Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hi all together

This is like promised in Brenda's thread about Dr. Remacle my first post for my upcomming voice feminisation surgery (VFS) with Dr. Kim at the Yeson Voice Center in Seoul...  ;D

My my consultation with Dr. Kim will be at the 7th July and the surgery will be one day later.

Flights are booked, and I also found a nice BnB accommodation in Seoul for a good price. My lovely wife (yes, I'm official female and we're still marriged and we love each other like nothing else) will be with me. She was also with mith my during my GRS with Dr. Suporn last November 2015.

Please let me know what you're interested in and I'll post these informations here as well.

Here I want to thank especialy Brenda for her thread with her VFS wirh Prof. Remacle. This thread helped me to decide to undergo the VFS with the wendler glottoplasty technique! Thanks Brenda...  :-*

Take care all, Danielle

Quote from: DanielleBasel on June 20, 2016, 12:18:57 PM
Hi all together

This is like promised in Brenda's thread about Dr. Remacle my first post for my upcomming voice feminisation surgery (VFS) with Dr. Kim at the Yeson Voice Center in Seoul...  ;D

My my consultation with Dr. Kim will be at the 5th July and the surgery will be one day later.

Flights are booked, and I also found a nice BnB accommodation in Seoul for a good price. My lovely wife (yes, I'm official female and we're still marriged and we love each other like nothing else) will be with me. She was also with mith my during my GRS with Dr. Suporn last November 2015.

Please let me know what you're interested in and I'll post these informations here as well.

Here I want to thank especialy Brenda for her thread with her VFS wirh Prof. Remacle. This thread helped me to decide to undergo the VFS with the wendler glottoplasty technique! Thanks Brenda...  :-*

Take care all, Danielle

:icon_joy: :icon_joy: :icon_joy: Congratualtions on your booking your surgery with Dr Kim sweetie!!! :icon_joy: :icon_joy: :icon_joy:

July will be memorable this year for you and me because :

5th of July will be your consultation with Dr Kim :)
6th of July will be your surgery :)
8th of July will be my first Speech Therapy session after my surgery :)
and 12th of July will be my birthday :)

I am so happy for you and you owe me a drink or two BIG TIME! (I like it nice cold Champagne please) ;)

I am your very first reply on this VFS Yeson thread and can't wait to hear your Voice Feminisation Surgery journey and you owe me that too! :D

This is such a good news and you must be feeling excited and nervous and believe me I know that feeling :)

Please keep us posted and updated sweetie!
Brenda :icon_hug: :-*

Danielle,

I hope I didn't offend you or anything with my last post me saying that "you owe me" and if I did, I do apologise.

You owe me nothing sweetie. I am just so glad for you and it's just my sense of humour.

I am just a bubbly happy person...

Take care,
Brenda :)

Quote from: bmiranda on June 21, 2016, 01:33:39 AM
Danielle,

I hope I didn't offend you or anything with my last post me saying that "you owe me" and if I did, I do apologise.

You owe me nothing sweetie. I am just so glad for you and it's just my sense of humour.

I am just a bubbly happy person...

Take care,
Brenda :)

Dear Brenda

Thank you very much for your great welcome messages in my new Yeson thread!!!  :D

No no no... Don't worry at all! I absolutely love your sense of humor and I don't feel offended at all! And when we meet us somewhere sometime (only god knows) I would love to invite you to have some nice cold Champagne to cheer together... :D

And btw I love you like you are  :-*

Take care my dear
Danielle

Good luck, Danielle.  Hope you have a great time in Korea. :)  I enjoyed my trip there, and the surgery, of course!

Quote from: Denjin on June 21, 2016, 03:53:17 AM
Good luck, Danielle.  Hope you have a great time in Korea. :)  I enjoyed my trip there, and the surgery, of course!

Dear Denjin

Thank you very much for your wishes...  :-* I'll keep you all informed as soon as possible. Also my impressions and howto's for being in Seoul.

I'm totally nervous at all, but now I want to go trough  :D

Take care
Danielle

Hi all together

First a small self introduction...

Why do I decided to make a VFS? Well... I had speech therapy for the last few months and I learned a lot and the pitch is quite high as well. But to reach that "female" voice it needs a lot of effort and I don't have additional resources to play with my voice melody nor with a good resonance.

And so I have built a very nice Glossophobia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossophobia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossophobia) with this "female" voice, which has ended in the situation, that I try to communicate as often as possible with gesture instead of speaking...

Also on the phone I got still misgendered all the times.

Well after it was getting terrible worse I have decided to inform myself about the possibilities of a voice feminization surgery. And after a lot of research I have decided to undergo a surgery called "wendler glottoplasty". At the end there where two surgeons, which I preferred. One one side Prof. Dr. Remacle in Luxembourg and on the other side Dr. Kim from the Yeson Voice Center in Seoul. I decided for Dr. Kim, because I heard a lot of rescheduling surgeries with Prof. Dr. Remacle... But both surgeons seemed to be very excellent for my goals. 

And here are like promised my first preOp Voice files with "normal" voice and a second one with my daily speech voice

Here's my "normal" voice without effort... :'(

https://soundcloud.com/danielle-basel/20160414-danielle-rainbow-passage-male-01 (https://soundcloud.com/danielle-basel/20160414-danielle-rainbow-passage-male-01)

(https://s6.postimg.org/b0ghrjf41/Bildschirmfoto_2016_06_21_um_16_25_34.png)


... and here's my daily female voice  ::)

https://soundcloud.com/danielle-basel/20160424-pro-vfs-danielle (https://soundcloud.com/danielle-basel/20160424-pro-vfs-danielle)

(https://s6.postimg.org/9vhu8f39d/Bildschirmfoto_2016_06_21_um_15_06_40.png)

Well... Please don't laugh to loud about both voice examples... or my english :laugh:

Cheers to all...  :-*
Danielle

Quote from: bmiranda on June 20, 2016, 01:19:30 PM
:icon_joy: :icon_joy: :icon_joy: Congratualtions on your booking your surgery with Dr Kim sweetie!!! :icon_joy: :icon_joy: :icon_joy:

July will be memorable this year for you and me because :

5th of July will be your consultation with Dr Kim :)
6th of July will be your surgery :)
8th of July will be my first Speech Therapy session after my surgery :)
and 12th of July will be my birthday :)

I am so happy for you and you owe me a drink or two BIG TIME! (I like it nice cold Champagne please) ;)

I am your very first reply on this VFS Yeson thread and can't wait to hear your Voice Feminisation Surgery journey and you owe me that too! :D

This is such a good news and you must be feeling excited and nervous and believe me I know that feeling :)

Please keep us posted and updated sweetie!
Brenda :icon_hug: :-*

Dear Brenda

Sorry...  I mixed up some dates with flight and surgery... But the July WILL be memorable this year for you and me

7th of July I will have my consultation with Dr Kim :)
8th of July will be your first Speech Therapy session your my surgery :)
8th of July will be my surgery with Dr. Kim :)

and 12th of July will be your birthday *tadaaaaa* :)

Sorry for mixing up the dates...

Take care  :-*
Danielle

Quote from: DanielleBasel on June 21, 2016, 02:07:02 AM
Dear Brenda

Thank you very much for your great welcome messages in my new Yeson thread!!!  :D

No no no... Don't worry at all! I absolutely love your sense of humor and I don't feel offended at all! And when we meet us somewhere sometime (only god knows) I would love to invite you to have some nice cold Champagne to cheer together... :D

And btw I love you like you like you are  :-*

Take care my dear
Danielle

Sorry for this late reply Danielle.
Just got home from work and cooking dinner.
I'm gonna make this quick so my husband won't yell at me because I spend so much time here :embarrassed: :laugh:
I feel so relieved now that I didn't say something bad to upset you...
Yes! We will do the "cheers" thing if time allows us to do so!

While, I am typing I've just seen that you got mixed up with your surgery date and no problemo! :D
I will be thinking of you, crossing my fingers and breaking my legs for you on that date!!! ;D

Everything will be alright hun and I like the way you sound too!!!  ;)

Take care,
Brenda :-*

Quote from: DanielleBasel on June 21, 2016, 10:01:16 AM
Hi all together

First a small self introduction...

Why do I decided to make a VFS? Well... I had speech therapy for the last few months and I learned a lot and the pitch is quite high as well. But to reach that "female" voice it needs a lot of effort and I don't have additional resources to play with my voice melody nor with a good resonance.

And so I have built a very nice Glossophobia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossophobia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossophobia) with this "female" voice, which has ended in the situation, that I try to communicate as often as possible with gesture instead of speaking...

Also on the phone I got still misgendered all the times.

Well after it was getting terrible worse I have decided to inform myself about the possibilities of a voice feminization surgery. And after a lot of research I have decided to undergo a surgery called "wendler glottoplasty". At the end there where two surgeons, which I preferred. One one side Prof. Dr. Remacle in Luxembourg and on the other side Dr. Kim from the Yeson Voice Center in Seoul. I decided for Dr. Kim, because I heard a lot of rescheduling surgeries with Prof. Dr. Remacle... But both surgeons seemed to be very excellent for my goals. 

