Hi everyone! So i flew all the way from oz to Marbella to do my Tracheal Shave at the facial team. Many of you would think its crazy to fly all the way there for a small procedure like the Tracheal Shave. But as i mentioned in a previous post, I decided to pay 5 times the price I would be paying in Thailand, and pay for a crazy long flight and expensive plane ticket to Marbella only because I plan to do vocal feminization at Yeson. Those who are not aware, Yeson and Facial Team are somewhat partnered in the sense that they have discussed a protocol on the tracheal shave to later compliment the vocal feminization. Perhaps compliment isn't the word. Dr Kim at Yeson prefers the patient not to hae undergone the tracheal shave as it can quite easily, according to him, affect voice quality. Dr Kim and Facial Team have discussed how he wants the tracheal shave to be performed to maintain vocal quality leading up to the tracheal shve.
Annnyyyways, long story shot is my surgery is in 3 hours. Im excited but a bit nervous. I hate hate hate needles. So far I have been very impressed with the facial team. The surgeons are also very handsome haha. I think the main thing that puts me at ease with them is that, their protocol for surgery is working as a team. Usually when it comes to plastic surgery, you get the surgeon plus the nurses in the OR with you. And the anesthesiologist of course. At Facial Team, even for a small procedure like the Tracheal Shave, I will have Dr Capitan and Dr Simon (both the head surgeons and founder) and another assisting surgeon in the OR with me. So this makes me feel secure. Not to mention they have such warm personalities too. Also during the consultation they answered my questions in a very academic form.
What i learnt during my consultation? It is not the vocal cord damage we should be worrying per se, because if the operation is done right, the vocal cords should not even be visible from the incision since its inside the throat. We is concerning however, is that if too much is shaved off, the muscle and cartilage which SUPPORTS the vocal cords can be compromised, and thereby affecting vocal quality.
Another thing i learnt is why they do not do the tracheal shave under local anesthesia or iv sedation but rather general anesthesia. One reason is to stop the patient from moving the other is its problematic when the patient swallows saliva during the procedure. It seems by doing it under general it reduces the operation time too.
Anyways I will write a review after my surgery so wish me luck guys! I am most interested to see if I will just wake up without any sore throat or pain. The Thai Surgeons all said I will have a sore throat but facial team said I will feel no such thing, so we shall see!
xx
