Hello, everyone. I wanted to post an update about my experience now that over a year has passed. For the original (very long) thread, please see:
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,197870.0.htmlSo, for a short recap, I underwent the glottoplasty procedure with Dr. Haben in the fall of 2015. Before surgery I was doing pretty well with a trained voice, but as many other girls have expressed, I felt that I was "faking it" and wanted this operation to make things feel more automatic.
After the surgery, I followed all of the after care instructions meticulously and was determined to do everything in my power to achieve a good result. However, when it became time to start testing words, my voice was completely absent. I was assured not to worry and just continued to ease into it for many months. Eventually, I was told by an ENT that I had "granulation tissue." Dr. Haben assured me that this would fade on its own, so I went back to the waiting game. Months later, the granulation faded, but my voice was still a hoarse mess that couldn't be heard in public settings. Dr. Haben then remarked that the web was too big and offered to "resize it." This operation resulted in no changes (well, except to my bank account.) Finally, I went to see another surgeon who said the webbed tissue was just too deeply scarred to vibrate so I had it removed. This surgeon used instruments, not lasers, to cut the web because he said in his experience it is less likely to cause scarring.
So, today I can say that my voice is much more usable than after any of Dr. Haben's surgeries. It is lower for sure but in reasonable situations I can now converse without much effort. However, the edges of my cords are still scarred from Dr. Haben's procedures and when I really need to speak up, like in a noisy restaurant or bar, I sound like I have throat cancer. I have been seeing a speech pathologist for a few months and that has helped a little, but even she agrees that there is only so much that we can do when dealing with scarring. Also, singing is pretty much impossible. But, I try to remain positive and will continue to do all that I can to improve my condition.
Needless to say, I regret my decision to have surgery and I want to keep sharing this story to let people know that there are still great risks that go along with this glottoplasty-type surgeries, even though it is advertised as safe/safer than other methods. I won't tell anyone not to go under the knife (or laser) for these procedures but PLEASE consider the possibility that your voice could be compromised for life. If you're someone like me who didn't absolutely NEED surgery, but wanted a little extra boost, my personal advice is to keep working with what you've got and not risk anything. I'd like to also thank this forum and it's members for listening to my story and sharing their own. This place is one of the best resources we've got. I don't post as often as I used to, mostly because I'm trying to look forward and rehashing this tale was getting to be emotionally exhausting, but I will continue to pop in when I can and answer any questions about VSF. So, thanks again, and I hope my story can help others make informed decisions in the future.