And here are like promised my first preOp Voice files with "normal" voice and a second one with my daily speech voice

Here's my "normal" voice without effort... :'(

https://soundcloud.com/danielle-basel/20160414-danielle-rainbow-passage-male-01 (https://soundcloud.com/danielle-basel/20160414-danielle-rainbow-passage-male-01)

(https://s6.postimg.org/b0ghrjf41/Bildschirmfoto_2016_06_21_um_16_25_34.png)


... and here's my daily female voice  ::)

https://soundcloud.com/danielle-basel/20160424-pro-vfs-danielle (https://soundcloud.com/danielle-basel/20160424-pro-vfs-danielle)

(https://s6.postimg.org/9vhu8f39d/Bildschirmfoto_2016_06_21_um_15_06_40.png)

Well... Please don't laugh to loud about both voice examples... or my english :laugh:

Cheers to all...  :-*
Danielle

Those two recordings are like two different people!
Wow! You really have a nice trained voice Danielle!

You will only end up with a naturally sounding feminine voice after VFS!!!

Thank you soo much for sharing those personal things here with us which takes a lot of guts IMO!
Yes! OUT and PROUD indeed! ;)

Brenda :icon_hug: :-*

Quote from: bmiranda on June 21, 2016, 10:40:13 AM
Those two recordings are like two different people!
Wow! You really have a nice trained voice Danielle!

You will only end up with a naturally sounding feminine voice after VFS!!!

Thank you soo much for sharing those personal things here with us which takes a lot of guts IMO!
Yes! OUT and PROUD indeed! ;)

Brenda :icon_hug: :-*

Dear Brenda

Thank you very much for your brave words!

But to be honest... I don't like both of my voices...  :(

You seems to be a very great human brenda! Take care of you
Danielle

Hi to all

One shy question to everyone which had a wendler glottoplasty. Does someone makes sport? And how's about breathing trough nose and mouth after the surgery? I ask, because I love doing sport...  :angel: Hmm Yes... Not only the explicit one  ;D


Thanks to all

Quote from: DanielleBasel on June 21, 2016, 10:48:13 AM
Dear Brenda

Thank you very much for your brave words!

But to be honest... I don't like both of my voices...  :(

You seems to be a very great human brenda! Take care of you
Danielle

Thank you!

Quote from: DanielleBasel on June 21, 2016, 10:49:28 AM
Hi to all

One shy question to everyone which had a wendler glottoplasty. Does someone makes sport? And how's about breathing trough nose and mouth after the surgery? I ask, because I love doing sport...  :angel: Hmm Yes... Not only the explicit one  ;D


Thanks to all

Well, I am not really into sport and cannot answer you but that's a good question you need to ask Dr Kim...

Listening to the voice samples, I think yes, you can benefit from a VFS. Mainly because your feminized voice sounds to me controlled and "dampened down", like you are deliberately softening itto make it sound feminine. With VFS you can have more "twang" to the voice and sound sharper and louder again, if it works well. It will take a while though.

Regarding sports, I just know of 2 people who reported on this, one is Jenny who was doing running and she said its not an issue, the other did martial arts and said it was no issue, however some of the singers have reported that pulling in air while singing is a bit harder and takes a fraction longer, so when singing professionally, this could for some be an issue. However I think the opening of the vocal folds is not different pst OP from many female throats and so the only issue might be to get adapted to some different feeling, but you will not pass out when doing sports because of that ;)

Quote from: anjaq on June 21, 2016, 01:24:55 PM
Listening to the voice samples, I think yes, you can benefit from a VFS. Mainly because your feminized voice sounds to me controlled and "dampened down", like you are deliberately softening itto make it sound feminine. With VFS you can have more "twang" to the voice and sound sharper and louder again, if it works well. It will take a while though.

I second the motion and you have to be super patient because this surgery takes a very long recovery...

I've not had a chance to listen to your examples - long day so I'll have to do it tomorrow after work.  I did see 260Hz, which seems a bit high, unless you're tiny or Asian, though.  :)

I have had no reduction in my breathing ability.  Not super sporty, but average 8 miles per day.

260 Hz is rather high indeed. Pre-OP it definitely is too high, post OP it depends on how the surgery turned out. One risk at aiming at such a high pitch is probably a bigger loss in volume and voice power compared to lets say 200 Hz. Especially if you elevate your relaxed pitch to reach that high pitch, meaning there is a restriction and tension that causes the voice to be that high, and this also causes a loss in volume and flexibility. I would always try to stay as close to the relaxed pitch as possible without being misgendered

Hi together

Thank you very much for your Feedback related to Sport. This sounds quite good. I also have searched in the Yeson Information I got, that Sport is allowes after 4-6 weeks because of higher blood preassure becasue of sport like jogging and swimming, which could cuase bleeding in early stages post op... This means, that sport will be fine after that time. And they don't mention any further comment about special problems after surgery... At least not a bad sign, but this I'll as Jessie (vers nice and competent Patient Administration and good soul at Yeson) by mail. I'll posr her answer as soon as they are back at the 24th of June...

Quote from: anjaq on June 21, 2016, 01:24:55 PM
Listening to the voice samples, I think yes, you can benefit from a VFS. Mainly because your feminized voice sounds to me controlled and "dampened down", like you are deliberately softening itto make it sound feminine. With VFS you can have more "twang" to the voice and sound sharper and louder again, if it works well. It will take a while though.

Regarding sports, I just know of 2 people who reported on this, one is Jenny who was doing running and she said its not an issue, the other did martial arts and said it was no issue, however some of the singers have reported that pulling in air while singing is a bit harder and takes a fraction longer, so when singing professionally, this could for some be an issue. However I think the opening of the vocal folds is not different pst OP from many female throats and so the only issue might be to get adapted to some different feeling, but you will not pass out when doing sports because of that ;)

Quote from: bmiranda on June 21, 2016, 01:53:10 PM
I second the motion and you have to be super patient because this surgery takes a very long recovery...

A huge thanks to both of you for your encouraging words... I really hope, thT the outcome will be like I hope... And Inkknow, that the pitch is only a third of the female voice. And that there will be a lot of work and patience... But this is something Inhave in my hands.

Take care ...  :-*
Danielle

Quote from: Denjin on June 21, 2016, 04:54:17 PM
I've not had a chance to listen to your examples - long day so I'll have to do it tomorrow after work.  I did see 260Hz, which seems a bit high, unless you're tiny or Asian, though.  :)

I have had no reduction in my breathing ability.  Not super sporty, but average 8 miles per day.

Dear Denjin

Thank you for your Feedback. Well unfortunately I'm not so tiny and I guess I have no asian roots, but I love Thailand since my two months I stayed there because of my GRS. But I think this doesn't count...  :D

Well 8 miles per day is not bad at all... So I think I can relax because of breathing during sports... But I'll ask Dr. Kim and / or Jessie anyway and post their Feedback here.

Take care  :-*
Danielle

Quote from: anjaq on June 22, 2016, 05:27:33 AM
260 Hz is rather high indeed. Pre-OP it definitely is too high, post OP it depends on how the surgery turned out. One risk at aiming at such a high pitch is probably a bigger loss in volume and voice power compared to lets say 200 Hz. Especially if you elevate your relaxed pitch to reach that high pitch, meaning there is a restriction and tension that causes the voice to be that high, and this also causes a loss in volume and flexibility. I would always try to stay as close to the relaxed pitch as possible without being misgendered

Dear AnjaQ

Thank you for your Feedback. I agree with you, but exactly there is aslso my problem and the reason why I decided to undergo a VFS... I can put as many efforts in my voice as I want, but I get so often missgendered...  Especialy on phone. :'(

Well I hope the VFS gives me the possibility to get higher pitches with less efforts, so that I can focus more on timbre, resonance and melody.

I know, that there is a loooot of work also after VFS, but I hope it will be better after VFS.

Cheers and take care
Danielle

Yes, I had a listen and your current voice is definitely far too high. :)  You'll be able to just relax and have a reasonable pitch that sounds much more natural after the surgery.  It is easier to control resonance when you aren't trying to hard to keep the pitch, too, I believe.

Quote from: Denjin on June 22, 2016, 04:57:57 PM
Yes, I had a listen and your current voice is definitely far too high. :)  You'll be able to just relax and have a reasonable pitch that sounds much more natural after the surgery.  It is easier to control resonance when you aren't trying to hard to keep the pitch, too, I believe.

Dear Denjin

Thank you very much for your feedback. I guess I try to reach so high pith, because I get missgendered all the times on phone, whatever I do.

Well... I'm so curious aout the VFS and the possibilites post op...

Take care
Danielle

Hi together

Soooo... Today I have started to pack my luggage... And I'm getting more nervous than before the GRS. Well, before the GRS I was to my suprise very very calm...  :) Now before the VFS I'm also confident, that the surgery will be fine at the end, but I'm nervous...  ::)

Will keep this thread updated....

