Yeson voice feminization surgery 2.0

[anjaq]

I definitely think a female timbre and shorter ("female length") vocal chords have less power somehow. What definitely works better is to increase pitch - If I need to speak up , my pitch automatically goes up - a lot - because this is where my voice can have more power and loudness.

My presentation yesterday sadly had some aftermath after all. Or maybe it was something else, because I had another hour of teaching later and then 3 hours on a christmas market with a friend, talking rather loudly. In the evening my throat hurt and my voice was weak and broken - so obviously I still need to train my voice to get back its strength and endurance. Or maybe it was really because I was misusing my voice - or rather not using it the right way - and this is what put a strain on it?

[Charlotte_W]

So I plan to pay for my surgery on my credit card and I'm wondering how it works with the cost being listed in USD. Does Yeson just charge me in USD and my bank does a direct conversion to my currency of GBP? Or do Yeson convert the USD to KRW and then my bank converts from KRW to GBP?

Also how much cash did everyone take out there? I'm going with my girlfriend so there will be two of us in Seoul from the 6th to the 16th.

[anjaq]

They simply charge in USD and your bank will convert that in your currency.

Make sure to ask your credit card company if this will work out - mine could not guarantee me that the transaction will not be blocked because it is a large sum in a foreign country. Even though I basically tried to "warn" them of it, they could not help me. If the card is blocked, then you can call them, but in my case of course that had 2 problems - I would possibly be unable to speak if something goes bad there and they cancel the payment - and there is a huge time difference between Europe and Korea, so it would not be easy to call them in regular hours. I guess thats just because I have a free-of-charge credit card though, other cards may be more convenient there, but make sure of it.

What I did then was to transfer the money 3 weeks in advance.

I also got myself about 1000 € in KRW from my bank, which was totally stupid because I did not really need that much money, even though we were two people and I paid half of the hotel bill with it. So i spent a lot on souveniers and good food in the end - meaning if you take 1000€, it will be good for 50% of Phil house costs plus some nice meals and good sightseeing. If you go to the DMZ tour and have some more fancy dinners with tabletop BBQ, you may well need that sort of money. BUT I would strongly encourage not to change it in advance. Bring European currency to Korea and change it there - or even better make sure your cards are working there and get money from an ATM in korea, the transfer fees are much cheaper! You will need an "international ATM" though. But i bet at the airport and big train station there are enough. We found them in many places, but not all of them took our european Maestro Card, most will take Visa or Mastercard though.

[iKate]

So I plan to pay for my surgery on my credit card and I'm wondering how it works with the cost being listed in USD. Does Yeson just charge me in USD and my bank does a direct conversion to my currency of GBP? Or do Yeson convert the USD to KRW and then my bank converts from KRW to GBP?

Also how much cash did everyone take out there? I'm going with my girlfriend so there will be two of us in Seoul from the 6th to the 16th.

I did a wire transfer despite having a good charge card with no limit. Why? It's cheap insurance. The credit union charged $25 and yeson charged about $40 due to commission fee from their bank. I know I could have called Amex support and resolved it easily but I did not want to take the chance.

I used the ATM and withdrew at most a couple hundred above the $600 or so for Phil house. Most of the time I used my Amex and discover credit cards which are widely accepted and waive the foreign transaction fee.

[Charlotte_W]

I did a wire transfer despite having a good charge card with no limit. Why? It's cheap insurance. The credit union charged $25 and yeson charged about $40 due to commission fee from their bank. I know I could have called Amex support and resolved it easily but I did not want to take the chance.

Thanks for that. I'll email them today about transferring the money beforehand and see what they say. It'll be one less thing to worry about 

[Denjin]

Thanks for that. I'll email them today about transferring the money beforehand and see what they say. It'll be one less thing to worry about 

How is it going?  I'm currently looking at setting a date and am just sorting out the last details.  Will also be having to pay from my GBP account...  I don't think any of my accounts will give a great rate so will have to use xe.com most likely...

How much do you plan on budgeting in total?

[Denjin]

I have a question about flights... Currently booking my date at Yeson, but as there is quite a bit of availability for the week I'm looking at I'm also trying to get a cheaper ticket.  My flight arrives in Incheon the next day at 0730 - is it really feasible or smart to get your consultation later the same day?  Similarly when you leave, can you do checkup, etc., the same day of your departing flight?  I could try and stay longer as a sort of holiday but I'd rather come back and do a local holiday with my partner as I'm actually travelling solo.

