Dr. Haven't Recovery - Postop Low Voice

[longlivemlm]

Hey folks. So just 2 weeks ago on December 2nd I had voice feminization surgery (just the glottoplasty) with Dr. Haben. All went well, and the doctor said he sutured 40% of my vocal chords.

Now, its 2 weeks post-op, and I've been extremely disciplined with no talking, coughing, etc. However, out of curiosity I decide to make a short 5 second recording of my voice, and run it through a computer program, which says my vocal frequency averages 147hz. For reference, my pre-op voice was 120hz. This jump is obviously not as dramatic as I was hoping. What gives?

My voice is extremely gravelly, to the point where I can't really speak intelligibly - more just croak like a zombie. My question is this: is a low voice a normal part of the recovery? Should I expect my pitch to go up as I heal? By how much in general?

Thanks very much for the help.

[Dena]

Two weeks is way to early to judge the results of the surgery. At this point in time your vocal cord are swollen and massive and can't vibrate freely. As the swelling goes down, the pitch will go up. I don't know how much Dr Haben said you would get but I am guessing between 60 and 80 Hz so as you heal you should reach your final numbers. In my case, I am still seeing pitch improvement at the 5 month mark which is putting me above Dr Habens original numbers.

This is normal and continue to take it easy on the voice as it will take at least another month before your voice sounds good. I am one of the slower healers and at 5 months I haven't reached my final voice. I know it will happen but I am not there yet.

[kwala]

Everyone recovers differently.  I echo what Dena said: 2 weeks is waaaaay too early in most cases to have any idea what the final outcome will sound like.  I would just keep taking it easy and reassess at one month.  Even then, there is likely to be more healing and improvement over the next 3-6 months. If it makes you feel better, at least you have a voice at two weeks.  At that time I had no sound at all and at two months my voice is still only a little more than a soft whisper.  Be patient!  Wishing you a successful recovery 

[Greeneyes]

I'm at one month post-op and everyone says my voice is getting higher. I can't say I notice it as much, but it's only been 1 month. The gravelly quality has diminished greatly and, while it's still there, I get gendered on the phone correctly every time. At two weeks it was so hard to get much sound out that I was worried that I was going to never recover. Just give it time and only judge the voice after the six month healing mark.


~Evelyn

[jollyjoy]

Agree with the others, 2 weeks is wayyyy too early. Your final voice will take around 3-6 months. I'm 1 week away from 3 months, and my voice still sounds somewhat hoarse and gets more hoarse if I speak more. I am part of the slow healers group. I'm usually not a patient person but in this case I know I must be patient with my recovery.