Take care...
Danielle

Have a nice trip. I hope you have a good flight that does not take forever. I remember we have been travelling about 20 hours or so from door to door, we were soooo tired when we arrived at the room in Seoul. I hope you have planned a day or two as a buffer before the surgery to recover from the travel exhaustion?

Quote from: anjaq on July 02, 2016, 10:29:52 AM
Have a nice trip. I hope you have a good flight that does not take forever. I remember we have been travelling about 20 hours or so from door to door, we were soooo tired when we arrived at the room in Seoul. I hope you have planned a day or two as a buffer before the surgery to recover from the travel exhaustion?

Dear Aniaq

Thank you very much for your wishes...  :-*

Yes we should have enough time to relax and "arrive" in Seoul before consulatation (7th July) and the surgery (8th July)... I know that from the GRS in Thailand. I was so happy to haave some spare days before surgery. On the other hand I was happy, that the day of surgery arrived and "this" would be corrected... Thanks for the hint anyway.

I have also allready prepared some small cards with "default" sentences written on it and as well with important addresses written in english and korean as well...  :D

And... *Tadaaaa* the weather is... Hmmm... Well it's raining and it will have heavy thunderstorms all, the days and it's hot and the humidity will be like in a washroom... However (except for being in the rain an my clothes are getting wet) I love thunderstorms.

Do you know if it is easy to get a taxi on the street, or would it be better to call one by phone and wait until it will arrive (if that is possible in Seoul)?

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

You will get a great package of cards with sentences in englisch and korean from Yeson. They also include Jessis number to call if something is problematic.

What you may want to get is some apps for the smartphone. I used "Swype" as a faster keyboard to type really fast and I used an app called "Speech assistant" which allows you to type in some words and hit a button and it will show in the largest font possible on the screen to show other peope. another button will read that sentence with text to speech. It was massively helpful. But get a good update on the text to speech engine or you sound like a robot ;)

Taxis are not needed in Seoul usually. They usually get stuck in traffic a lot and the subway is faster and cheaper. If you are lazy you can take a taxi from the airport, but it is expensive, the bus and train are cheaper. The other occasion to take a taxi is right after the surgery, I foound the thought of getting on the subway with anaesthesia still wearing off not the best idea. But on all other occasions: take the subway - its everywhere, trains go every 5 minutes usually and its clean and safe. If you want to take a taxi anyways, there are always a lot of them on the streets, its easy to stop one.

Definitely use the subway - cheap and easy :)  I took a taxi just one time when I wasn't feeling well, but that's it. 

Quote from: DanielleBasel on July 02, 2016, 09:05:54 AM
Hi together

Soooo... Today I have started to pack my luggage... And I'm getting more nervous than before the GRS. Well, before the GRS I was to my suprise very very calm...  :) Now before the VFS I'm also confident, that the surgery will be fine at the end, but I'm nervous...  ::)

Will keep this thread updated....

Take care...
Danielle

Bon voyage Danielle!

It's normal to be nervous and excited but don't worry you're in good hands and everything is going to be alright :)

Sorry I've got no tips to give about Seoul...

Brenda :icon_hug: :-*

Quote from: anjaq on July 02, 2016, 01:30:18 PM
The other occasion to take a taxi is right after the surgery, I foound the thought of getting on the subway with anaesthesia still wearing off not the best idea.

Sorry but I'm a bit confused and wondering, do you actually get discharged from the clinic/hospital right after the surgery? ???

Quote from: bmiranda on July 02, 2016, 03:15:00 PM
Bon voyage Danielle!

It's normal to be nervous and excited but don't worry you're in good hands and everything is going to be alright :)

Sorry I've got no tips to give about Seoul...

Brenda :icon_hug: :-*

Sorry but I'm a bit confused and wondering, do you actually get discharged from the clinic/hospital right after the surgery? ???

Dear Brenda

Thanks a lot for your wishes! Yeah, you're right. Everything will be fine...

And yes... As far as I know are patients discharged at the same day in the evening.

Take care :-*

Quote from: Denjin on July 02, 2016, 02:30:13 PM
Definitely use the subway - cheap and easy :)  I took a taxi just one time when I wasn't feeling well, but that's it.

Dear Denjin

Thank you very much! Seems to be a no brainer in this case...  :D

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

Quote from: DanielleBasel on July 02, 2016, 03:27:19 PM
Dear Brenda

Thanks a lot for your wishes! Yeah, you're right. Everything will be fine...

You are very welcome sweetie!

Quote from: DanielleBasel
And yes... As far as I know are patients discharged at the same day in the evening.

Take care :-*

OMG! This is just my personal opinion and no intention to say something bad but for the price you pay at Yeson, couldn't they afford to keep you at least a night in their clinic/hospital to receive proper post cares?

Just my personal opinion though...
Brenda :-*

Yeson does not have an overnight clinic. Its just a day clinic, they are closed overnight. But its not an issue at all. The surgery is just an hour, there is little pain afterwards, some patients took the subway to the hotel or they just walk a few meters to Yesons recommended hotel. I took the taxi because Iw as feeling still very tired, but I was doing good that night and the next day was almost no pain already. Its actually a tiny surgery site and a short surgery, but its high precision surgery. One could argue that a one hour surgery of a size of 5 mm should not cost $7500, but thats how it is - you pay for the experience and skill, not for the time. I would have wished to stay in the room for 2 hours longer though, I admit. Not overnight though, there is no reason - one does not have a catheter or drip anymore at that time. One can eat normal food (although ice cream as the best). The only thing I really missed about the hotel room was a air humidifier, I recommend everyone to get one for the hotel room.

Right now I"m sitting in the Yeson Voice Center and wait for the results of all the test we have made. Dr. Kim seems to be very very friendly and like expected highly competent. Jessie is also very friendly but so busy with all the customrs around.

I will Update you later...  :)

Good luck for the surgery tomorrow! It will start when we are all asleep here :)

Quote from: anjaq on July 07, 2016, 04:09:26 AM
Good luck for the surgery tomorrow! It will start when we are all asleep here :)

Dear Anjaq

Thank you very much for your wishes! Yes Surgery will start around midnight middle european time... :laugh:

During that Consultation a lot of examination has being done. First I had to fill out a lot of paperwork with questions about my voice and how my voice is handycapping me. Then Jessie and I where gone to make an x-ray in a small radiological institute, which is in opposite of the Yeson Voice Center. This took around 15 minutes in total to be back in the Clinic. There we had to wait until we had the first oart of our consultation with Dr. Kim. He asked me a lot of questions and asked me to speak in different ways. The most of the part I had to speak in my untrained voice, which was so uncommen and ashaming for me, because I ,,hate" my untrained voice... Don,t get me wrong... Before my comming out I got sometimes compliments from others, that I have a very pleasant and "sexy" voice... :( But my voice is like other parts from my maleish hody... Ugly maleish! How ever...

After that some ECG and blood tests where done.

Then some exrensive voicerecordings and voiceexaminations where done...

Then the second part of the consultation with Dr. Kim has taken place. He explained me in detail every aspect of my voiceexaminations. And he explained me what he can do for me and how this could be acheived.

The testresults where like expected. I have also a tremor which indicates botox like for most other patients I have read here. The F0 is like meassured with Praat around 135 Hz. What was also noticable is, that I use a lot more airpreassure than normal... Both could be fixed... Now countiing the last hours with my T damaged voice...

Will update as soon as I have news...

Soooo... I,m right now in the Yseon Voice Center again and the surgery is done...

Currently I'm in my room and I got some icecream.... Yeah. I never knew, that icecream is that delicious...  :D

Still feel a little bit dizzy because of the anesthesia, but it's getting better and better.

Will update as soon s there are some news.

Take care all...  :D
Danielle

Congratulations - Anaesthesia is a bit tough - I took a taxi afterwards to get home without the subway. and bought some more icecream at the store below Phil House - luckily the room had a freezer to store it, so I had icecream twice a day for the first days - ;) - also Aloe Drink is reeeealy good for the throat when it is still sore. The pain went away after a day or two, then you can go sightseeing - always carry bottled water with you when doing that - no worries about having to pee because of drinking all the time, Seoul has plenty of good public restrooms actually. Have fun.

Congrats, Danielle.  Now the waiting begins! ;)  I hate anesthesia... I could feel it deep in my lungs for hours.

The aloe drinks are amazing - I always had some in the fridge for my entire trip.

Edit: Doh, I typed the wrong name, sorry!

Quote from: anjaq on July 08, 2016, 02:55:52 AM
Congratulations - Anaesthesia is a bit tough - I took a taxi afterwards to get home without the subway. and bought some more icecream at the store below Phil House - luckily the room had a freezer to store it, so I had icecream twice a day for the first days - ;) - also Aloe Drink is reeeealy good for the throat when it is still sore. The pain went away after a day or two, then you can go sightseeing - always carry bottled water with you when doing that - no worries about having to pee because of drinking all the time, Seoul has plenty of good public restrooms actually. Have fun.