[anjaq]

Depending on your travel distance, I would usually not recommend to rush things. I arrived 2 days before the examination and it was needed. I had a 20 hour travel time, was totally tired and basically just wanted to get food and a bed when I came there. There also is jetlag. The next day I slept long and did some organizing first - find out things about the hotel, find restaurants nearby, check the subway system, sleep away the stress of travel. Then the next day I had the examination. One should not drink or eat some hours before the examination. If you have a short travel distance and/or are taking a first class flight where you can rest well, it may be possible to rush things, but if you take a cheap flight and have regular travel distances of 15 hours or more, I would definitely advise against it. Also, the surgery is the day after, having a surgery with general anaesthesia while still dealing with lack of sleep, exhaustion from travelling and jetlag is IMO not the greatest idea when it comes to proper healing of the body.
The checkup is a different story - I think it is no issue at all to fly home a few hours after the checkup and Botox. Just make sure you plan this properly as the checkup can last a few hours, as it includes the introduction to the voice exercises, the Botox injection and waiting times in between all of these procedures.

[Denjin]

Thanks, Anja

Well, I'll be taking a non-stop flight and not flying economy so that will make the trip slightly more tolerable at least (just under 11 hours).   It would arrive in Incheon early in the morning but unfortunately also departs early in the morning... That means it's technically feasible for a consult in the afternoon of the arrival day, but I'd definitely have to leave the day after the checkup. I think I'd rather try for 10 days there instead of 11 if possible...

[iKate]

I would try to get a flight the day before. On the day it's risky, you're tired etc.

[anjaq]

11 hours are a long ride still. I would try to take that day of rest before the examination day. After all, you want to be in a good shape there, so they make a proper judgement on everything. They will also draw blood, measure heart activity, your voice will be checked if it is stable (I am sure being very tired would make your voice worse and more unstable than normal) and the surgery is planned based on all of that.
Also remember - the examination is not a one-hour thing. I spent the whole afternoon in the clinic for this - and was not allowed to eat or drink the whole morning. the examination seems to be based on you sleeping before . If you really need to push it for some reason, write Yeson an email and ask them, but I think it would not be worth saving one stupid day.

General advice:
Honestly, I saw a few people going into surgeries - VFS with Dr Kim or elsewhere, GRS,..  - while being in a rush, trying to push it - save time, get out of clinic and back into work as early as somehow possible or earlier, speaking rather sooner than later - and it almost always has some implications. Surgeries are serious business and one should not be under too much pressure or on a tight schedule when doing them. Things need time if they are to be good. The same thing goes with the post OP time - one needs to be ready to not speak for some weeks. And it happened before that even after 4 weeks something was not quite ok and an examination was done and Dr Kim ordered another 4 weeks of total voice rest - what then? Doing these sort of surgeries when being in a situation that does not allow for any small deviations from the plan is a risk...

[barbie]

Thanks, Anja

Well, I'll be taking a non-stop flight and not flying economy so that will make the trip slightly more tolerable at least (just under 11 hours).   It would arrive in Incheon early in the morning but unfortunately also departs early in the morning... That means it's technically feasible for a consult in the afternoon of the arrival day, but I'd definitely have to leave the day after the checkup. I think I'd rather try for 10 days there instead of 11 if possible...

Because of the frequent yellow dust storms from China, which make smog by combining with water vapor near Incheon, your flight can be delayed at any time. To make sure, I think you have better arrive one day earlier.

Also, in winter, the air quality in Seoul areas is worst. Prepare for protecting your throat. Some special masks for protecting against micro-dust can be purchased at any nearby drugstore.

You may check the micro-dust forecast at the following Japanese site: http://www.tenki.jp/particulate_matter/?p=3
Click the play button. Their forecast is reliable.

barbie~~

[Denjin]

Thanks for all the kind replies.

I'm just waiting for a confirmation on the dates now and I'll book my tickets.  In the end I didn't play it tooooo close.  Flight on a saturday, arrive sunday, exam monday, and op Tuesday.  I'll also depart the day after my last checkup.

Planning on being there the last week in March / early April.

[Charlotte_W]

How is it going?  I'm currently looking at setting a date and am just sorting out the last details.  Will also be having to pay from my GBP account...  I don't think any of my accounts will give a great rate so will have to use xe.com most likely...

How much do you plan on budgeting in total?

I wasn't allowed to do the bank transfer due to it being too close to the surgery date and a New Year bank holiday also being in there. If I had requested it earlier I would have been able to. I paid on my credit card and the transaction was blocked the first few times and just before I was about to ring the credit card phone number to sort it out, my bank texted me and asked to confirm I was making the transaction and after that it was unblocked and the next transaction attempt went through.

So far my costs have roughly been:
- £5,200 surgery
- £1,400 for flight and hotel for 10 nights with my girlfriend
- We got out £400 of WON as spending money and we'll use the Credit Card for anything else
- I'll also need botox which is another cost just under £300

For those interested, I did make it through Chinese customs without any issues except their ridiculous queues, which lasted a good 2 hours to go through international transfer and then the security check itself. It seems everyone beeps in the scanner despite having nothing on them. I didn't beep at all at Heathrow in London.

