Dr Kim advises against it, but many patients had trach shave and then VFS, however it makes it harder to judge how much has to be done in the VFS. Jennygirl had a 50% shortening of the vocal folds because she had a trach shave before and Dr Kim wanted to make sure that it is enough. I think if you had a trach shave before, Dr Kim would not reject you, but he is not very happy about it. I am not perfectly sure about this but something to consider may be to get the trach shave done with FacialTeam, since they are in good communication with Dr Kim, doing joint consultations later this year etc - maybe they have been informed about how much and what parts of the cartilage can be removed to still be able to do VFS safely afterwards? Just a though, I never needed a trach shave, so I just had the VFS with Dr Kim.
Dr Haben does both and also he additionally does a CTA - but its ones own choice which surgeon one wants to trust with the voice.
Dr Thomas probably will also be able to do several procedures as he also does complete larynx reconstructions, so he should be familiar with working on the cartilage as well as the soft tissue as well.