Dear Anjaq

Thank you for words... Yes... Anesthesia was very good but I still slept a quarter hour sfter I was brought to my room. The sleepeness was getting less and less until 17:00 where I had my first post op check with Dr. Kim. He checked the surgery site again and he explained in details all the details while he examined my vocal folds. He was satisfied with the result. I asked for a place where Incan rent an air humidifier and the geve me one with me, which I have to bring back before the last check up. The whole team was so friendly and very professional. I felt very secure and in good hands all the time. For example I said in a pre op consultation, that I may be allergic to peniciline, but that's not for sure. And so they made a test with me 1.5 hours before the surgery with one antibiotic they will use to be sure that I will not show an allergic reaction. They inject one drop of that antibiotic subcutanous in my arm and marked the place of injection with a circle and the injection time. And before the surgery they checked that again verify the result.

After the checkup with Dr. Kim at 17:00 I got green lights to go home. And so my lovely wife and I have packed all the stuff in my room. Before we left Jessie gave me the medicine which Inhave to take from tomorrow on for the next vew days. All very well explained.

We had 33 degrees celcius in Seoul yesterday, but it was so beautyfull, that I wanted to walk home the 4 kilometers to my AirBnB appartment. It was a nice walk along the hand river in the shadow of trees which are along that street. I still felt a little mit weak,mbut ok enough for walking slowly. But in the appartment I took the elevator instead of the stairs, which Inhave use mormally to the 13th floor...

There was no real pain. But it was a discomfort like a inflamed throat. And I felt and still feel a little thumbness in my toungue because of the fixation which was used during surgery...  :P

But the rest is fine. The discomfort in my throat is more or less gone after the first night. I still can feel it but nothing to mention about.

So time of silence has begun and this will be the hardest hurdle at the moment I guess... And I can imagine that the the next hurdle after silence will be to be patient with the voice exercises to find my female voice pattern with my "new" vocal follds...

So... Today we have no plans, but we got a lot of interesting addresses and places from the AirBnB hosts, which are so friendly. So I guess we'll go and buy some Aloe Drinks and go out sight seeing...

Take care all and I'll keep you updated how my silent time works...  :)
Danielle

Quote from: Denjin on July 08, 2016, 05:11:22 AM
Congrats, Cali.  Now the waiting begins! ;)  I hate anesthesia... I could feel it deep in my lungs for hours.

The aloe drinks are amazing - I always had some in the fridge for my entire trip.

Dear Denjin

Thank you for your feedback. I could feel the anesthesia in my lungs as well, so I enjoed my walk double to breath "fresh" air. Like I wrote before... I'll buy some Aloe Drinks today. Two so positive ratings from you and anjaq as well... I can not go wrong...  :D

And yes... Waiting and being silent is uncommon in this way... But let's see how successfull I'll be.

Take care... :-*
Danielle

Take care

Here's hoping it's a beautiful butterfly that emerges from the chrysalis  ;D
VFS has to be one of the more interesting and difficult things to go through, the waiting!!! The waiting!!!

Quote from: Rafaela on July 10, 2016, 05:40:24 PM
Here's hoping it's a beautiful butterfly that emerges from the chrysalis  ;D
VFS has to be one of the more interesting and difficult things to go through, the waiting!!! The waiting!!!

Dear Rafaela

Thank you very much for you suportive words...  :-*

Yes, you're right... The waiting. The silent waiting...   :D

Well... I'll try to do a diary for the first days. I guess this could be interesting for all which are considering a glottoplasty as well.

Ok here we go...

Day 1 after Surgery:

When I woke up, the throat feeled less inflammed than right after the surgery and I had a good night without any problems. I still feel the surgery site like there is something small in my throat, but no pain. The tip of my tounge is still numb... It's a funny feeling...  Like when a clothes peg would be at your tongue... :P

Today I had my first of seven day on additional medication I got from Dr. Kim. Until now there is no problem with the medicine and I don't feel any side effects as well. Not tired or dizzy or something. So no problmes. There is a Siroup against coughing. The taste of this siroup is bitter and chemical sweet and sour... And a very intense orange color. But this siroup is veeeery excellent for calming down the antitussive. I'm looking forward to get the next portion of that siroup...  It's one of the post op highlights for my throat... :D

Today the weather was good and we was going to the palace where the king resided. We took the subway from our appartment to the Station Gyeongbok gung, which is at the orange line. Very impressive to see the whole area. The price for the entrance a´was fair. I think it was 3000 WON, which is something like € 3.- per person. A huge area with all the houses, where you can walk the whole day long...

We reside in the Gangnam area of Seoul, which is very impressive and you could spend endless money for shopping. I guess I never saw so many brand shops in a row like here in Gangnam: Gucci, Omega, Cartier, Rolls Royce, Christian Dior, and so on, and so on... The list would get veeeery long. One house owned by a brand after each other...

Take care... :-*
Danielle

Glad it is going well so far. :)  Odd that I never had a numb tongue, as so many others report it.  Just got lucky, I guess.  The cough syrup stuff was pretty good, I think.  Kept three packets just in case I need them at some point.

Korea is so cheap, isn't it?  I still can't believe how little I spent when I was there! Is it very warm this summer?

Quote from: Denjin on July 11, 2016, 02:58:53 AM
Glad it is going well so far. :)  Odd that I never had a numb tongue, as so many others report it.  Just got lucky, I guess.  The cough syrup stuff was pretty good, I think.  Kept three packets just in case I need them at some point.

Korea is so cheap, isn't it?  I still can't believe how little I spent when I was there! Is it very warm this summer?

Hi Denjin

Thank you for your Feedback. Well the thumbness with the toungue is not a real problem. It is only a "funny" feeling...  :D

Well some places in Seoul are "cheap". But in Gangman, where we reside it's veeery expensive. You can also see that with the cars... The common cars here are Mercedes, BMW, Bentley, Porsche as well as some Maserati, Ferrari and Rolls Royce... I think I never saw so many luxury cars in my whole life together... Well I guess that's Gangnam Style...  8)

But there are cheap districts as well... You are right.

Immay try to buy some extra of that Siroupmas well to have it as a backup, necause it is really terrible good against coughing.

Here I'll,go with my diary...

Day 2

At the second day the inflammation feeling was more or less gone. Also swallowing gets back to normal again. And so we decided to go and do some shopping. The weather was fine again and the temerature was about 33 degrees celsius during day and 20 degrees Celsius in the night. The humidity is higher than in Switzerland, but I guess this helps also to make breathing easier. The only problem is the pollution... Dependig on the wind and the weather you can see the smoke in the air. Some residents said, that is because of the industry in china, from where this smoke is comming from...  :o

We got to the shops in the Gangnam Subway Station. There you can find a lot of very cheep clothes, shoes, make up, bags and ... Jummy... Food :)

At the end of the day Imhad a little bit the smell of blood in my mouth...  :o Maybe because I was doing to much, even if i tried to not force anything and walked slower than normal. We finished that day with delicious fried chicken with salad... So that was day two.

Take care to all... :-*
Danielle

Hi Danielle, glad to see you're recovering well- this may sound like a strange question, but what's it like eating? Is it difficult right now, or can you eat whatever you want so soon after surgery? If you're in Seoul you could try the Korean barbeque plates: it would be hard to resist all the restaurant adventures  :) I love chillies and spicy food!!!

No hot food for a month post surgery, unfortunately.  For good reason, I think.  I had spicy food 'go down the wrong way' recently and it caused a coughing fit.  Even now, almost 4 months post surgery, a coughing fit hurts afterwards...I imagine it would be very bad during the 1st month.

I had Korean fried chicken the 1st night after surgery, but I think you should eat soft food immediately.  But, it never hurt or anything.  Everyone is a bit different. :)

Wow - I thought Korea was so expensive - especially the food. But then again I am sadly having a really bad exchange rate due to being in Europe, making everything more expensive :( - We tried to live cheap. And we never went to Gangnam to buy anything there.  Western Style Food was the most crazy expensive luxury item ever - The Pizza was 4-5 times more expensive than at home.

Speaking of food - Spicy food is sadly out, but we did eat a lot of the alternatives. Bimibap once and gimbap several times and also fried chicken.

I think the waiting for one month was bad - being so excited over how it will turn out - but at least for me that was just the start, the waiting eventually took so much longer and it took effort to make it work. So after over a year the whole voice thing developed well enough - I was told by Dr Kim that it takes a year, but I saw so many videos of others having faster results that I did not believe him ;)

Maybe it was just cheap in GBP at the time.  This country is insanely expensive, though...

Yeah the waiting is quite bad even after you can speak.  I'd say, for me, the 1st two months of being able to speak again were a bit stressful as it all worked differently, etc.  Still, was great to not be a mute!