I did have a panic in my consultation the day before though, as it seemed like they wouldn't operate due to my jaw apparently still being restricted in how far it opens after FFS back in September. That was worrying, but when I saw Dr Kim again after all the other tests he said he'd use the smaller magnifying instrument, which gives him less area to see than the bigger one which has a wider field.

I also had a vocal tremor and asymmetrical vocal cords. Hopefully the botox will help my brain get the tremor out of my voice, but he did recommend I get more professional voice coaching after 3 or 4 months to help me.

The surgery itself was fine, the sore throat immediately afterwards is annoying and I was looking at the clock just hoping it would be time for them to bring the water. I'm now just under 11 hours post-op and I can still feel the area, but it doesn't hurt as such. I did make one cock-up though. After coming back to the hotel I slept for a bit, woke up and after coming back from the bathroom my girlfriend asked me a question and in my dazed state I foolishly answered. I wasn't too loud and didn't feel any after effects from it, but I was so frustrated at myself. Fingers crossed it has no long term impact!

Now I just need to work out what I can eat over here that isn't spicy, nutty or seafood. It's going to be a fun 8 days or so :-)

[anjaq]

That  sounds great. Congratulations. Yes, the queues in China were horrible! And no chance to take a seat in between either. Maybe next time bring a camping chair, lol. I think they set the scanner to always beep, so they can just check everything manually and to intimidate people. I hated it. Good that you made it through well enough.

Will you meet the other Yeson patient who is in this forum while you are in Seoul? You could do some sightseeing together, silently communicating with whatsapp or something - lol - have fun.

[Charlotte_W]

Will you meet the other Yeson patient who is in this forum while you are in Seoul? You could do some sightseeing together, silently communicating with whatsapp or something - lol - have fun.

I'm honestly not sure if we will meet anyone. I do know of another person out here at the moment who had FFS with the Facial Team a few weeks after me. She had the VFS done a couple of days before me. At the moment we have literally just done the trips to the clinic so far, so from tomorrow we can explore if we don't feel too tired and try to get a better feel for the city.

Speaking of whatsapp, did you get a sim card out here? If so can you remember what company you used and if it was a good deal?

[anjaq]

Oh, I thought of her: https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,202144.0.html - she had the VFS almost the same time as you, I think?

I did not get a SIM card. I used some free Wifi they have in stores and cafes and the hotel and at Yeson. But I was tempted to buy the WiFi access they have everywhere. Its probably a better deal than getting a SIM card. I think it was called Oleros or something like that. Its in all the subways and half the city and you can buy a day or a week. I believe they sell the access codes at the 7/11 shops?

I think this was something I should have done, it was a bit annoying to have no access to Google Maps and online translation or whatsapp when I was in the city. But I could also just do without it for that one week and keep my online activity to the times at the hotel.

[iKate]

Speaking of whatsapp, did you get a sim card out here? If so can you remember what company you used and if it was a good deal?

I got one from evergreen (EG SIM card) which is a MVNO for kt/olleh.

However it's a waste of time getting a SIM now as Korea has some bureaucratic process where the SIM needs to be registered and that takes a few days.

I ordered mine online in advance and it was well worth it. I got free wifi on the subway bundled with it.

EDIT: Actually I see the regulations have changed and the registration only takes 30-60 minutes. They sell them at the airport but there are mobile phone shops all over. Either Olleh or SK telecom would be fine.

[barbie]

For those interested, I did make it through Chinese customs without any issues except their ridiculous queues, which lasted a good 2 hours to go through international transfer and then the security check itself.

It can happen at any airport. Last year, I was at Kansai airport of Japan with my 2 kids. It took more than 3 hours to pass the immigration desk while it took just 1 hour by flight from Busan to Kansai airport. I thought the long queues were due to the typhoon, but later I heard that it is actually a chronic problem. Japan is as bureaucratic as S. Korea, but fortunately there is virtually no long queues in Korean airports, due to the infamous impatience of Korean passengers.

At Kansai airport last year, albeit the warning of no photo:



barbie~~

[Denjin]

Glad you go there and it seems to be going well, Charlotte. Hope you heal up quickly!

I wish I didn't have to go solo, but my partner will have to stay in the UK during my trip, unfortunately.  It sounds pretty rough avoiding spicy and seafoods, though!

It seems (after having read many pages of this thread) that most people seem to need that botox shot, eh?  Too bad that can't get identified by the voice sample we have to send in... Is there something you can ask an ENT if you get scoped that would help find out?