female and male vocal range, so i feel hopeful that the double would leave me with a great feminine range without having a very invasive CTA surgery that could ruin my ability to sing.  But as you said, i want to consult with Dr Haben to get a good idea of what he would suggest for my voice so that i am making the best decision for the money spent.

Looking forward to having this done in march

-Lucy

[Lara1969]

I think speech therapy is also very important after surgery. My therapist just helps a lot by relearning to use my voice again. I have moments where I can speak nearly without hoarseness. He also helps me with the prosody of a feminine voice.

[LovelyLuci]

Yeah i am absolutely planning on working with a vocal therapist while i am recovering and until i am able to speak with a feminine voice by default.  A great opportunity to really shape my voice from scratch as i regain control

[LovelyLuci]

Post-Op Followup:
Couldnt be happier with the results, looking forward to developing my female voice through interaction with other female co-workers and friends.  I have yet to begin any vocal coaching, and at this point i am unsure if i want to or not.

Here is a recent recording @ 6weeks post-op on my twitch channel:
https://www.twitch.tv/lucevelyn/v/63642474