Quote from: Rafaela on July 11, 2016, 04:26:57 AM
Hi Danielle, glad to see you're recovering well- this may sound like a strange question, but what's it like eating? Is it difficult right now, or can you eat whatever you want so soon after surgery? If you're in Seoul you could try the Korean barbeque plates: it would be hard to resist all the restaurant adventures  :) I love chillies and spicy food!!!

Dear Rafaela

Thank you very much for your feedback. Yes... I love hot and spicy food as well. And I hat a hot fried chicken at the day one post op...  :D

I especialy asked because of hot and spicey food. And as far as ai understood the problem is the danger of food going down the wrong way and caughing after that like Denjin allready said...

But there is so many excellent food around which is also not too spicy, so eating is no problem.

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

Quote from: Denjin on July 11, 2016, 04:42:08 AM
No hot food for a month post surgery, unfortunately.  For good reason, I think.  I had spicy food 'go down the wrong way' recently and it caused a coughing fit.  Even now, almost 4 months post surgery, a coughing fit hurts afterwards...I imagine it would be very bad during the 1st month.

I had Korean fried chicken the 1st night after surgery, but I think you should eat soft food immediately.  But, it never hurt or anything.  Everyone is a bit different. :)

Dear Denjin

Yes... We also love to eat chicken very often. It's so delicious...  :D Fortunately I had no coughing until now and Inpray that it would stay like this...  8)

Thank you very much and take care...  :-*
Danielle

Quote from: anjaq on July 11, 2016, 06:02:44 AM
Wow - I thought Korea was so expensive - especially the food. But then again I am sadly having a really bad exchange rate due to being in Europe, making everything more expensive :( - We tried to live cheap. And we never went to Gangnam to buy anything there.  Western Style Food was the most crazy expensive luxury item ever - The Pizza was 4-5 times more expensive than at home.

Speaking of food - Spicy food is sadly out, but we did eat a lot of the alternatives. Bimibap once and gimbap several times and also fried chicken.

I think the waiting for one month was bad - being so excited over how it will turn out - but at least for me that was just the start, the waiting eventually took so much longer and it took effort to make it work. So after over a year the whole voice thing developed well enough - I was told by Dr Kim that it takes a year, but I saw so many videos of others having faster results that I did not believe him ;)

Dear Anjaq

Yes... Agree 100%. It's very expensive. I come from Switzerland and even compared to that it is expensive or at least equal. The same experience we had with Pizza as well...   :D The Pizza was delicious and from a wood oven, but the price was much too high...

Dr. Kim told me the same, that the adaption of the "new" vocal chords would took around one year. And as shown in the adaption curves on the Yeson Homepage it may varies  one or two months depending on different factors like smoking, age, talent, training and so on. So each adaption curve will be unique, but the mean seems to be equal, so that a good goal could be reached after around a year. But that's still theoretical for me and I will post also some one year post op statements, when I'm still here then...

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

We did not even go into that Pizza place we found. It was odd, we arrived in the late afternoon, tired from travelling and did not want to experiment on korean food, so we thought heck lets just have a boring Pizza or Burger, but the prices decided we cannot do this. We did not understand any of the other restaurants menus in that area and the restaurants looked closed with just 3 or 4 people sitting in it. So we found one place that sold soup for a reasonable price so we took that. It was mediocre but we were not hungry anymore. We then bought some toast, cheese and ham for breakfast and again spent a fortune on those, so we prepared for a very expensive week at that popint. Luckily we found out that one can find restaurants that have chicken or possibly pork and some fish with rice and veggies for normal prices - as long as it was deep fried its price was ok - also the street vendors. And we deemed it safe after deep frying. Gimbap was also reasonably priced in the take-away version. But getting into more interesting Korean food - menus or BBQ - that was massively expensive again... so I guess the rule for us mostly was to stick to chicken and fried stuff - no western stuff as it was 4x the price it is here and no fancy korean stuff unless we wanted to celebrate.

Quote from: DanielleBasel on July 11, 2016, 08:09:23 AM
Dr. Kim told me the same, that the adaption of the "new" vocal chords would took around one year. And as shown in the adaption curves on the Yeson Homepage it may varies  one or two months depending on different factors like smoking, age, talent, training and so on.

The thing that is IMO wrong about those curves he shows is that they show pitch. Its not really pitch that changes so much with adaptation, its other things - voice clarity, volume etc. My pitch was up from 134 Hz to 170-180 Hz at week 5 and after a year now its at 180-190 but can be 150 or 200 depending on my mood - so the pitch did not change so much later on, but the way I use the voice, the way it sounds like, the volume and cleanliness is different.

Yeah the pitch curve is totally wrong.  One of my first recordings showed 210Hz at around 4 weeks and now at about 4 months my lazy voice is still 210.

Danielle,

Nice to see you back and so sorry being so off topic too but I wanna say a big THANK YOU for wishing me on my day! Really appreciated :)

Let's go back to topic now :D

So how is your 4th day post VFS going? Hope everything is well and can't wait to hear updates from you.

Thanks again sweetie and take good care of yourself!
Brenda :-*

Quote from: anjaq on July 11, 2016, 12:03:29 PM
We did not even go into that Pizza place we found. It was odd, we arrived in the late afternoon, tired from travelling and did not want to experiment on korean food, so we thought heck lets just have a boring Pizza or Burger, but the prices decided we cannot do this. We did not understand any of the other restaurants menus in that area and the restaurants looked closed with just 3 or 4 people sitting in it. So we found one place that sold soup for a reasonable price so we took that. It was mediocre but we were not hungry anymore. We then bought some toast, cheese and ham for breakfast and again spent a fortune on those, so we prepared for a very expensive week at that popint. Luckily we found out that one can find restaurants that have chicken or possibly pork and some fish with rice and veggies for normal prices - as long as it was deep fried its price was ok - also the street vendors. And we deemed it safe after deep frying. Gimbap was also reasonably priced in the take-away version. But getting into more interesting Korean food - menus or BBQ - that was massively expensive again... so I guess the rule for us mostly was to stick to chicken and fried stuff - no western stuff as it was 4x the price it is here and no fancy korean stuff unless we wanted to celebrate.

Dear Anjaq

Well, the korean food is delicious and we love it very much. And we found some clean, cozy places to eat, which are not too expensive as well. I think so too, that the fried food is save. We also drinked once from the filtered "open" water an we had no problems after that as well. But when you ant to stay at the safe side you shoud better use botteled water as well.

I'm scared about the scale at home, when I make my first weight check after that trip, because Inhave done no sports and ear jummy food...  :D

Take care...  :P
Danielle

Quote from: Denjin on July 11, 2016, 01:17:11 PM
Yeah the pitch curve is totally wrong.  One of my first recordings showed 210Hz at around 4 weeks and now at about 4 months my lazy voice is still 210.

Dear Denjin, dear anjaq

Well to that curve I can not say anything at the moment... First, because I'm not allowed to speak...  ;D ... And second, because it would need more than a year to make some some serious comparsion.

But well... I was also reading from other patietns on their blogs and vlogs, that it depends on so much factors and also very important... The training.

I'm so courios about my outcome and my progress, because you can read so much different things, that I think it seems that the progress and the adaption seems to be unique for each one. But here I meight be wrong again...

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

Quote from: bmiranda on July 12, 2016, 04:02:33 PM
Danielle,

Nice to see you back and so sorry being so off topic too but I wanna say a big THANK YOU for wishing me on my day! Really appreciated :)

Let's go back to topic now :D

So how is your 4th day post VFS going? Hope everything is well and can't wait to hear updates from you.

Thanks again sweetie and take good care of yourself!
Brenda :-*

Dear Brenda

Glad to get some "off topic" fom you...  :D You're allwas welcome...  :D

Well here is my diary for

Day 3

The inflammation feeling was gone almost totaly and the numbness in my tounge as well. So the status in ny neck and mouth is back to normal. This is on one side very good, but for me it needs now more attention to not speak per accident, because there is nothing physical, which reminds me to shut up...  :D

At day three we where going to the Coex Center in Soul. This is a huuuuuge shopping mall with entertainment and restaurants as well. There are also congress rooms as well, but I had only eyes on the hundret of brand shops in there...  ;)

After shopping and eating we where going to the Buddha Temple in the opposit, which is very beautyfull. For us it was very impressive. The "silence" from the green in the middle of this vivid capitol city with around 11'000'000 residents. Amazing... It's worth a visit as well.

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

Well here is also the right now a short update for

Day 4

There was no change in status. No pain, no inflammation, no coughing and thumbness in tongue is gone.

The most difficult is now to not speak or tense the vocal folds... I hope I did everything right until now. Itˋs so difficult to say. I'm sometimes scared, when I look up to the blue sky, because I think this could be too much tension... Well I don't know.

I'm fully concentrated to not speak ba accident.

Today we where going first to the Samsung d'Light exhibition. There in the huge Samsung skyscraper complex. In there is this d'Light exhibition, where they show a lot of new gimmicks how technology will influence our lifes in the next few years. It's interersting, if you like technique and have too much time... Entrance is free.

