YESON: Seoul from 3/17 to 3/28

[Boca.Lisa]

Hi everyone,

I decided to book with Yeson. Jessie told me there was availability around 19th but she's going to give me a final surgery date tonight.

I'll be alone in seoul late march. Anyone else going to be there?

Lisa

[sarahb]

Congratulations! Keep us posted on your progress.

[barbie]

Now I am in Seoul.
At daytime, it was like spring, but at night, it's a typical winter day.

My present schedule says I will be in Seoul on Feb. 28-March 2 and on March 9-10.
Government officials and supporting staffs can call me at any time to Seoul.
If I go there during your stay, I will let you know.

barbie~~

[Boca.Lisa]

I will!

Not to seem like a stalker Sarah, but, it was really your info that convinced me. Ive been told my voice is good but to me it still takes effort and certain times it breaks. Once I listened to your "male", female and falsetto voice clips and then your post op ones I was sold. While I thought your pre op female voice was s great, your post op blew me away and I was able to see how a trained voice sounded after.

I can only hope I get as good a result as you and Jen had!

Thanks so much!

[sarahb]

I will!

Not to seem like a stalker Sarah, but, it was really your info that convinced me. Ive been told my voice is good but to me it still takes effort and certain times it breaks. Once I listened to your "male", female and falsetto voice clips and then your post op ones I was sold. While I thought your pre op female voice was s great, your post op blew me away and I was able to see how a trained voice sounded after.

I can only hope I get as good a result as you and Jen had!

Thanks so much!

I appreciate that a lot Lisa! I'm so glad my updates can help others feel comfortable with this procedure since I believe it's been one of the biggest parts of my transition to date and freed me from the constant repression caused by my self consciousness with my previous voice.

I can't wait to hear your results too. It's coming up quite soon now!

[smile_jma]

I posted in jenns thread, but I am here. If you need help with some stuff, I'm willing.

[Boca.Lisa]

Hi Everyone,

Well, I'm only a few days away from heading to Korea. While I am freaking a bit, I remembered that I had promised to do as so many others have and post before clips of my voice and then I'll post some post op as well.

This one is my "Boy" voice. I have not used it in so many years that I cant actually say if its what I used to sound like.

http://vocaroo.com/delete/s11dC3Ifp4Zb/c78258651b209aba

This is my "trained" voice. I know its not great which is why I am going to Yeson.

http://vocaroo.com/delete/s1FDQ08CRcHf/d97bddcb7ec8d7ae

I can only hope that I'm fortunate enough to have an incredible result like Sarah, Jenny and so many others who have shared their experiences!

Fingers Crossed,

Lisa

[Daniella]

Hi Lisa

You have a quite a nice trained voice, so I think u'll have a great outcome after healing.  I heard my old "male" level played back to me from my coach last week and I just cringed and cried stop playing that!  - that was 133Hz.   Then I recorded 187Hz average, which...didn't make me cringe hearing it back.  Harder to judge own voices seems like though.

So yes, wishing you good luck for your trip and hope you can have some fun out there too afterwards!

dani x

[Sophiabutterfly09]

Boca. Lisa I totally agree with you as well, Sarahs voice  is extremely inspiring as is Jennys. I hope to have VFS sometime this year as soon as possible

[sarahb]

Hi Lisa, I guess you're in Korea still. I hope everything is going well with your recovery. Have you had the follow-up meeting with Dr. Kim yet? Also, how has it been with the whole not talking thing so far? I hope everything is going well.

[Boca.Lisa]

Hey everyone,

Had my follow up yesterday. Healing was as planned with no surprises (good news)

The botox injection wasn't too bad but it did give me a small headache. Last day in Korea today do making a day trip down to Suwon then tomorrow home!

I must say the not talking thing is very hard. It'll be a much welcomed day when I can talk again. So now is just a waiting game. At 2 months will need to do the vocal exercizes so as to retrain my new vocal folds and then pray that this worked and that the result was good.

Hope everyone is well!

Lisa

[sarahb]

Good to hear that everything looks good! I can't wait to hear your results.

