Dont scream/yell (after VFS)!

[anjaq]

I just got a notice from someone I know online. It sounded quite horrible, I hope she will be well. Now what did she do? She had her vocal chords sutured in December in a clinic in Germany to get a feminized voice. Sadly she was using her voice rather soon and not able to keep the silent weeks and in January she actually had to scream once. The result was that the suture was ripped, the vocal chords were damaged by the stitches being ripped out and now she has to wait for some weeks until the surgeon can try to suture them back again if there are enough parts that are not weakened. He also has to loosen the tension a bit by changing the larynx position. Until then her voice basically returned to pre op but rougher and even lower.
I guess 1 month is just not enough time for this suture to heal which is why surgeons like Dr Kim at Yesons will tell you to not say many words in that time and be careful in the first months.
So let that be another really serious warning - if you do the VFS - follow the rules. Strictly. No exceptions! - No talking for 2 weeks, no screaming or yelling for many weeks, no smoking.
Take precautions - tell others around you to care for the dog if it is misbbehaving or to yell at the kids if they have to be yelled at. Get a whistle if you need to get attention in bad situations. Just do not yell...

Bye

[sarahb]

YES, very important to follow the rules laid down by the surgeon. Don't talk, don't scream, don't smoke, don't drink alcohol/soda, anything that you think may affect your voice just don't do it until at least a month post-op, more for most of those things. You likely only get one chance at this, so don't screw it up!

Great advice Anja!

[Shana-chan]

Great advice indeed! I would however say maybe DON'T use a whistle at all! Instead get something like one of those cans that when you push the button, VOOOOOOM! is what you hear or some other device that can alert someone you need to say something. If at work, I doubt you could use such a thing but surely there's some device or something you can use/do to relay what you need to relay.

As for the, try not to talk for at least 2 weeks... but I like to talk, and talk and talk and talk. haha So if I go this route, it's going to be hard keeping my mouth and vocal cord shut/silent, not to mention when I laugh. >_>