After that we where going to the famous Myung-dong District. This is hardcore shopping at it's fines. After 4pm you'll find there a lot of fingerfood combined with miles and miles of shops in every difderent shape. Ther you'll find everything... And after 4pm it is also totaly crowdy. It's fun and amazing to be there. Be carefull for you money. Not because of thefts... Because of shopping...  :D

One word about crime in Seoul. I very seldom felt so secure in a foreign city like in Seoul. I heard also, that the crime rate is very very low here Seoul. I never was scared about my belongings. When I was going once to a public toilette, one local woman put their bag, mobile phone and money pocket onto the sink in front of the toilette and then she was going into the toilette and left their stuff outside...  :o

Poeple here are very friendly and also very helpfull.

But trans* seems to be something very exotic, but I was accepted and threated with respect.

So... That was day four. And today I'll have my chekup with Dr. Kim. I'm scared, that I have messed up something. Ohh and today I'll get my botox injection. I asked myself in this night many times where they will inject the botox and how much it does hurt..,  ???

Well I'll see soon. Until then I'll enjoy the Gangnam Style...  8)

Take care...   :-*
Danielle

Myungdon

Quote from: DanielleBasel on July 12, 2016, 06:34:01 PM
One word about crime in Seoul. I very seldom felt so secure in a foreign city like in Seoul. I heard also, that the crime rate is very very low here Seoul. I never was scared about my habbits. When I was going once to a public toilette, one local woman put their bag, mobile phone and money pocket onto the sink in front of the toilette and then she was going into the toilette and left their stuff outside...  :o

Poeple here are very friendly and also very helpfull.

But trans* seems to be something very exotic, but I was accepted and threated with respect.

As so many people watch each other, even at mid night, the crime rate is extremely low in S. Korea. Young girls walk on heels alone at mid night, and I also do sometimes. Traffic accident is what you should be careful about. A  few bad drivers are like criminal.

And you are anyway very exotic in Seoul and no problem. I also become exotic in Seoul, as most people speak to me in English. And a lot of Chinese tourists speak to me in Chinese, and I am perplexed.

Most Korean can read English, although they do not speak. You can show a simple memo in English on your smartphone screen for communicating with Koreans.

Seoul has been humid and hot. Fortunately, the air quality is nice in July and August.

BTW, I live in Jeju island, and we had heavy rain last night. We have seldom seen the blue sky during the past 3 weeks. Hopefully today we will see the sunshine to go to a beach.

Have a nice stay.

barbie~~

Quote from: DanielleBasel on July 12, 2016, 06:34:01 PM
But trans* seems to be something very exotic, but I was accepted and threated with respect.

If people stare at you or behave strangele, the most common reason for that is probably that you are a Westerner. I am not that tall at 1m72 - in Germany I would guess about 20% of the women my age and younger are as tall or taller than me, with the older generation its different. If I go to Hamburg or Sweden I am even feeling more average. But in Seoul I was towering over all the women and most of the men. So one always sticks out. Plus Koreans seem to love western looks. The ads are often with european or american women or with asian woman made to look european. A lot of Koreans do plastic surgery to look more caucasian, too. So thats another reason people look at visitors. It does not have to be about trans* - I believe in Korea being trans is not any more exotic than in USA or Europe - they have trans pop bands and trans beauty pageants and such, AFAIK.

Quote from: anjaq on July 13, 2016, 02:48:21 AM
If people stare at you or behave strangele, the most common reason for that is probably that you are a Westerner. I am not that tall at 1m72 - in Germany I would guess about 20% of the women my age and younger are as tall or taller than me, with the older generation its different. If I go to Hamburg or Sweden I am even feeling more average. But in Seoul I was towering over all the women and most of the men. So one always sticks out. Plus Koreans seem to love western looks. The ads are often with european or american women or with asian woman made to look european. A lot of Koreans do plastic surgery to look more caucasian, too. So thats another reason people look at visitors. It does not have to be about trans* - I believe in Korea being trans is not any more exotic than in USA or Europe - they have trans pop bands and trans beauty pageants and such, AFAIK.

Can be partly true.

I travel around the world, and people watch me everywhere. My height may be a part of the reason. At Frankfurt airport, I saw a young girl who was as tall as 2 meter, and other women as tall as me, but still people watched me.

The average height of old Koreans are short, as they had been malnutritioned (e.g., the Korean war). Young generations are different. Probably young people will not stare at you so much. The people who stare at me in Seoul are mostly aged men.

You may guess why men are looking at my back. I even did not realize that so many people watch my back in the street. They avoid my eyes and tend to not stare at me in the front. But the back is different.

(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3940/15500778721_86c6764573_b.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3937/15503945345_230622475f_b.jpg)
<Near Seoul station>

Russian women do watch my back, too.

(https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7414/15834619894_12737e816a_b.jpg)
<Insadong, Seoul>

And those TV models from other countries are mostly from Russia or Uzbekistan, not from American or western Europe.

barbie~~

I guess being a very tall asian woman is unusual. Most asian women are not that tall. In Korea I saw a lot of women, especially younger ones with high heels, trying to be taller, I guess ;) - I stuck to flats as I did not want to tower over them even more ;)

For european women especially northern Europe - I think it is less unusual. So being blonde and scandinavian looking, its less uncommon and stare-worthy if you are 1m80 or 1m90 tall, if you look asian, I think its unusual and people may look more. Its just peoples curiousity - they also stare at overweight people or people who miss a limb or people who are very athletic or people who have a rare ethnicity in that area (eg really black skinned people are still very uncommon in northern Europe and get stared at - or vice versa being very white skinned and blonde or red haired will get people to stare at you in South Africa where I had once some work to do).

But of course - also how one dresses makes people look - I think high heels and short skirts in combination with long legs are always something people will take a look at ;)

And yes of course - if they detect the trans thing, they definitely try to catch some views.

Glad things are still going well!  I quite liked visiting the Buddhist temple whilst I was there.  Definitely an oasis of peace and green in a big city.  The checkup will be over, you'll have had your botox, and be on your way home before you know it!

On the staring side, I don't remember any and I'm 1.78m tall.  Seemed better than Thailand where I had girls coming up to me and asking how I got my skin so white (!?!?!).

So nice to read about your 3rd and 4th day post VFS sweetie!

I echo Denjin that I didn't have that tongue numbness neither.

I can see that you managed your surgery to be a vacation too ;)

So, how's your consultation with Dr kim?

Take care and enjoy,
Brenda :-*

Hi at all

@ barbie and anjaq

I guess my passing is not as good, that poeple where only looking at me because I'm not asian... Well I was being treated very respectfull and this is something I not experience very often in Switzerland...

@ Denjin:

Thank you very much for your kind words...  :-*

@ Brenda:

Thank you very much my dear...Well I was not aware of the thumbness before Dr. Kim informed me before the surgery that this could happen. But like I wrote. It was nothing special... Only strange...  :D

Like threatened here's my diary of

Day 5

Today I had my appointment with Dr. Kim to check up my vocal chords and to get some lessons for my voice exercises.

After Jessie welcomed me warmly like allways we had to go directly to Dr. Kim. He checked my vocal chords and then he explained very detailed my progress by showing me the pictures while he explained me every thing. It was so interesting and fascinating... My vocal chords are now shortened around one third. The scar is healing up bera well and the asymetry seems to be gone after surgery. I forgot to mention that Dr. Kim saw a thiny asymetry with my vocal chords, which may happend because of my "missuse" of the chords. However this looks quite perfect.

After that I got two botox injections into my neck. I was scared about pain, but Jessie and Dr. Kim felt my nervosity and have taken away my stress by explaing me what will now happen and what Inhave to expect. As well also what I will feel during the injection. And before I realized, that it has started, it was over again. The pain was nearly zero... Phuuuu! Lucky me...  :D

After that I got the exercices for breathing and resonance technique, which I have to do as much as possible. Luckily the resonance technique was similar to the ones I had with my ENT allready. So I know allready a little bit what will come as soon as I'm allowed to start with sound.

Now the time was come to say good bye to Dr. Kim. For me it was very emotional, because I hope, that this surgery is a huge step into direction of a "normal" life. And so Inhad tears in my eyes...  :'(

Jessie checked again when the driver will bring me to the airport. After that we left the Yeson Voice Center and walked "home" along the Han river.

The rest of the day was a little bit relaxing and packing our bags, because at Day 6 we are going to fligh home. After everything was finished with packing, we where going to a restaurant and eat our final dinner...

I will post in the next few days some photos of the larynx and some other stuff, which Is right now in my luggage, which is unfortunately is in the hold of our airplane, while I write this entry flighing high above the sky into direction home... Gangnam Style...  8)

Take care to all...  :-*
Danielle

In my experiences, in big cities (Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, San Francisco, Miami), people are always looking at each other and there are judgements made. Some are good, some are bad. My kids and I saw a really tall girl the other day (6' tall) and my 6 year old's first words were, "Wow! She's tall!!!" The girl was across the street and out of earshot. My 11 year thought the same but didn't say it aloud. Kids sometimes don't have filters and say exactly what's on their minds. I responded, "Maybe she's like me." They nodded and we went about our business.