Remember, go extremely easy on your vocal chords until at least 1 month post-op. I remember during that time I wanted to talk so bad and it was hard to keep myself from not doing probably more short recordings than I should have. Also, remember that until at *least* the 1 month mark your voice will likely sound like crap when you try to do little recordings. It's not really until the 1 1/2 month - 2 month mark when you'll really start to feel like your voice is taking shape.

I'm sure you'll love your new voice, Lisa. Keep us updated as your recovery progresses, and enjoy your last day in Korea.

[Boca.Lisa]

Not that anyone really cares, but, i'm home. I've been pretty good about not talking, coughing or clearing my throat and following Dr. Kim's instructions although Iave noticed that when mouthing words i sometimes end up whispering very softly so I need to be careful.

At 9 days post op there is no pain or discomfort. The congested feeling of flem in the throat has completely passed. I will say the Botox has not given me any trouble swallowing which was a potential side effect.

Im planning to stay quiet for as close to 2 months as possible and then religiously do the vocal exercizes.i am still anxious about the outcome and although im not religious (god and I had a falling out about the whole gender mix up thing) im praying for a good result.

Ill update soon.

Lisa

[anjaq]

although im not religious (god and I had a falling out about the whole gender mix up thing) im praying for a good result.

LMAO - indeed - that is one thing tha tis hard to forgive....
Oh but great to hear you are home and good luck with not talking and all that. 2 Months is quite some time but I guess it gets easier if after 2 weeks or 4 you can do some words on occasion... 

[AmyBerlin]

Dear Lisa,

Not that anyone really cares, but, i'm home.

Please don't feel that way. I think everybody somehow involved in these Yeson threads cares a lot and wishes you the best of success and luck. I know I do. Please don't feel as though nobody cared! Hang in there, you'll make it and hopefully end up with a lovely new voice, young lady :-)

Amy

[sarahb]

Glad to hear you're back home now Lisa. I hope your recovery goes smoothly. Take care.

[Boca.Lisa]

Hi everyone,

So today is the day I was told I can begin normal conversation. unfortunately, my 30 day result isn't like Jenny or Sarah's. My "chest voice" may be fractionally higher than pre surgery but my new voice is far less passable and a lower pitch than the trained voice I used pre-op. When I bring my voice up using a higher pitch its much weaker than before and about the same as it was. No improvement at all.

I must say im quite dissapointed and at this point have decided to be silent for a while longer. I can only hope that at 60 days I see a better result.

Really wish I could report something different but this unfortunately is my reality right now.

Lisa

[anjaq]

Hmm - did you make recordings before and after of the different pitches? It is easy to misjudge when just talking without a recording or a comparison. Anyways I guess after 30 days its too ealy to judge. maybe let an ENT take a look but I guess if the suture is there it can be that swelling is causing a pitch decrease. my voice therapist said that length and thickness of teh vocal folds are both causing a low pitch or timbre and this is why my voice now sounds lower even if I try to go up a bit in pitch, als I am using now my full vocal folds again and their mass ist large, so it will swing and cause these low undertones even if I do something to stretch them to increase pitch. If you have swelling it might increase the mass. I am not sure if not talking at all would help, but maybe talking very little is a good idea? :\ - I hope things will improve with some more time. Maybe you can post a pre/post recording?

[AmyBerlin]

Hi Lisa,

No improvement at all.

I must say im quite dissapointed and at this point have decided to be silent for a while longer. I can only hope that at 60 days I see a better result.

I brought this up in my conversation with Dr. Kim today. He said it's different from individual to individual when the bulk of pitch increase occurs. For some, it's immediately, on average, it takes 2 months for speaking pitch to settle, but can take as long as 6 months, depending how fast the healing progresses. Not speaking a lot in that timeframe is generally good for you.

So do take care and give yourself a little more time. The swelling might not be fully down yet or the vocal cords not yet adapted to the new shape. But according to Dr. Kim, it's definitely too early to jump to any conclusions.

Hope this helps,

Amy

[Gigi_J]

Hi Lisa,

Yeah, I have to agree with what Amy's just written - from everything I've read since I started researching Yeson (I'm now booked for middle of June), not everyone sees the pitch increase immediately...so don't panic, read over all the posts again if it puts your mind at ease at the moment..and I'm sure you'll see the change very soon and be really happy!

Lots of luck for your recovery and looking forward to hearing about your progress!

Gigi