When I look at people, and I look at a hell of a lot of people every day, I make judgements, too. I look to see what they're wearing and if it looks like a good style on them. I study their facial expressions when they interact with others. I notice their hand gestures and body language. Maybe the reason why I study people so much is I do photography and makeup as a side business. What I am saying is there are different reasons why people may stare. Some are bad intentions, but some could be good.

Quote from: DanielleBasel on July 14, 2016, 06:39:54 AM
Well I was being treated very respectfull and this is something I not experience very often in Switzerland...

Glad that your surgery went on without any problem so far.

S. Korea is very capitalistic country, probably more than the U.S. or England.
You are a valuable customer, and every sales person or employee knows it very well and has been educated accordingly. A real problem is abusive behavior or excessive demand of a few customers, which frequently become news headlines here.

This is the same for any doctor's office. I regularly go to a nearby dermatologist's office. They know who I am based on my medical record. They treat me very carefully. For example, they avoid calling my real (male) name loudly in the waiting room where a dozen of people are waiting. They come to me, whispering that it is my turn to see the doctor. I have never requested that kind of special treatment, but they seem to understand my situation, as I mostly wear miniskirt.

barbie~~

Quote from: barbie on July 14, 2016, 10:08:53 AM
Glad that your surgery went on without any problem so far.

S. Korea is very capitalistic country, probably more than the U.S. or England.
You are a valuable customer, and every sales person or employee knows it very well and has been educated accordingly. A real problem is abusive behavior or excessive demand of a few customers, which frequently become news headlines here.

This is the same for any doctor's office. I regularly go to a nearby dermatologist's office. They know who I am based on my medical record. They treat me very carefully. For example, they avoid calling my real (male) name loudly in the waiting room where a dozen of people are waiting. They come to me, whispering that it is my turn to see the doctor. I have never requested that kind of special treatment, but they seem to understand my situation, as I mostly wear miniskirt.

barbie~~

Thank you very much barbie... This describes very precise the experience I had. Except of that commercial behaving people are also very helpfull and friendly. I got some new friends during my flight to Seoul and in Seoul itself. And to these persons I had absolutely no commercial relationsship, so their helpfullnes and friendlyness was not based on money. And this is so great. Strangers where inviting us to their homes for dinner and guiding us trough Seoul.

This is something which I had not expected...

Well I'm so sad that we have left Seoul today. This experience was so great for me

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

Hi @all

Here are like promised the documents from the examinations:

(https://s6.postimg.org/nc1ajace9/20160713_yeson_before_and_after_image.jpg)

This one is a before and after surgery image of m vocal chords.

And here is a parts of the results from patient record, which is based on the extensive pre op examination:

(https://s6.postimg.org/eyvlomd6p/20160713+yeson%20patient%20medical%20record%205.jpg)

(https://s6.postimg.org/654p7iq81/20160713_yeson_patient_medical_record_6.jpg)

(https://s6.postimg.org/ck3q46wxt/20160713_yeson_patient_medical_record_7.jpg)

(https://s6.postimg.org/y7soemxc1/20160713_yeson_patient_medical_record_8.jpg)

(https://s6.postimg.org/ylu0e8hfl/20160713_yeson_patient_medical_record_9.jpg)

(https://s6.postimg.org/s9ev4eedd/20160713_yeson_patient_medical_record_10.jpg)

There is no pain at all and the most complicate stuff is being quiet and do not speak by accident...  :angel:

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

Wow... I had no idea vfs generated so much data  ;)

Quote from: Rafaela on July 19, 2016, 05:28:52 PM
Wow... I had no idea vfs generated so much data  ;)

Me too either...  :D

Yes, they are quite thorough at Dr. Kim's before you get the surgery. :)

The time flies - you'll be able to speak before you know it.  Can't believe it's four months next week for me!

Quote from: Denjin on July 20, 2016, 09:11:48 AM
Yes, they are quite thorough at Dr. Kim's before you get the surgery. :)

The time flies - you'll be able to speak before you know it.  Can't believe it's four months next week for me!

Dear Denjin

You're right... Tomorrow I already will reach the two weeks mark...  :o

I wonder how others have managed to not speak... Did anyone tried to move the lips like they would speak soundless to communicate? Or what about waking up after sleeping... No one experienced the dangerous moment to say "good morning" by accident?

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

Dear Barbie

I forgot to mention, that I'm very impressed about the photos you posted into this thread. You're looking great honey...  :D

Thank you very much! And btw... When I look at these pictures (and also read names like "Insadong") I want to go to Seoul again asap...  :D

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

Quote from: DanielleBasel on July 21, 2016, 01:55:36 AM
Dear Denjin

You're right... Tomorrow I already will reach the two weeks mark...  :o

I wonder how others have managed to not speak... Did anyone tried to move the lips like they would speak soundless to communicate? Or what about waking up after sleeping... No one experienced the dangerous moment to say "good morning" by accident?

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

For me, living by myself reduced the chances that I would speak but I spoke once in my recovery period and knew I made a mistake the moment I did. Other than that I had a sore throat from the surgery, possible because Dr Haben had a hard time getting access and that was a constant reminder not to speak.

Quote from: DanielleBasel on July 21, 2016, 01:55:36 AM
I wonder how others have managed to not speak... Did anyone tried to move the lips like they would speak soundless to communicate? Or what about waking up after sleeping... No one experienced the dangerous moment to say "good morning" by accident?

I avoided trying to move my lips or make any sounds except hissing or whistling. That way it was easier not to accidentially going from moving the lips to whispering (which is even worse than speaking!)
I used hands and my cellphone to communicate (by typing - I had a Swype Keyboard to type fast and the speech assistant app to show what I write in big letters and optinally even talk for me).

However I had two occasions within the first 2 days that I messed up - the morning after surgery the doorbell of the room rang and my freind asked "what is that sound" and of course I answered without thinking - and the other day the toilet in the bathroom of the room we stayed in was again for the 3rd time clogged and flooded the bathroom and I made a sound because of that. Jessie said it happens to most patients to slip up once or twice and she said it did not cause any damage. And I believe that - if I had any damage done to my voice it was from coughing for half an hour almost constantly while I was getting out of anaesthesia and was not even awake enough to consciously stop it :(

Quote from: DanielleBasel on July 21, 2016, 02:03:11 AM
Dear Barbie

I forgot to mention, that I'm very impressed about the photos you posted into this thread. You're looking great honey...  :D

Thank you very much! And btw... When I look at these pictures (and also read names like "Insadong") I want to go to Seoul again asap...  :D

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

Oh. Thanks for the praise.
Yes. Insadong is a popular destination for tourists. I also prefer staying there to Gangnam district. I can drink beer and chat with strangers in bars.

I hope you will recover soon, having a beautiful voice.

barbie~~

So how are things?  It's been a bit over 4 weeks now I think. :)

Quote from: Denjin on August 06, 2016, 02:31:56 PM
So how are things?  It's been a bit over 4 weeks now I think. :)

Dear Denjin

Thanks for asking. Yes... four weeks are over now. Dr. Kim told me, that I'm now "allowed" to speak my 1-2 "emergency words" per days for the next four weeks. Well... As you may can imagine I have tried out... And... *tadaaaaa* ...

It sounded like a crow with a croaky voice...  But at least like a female crow... :D

Also the next 2 days including today where not better. But this is more or less exact what i have expected after my research. So I have to wait now four more weeks to shift with my voice exercises to the next level, that I can make also some "sound", except the "brrr" and "pffff"...  :laugh:

The abdominal breathing is not so uncommon for me, because my speech therapist which I had also before the surgery was forcing me to use abdominal breathing. The "funny" thing here is, that when I'm not really focused I sometimes catch myself doing "inverse breathing". When I'm focused or not focused at all, then contraction is as it should be...  :police:

Fortunately I had no problems with coughing or something similar until now... Also no dry throat or something. And not being able to speak is something I get used to more or less quickly.

I'm so curious how my "new" voice will sound after a looooong wile with a lot of exercises and even more patience... :D

How's your voice doing? I also regularly reading your yeson thread.

Take care hun...  :-*
Danielle

Quote from: DanielleBasel on August 07, 2016, 06:43:02 AM
Thanks for asking. Yes... four weeks are over now. Dr. Kim told me, that I'm now "allowed" to speak my 1-2 "emergency words" per days for the next four weeks. Well... As you may can imagine I have tried out... And... *tadaaaaa* ...

It sounded like a crow with a croaky voice...  But at least like a female crow... :D

LOL, that happened to me to. First words were horrible.

But I do not understand - if the surgery is 4 weeks ago, you should ebe allowed to speak normally, just not overdoing it - the 1-2 emergency word period was from week 2 to week 4. Did they change the protocols and increased the silence periods?
For me it was: 1 week total silence, then 3 weeks 1-2 words, then 4 weeks after that some conversation - resting as much as possible, after that (8 weeks post OP) starting the exercises and speak normally.

Yeah, I agree with Anja.  It was 1-2 emergency words the first month, but in reality don't speak.  After that speaking was fine, but no shouting or long conversations.  After 2 months, no restriction at all.

This is what I was told at the end of April (4 weeks for me) after sending a Rainbow Passage reading which was asked to be sent at that time:

Quote
Thank you for your 1 month post-op voice file :) It seems like your healing process is going well.
At the moment,  please do not worry about having hoarse and weak voice as those are induced by botox effect.
Please avoid long conversation and shouting till you reach 2 month post-op period and send your anothe recording

In regards to your question I'm doing pretty well, I think.  Problems at the moment are due to old habits, so only time will fix. :)

Quote from: Denjin on August 07, 2016, 09:38:17 AM
Yeah, I agree with Anja.  It was 1-2 emergency words the first month, but in reality don't speak.  After that speaking was fine, but no shouting or long conversations.  After 2 months, no restriction at all.

This is what I was told at the end of April (4 weeks for me) after sending a Rainbow Passage reading which was asked to be sent at that time:
In regards to your question I'm doing pretty well, I think.  Problems at the moment are due to old habits, so only time will fix. :)

Dear Denjin

Well... It could be, that it depends on other factors like the age of a patient. Me for example was asked for the three months post op file... Not one month... So I guess the healing process and therefore the "months of silence" are patient dependent.

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

Dear all

Here's my two month update... ok, ok ... with two days delay...   ;D

I'm now out of my "silent time" and so I started speaking slowly. The first days where "really funny". But as longer as I was trying, as better my voice started sounding.

So currently I found a little spot, where the voice sounds real great, but the volume is faaaaar far away from acceptable. As soon as there is some noise around my voice is hard to hear. But at least I have a good starting point.

I'll post some actual voice files as soon as I have enough time and can make a recording.

Take all care...  :-*
Danielle

Hi I am scheduled to have d voice feminization surgery with Yeson this coming October 2016. I am not so worried about the surgery but a little worried getting around by myself in south korea. For those girls who went to Yeson, if you may please answer my questions. Thanks in advance.

- I am having a hard time finding a flight from LAX to Incheon that will arrive between 10a and 5p wherein Yeson can Pick me up. If I arrive past 5PM which transpo would you best advice me to use- cab, airport limousine bus or subway. How nuch is d average cab fare from Incheon to gang nam?

- is it easy to get a cab from Yeson to your hotel post op?

- more less how much cash should I bring for food and transpo if I am not going shopping or eat fine dining?

Which mode of transpo did u use from your hotel to the airport ?caverage cost?

- where can i get pocket wifi? Average cost?

Thanks!

Quote from: Miss Lux on September 10, 2016, 07:30:51 AM
Hi I am scheduled to have d voice feminization surgery with Yeson this coming October 2016. I am not so worried about the surgery but a little worried getting around by myself in south korea. For those girls who went to Yeson, if you may please answer my questions. Thanks in advance.

- I am having a hard time finding a flight from LAX to Incheon that will arrive between 10a and 5p wherein Yeson can Pick me up. If I arrive past 5PM which transpo would you best advice me to use- cab, airport limousine bus or subway. How nuch is d average cab fare from Incheon to gang nam?

- is it easy to get a cab from Yeson to your hotel post op?

- more less how much cash should I bring for food and transpo if I am not going shopping or eat fine dining?

Which mode of transpo did u use from your hotel to the airport ?caverage cost?

- where can i get pocket wifi? Average cost?

Thanks!

Dear Miss Lux

First of all congratulation in your decision... :)

Let's go trough your questions:

I had a pickup from Yeson, so the transfer from Airport to Gingham is theoretical. But here you may find some interesting informations. I think taking a bus and then may also the subway could be a option. Depending on the arrival time of course. See: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294197-i8161-k1813313-Best_way_to_gangnam_from_incheon-Seoul.html

You will also find apps in the iOS App Store and Android Playground for Seoul Subway transportation.

I never used a cab. We always used a bus, subway or walked. It's quite easy... Don't worry :) And people are so friendly and they will help you when you ask someone!

The money for food and transportations depends on what, where and how much you drink and eat. Gingham is quite expensive. But if you look around a little bit you'll find easily some cheap food stores to buy some cheap, but good food as well. I would take +/- same money with me, which I would used here in Switzerland. I think same would be for you. Plus some spare of course. But with same money you would use at home you should be fine.

Pocket WiFi you can easily rent here:

https://roaming.kt.com/rental/eng/product/wibro.asp

Costs are also very moderate. Approx 35$ - 40$ for your ten day stay in Seoul.

Hope this helps a little bit. And feel free to ask any further questions you have and I may can help :)

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

- I am having a hard time finding a flight from LAX to Incheon that will arrive between 10a and 5p wherein Yeson can Pick me up. If I arrive past 5PM which transpo would you best advice me to use- cab, airport limousine bus or subway. How nuch is d average cab fare from Incheon to gang nam?

Ideally use the train, second best option is to use a bus. Taxi is good but expensive - $60 or more sometimes

- is it easy to get a cab from Yeson to your hotel post op?

yes, very easy. there is a busy street with lots of taxis

- more less how much cash should I bring for food and transpo if I am not going shopping or eat fine dining?

You can use ATMs in the city if you need cash. Usually its cheaper than exchanging money at home and bring it. I think I needed like 200 EU or so - transport is cheap if you take the subway - $1 a ride maybe. Food can be bought for $15 a meal if you get it cheap. Taxi costs $10-$20 from Yeson to the hotel unless you are in a hotel far away. You probably want to buy little extras like ice cream . Prices are similar to Europe.

Which mode of transpo did u use from your hotel to the airport ?caverage cost?

I used the subway - its cheap. Less than $5 I think

- where can i get pocket wifi? Average cost?

Its available at the airport

Oh - one thing - there are TWO airports. Incheon is the bigger one and its 1 hour drive with the car away! So from there best take bus or rail, taxi is expensive.

Gimpo is smaller and mostly domestic. its connected by subway.

Oh wow that was fast! Thank you so so much for the quick response....

I was corresponding with Jessie and was about to buy a plane ticket then she sends me the requirements for surgery. One of the no surgery is if you have high liver enzymes and being a nurse/ RN I am familiar with my labs...i know I've had elevated SGOT and SGPT in the recent past which was never really a problem for my previous sirgeries, I am negative for liver diseases it is mainly due to my diet, hormnes etc.... Notified Yeson just to sure...Still waiting for Jessie/Dr. Kim's response....i really want want to have this surgery with Yeson but I guess if they say no I'll end up woith Dr. Haben...what do you think girls, you think he'll say yes to surgery? Wow 3 fingers should fit in your mouth vertically to qualify for surgery.. i can fit 3 but my teeth are touching my knuckles- is that acceptable?

I don't know about Yeson as I went with Haben but one thing that make the surgery difficult is a short stocky neck. It make it hard to position the tools needed for surgery. I though I had that problem solved but it turned out I have a stiff neck in addition to being long and slender. My teeth took a real beating because of it and had I known, I think I would have got some teeth guards to protect them. I didn't get any permanent damage but a few were knocked lose and eating was a bit difficult for about a month.

So Dena would Doctor Haben provide mouth guards or can we bring our own... Can we use the ones that can be bought in the dugstores? ........ Don't get me wrong i believe that Yeson is really really good but from the very start my friends and I had a hard time corresponding with them it takes them aaaaaaaawhile to respond to emails... I already contacted Haben's office after my friends and I got frustrated from waiting for Yeson's response before ....then suddenly Jessie emailed so I gave it a chance ....then  she asked me to buy plane tickets already good thing I haven't yet then she emailed with the requirements... Whew! Then no response again... I know they are busy and all and i think it's a holiday in Korea tomorrow but it is just soooo frustrating... Making me think if its is this difficult now what more if there's a problem in the future.... I am thinking of going to Haben now... I am a nurse and this is starting to raise a red flag for me now...

I did not have these requirements like liver blood values or three fingers in the mouth. I guess they just put it in there just in case someone is discovered to have problems with these in the examination and sent home and then starts to sue for money for the flight and all... Yeson seem to be a bit paranoid about possible issues with patients who are denied surgery. I heard of no one yet though to not make the surgery because of slightly off blood values, hormones or issues with the mouth. But I know someone lost a false tooth during the surgery because it was not really solid enough - this would probably be an issue with Haben and Yeson though.

Jessie usually relies within 2-3 days I think, but if she has to ask Dr Kim something, it can take over a week, apparently. I was there and I saw that they are very busy, so I guess they have only one day a week where they discuss email requests. They have mostly korean patients and Jessie is the international coordinator, so I suppose they also have to reply to many more requests from korean patients . Sometimes it helps to set the email on high priority or request an email send confirmation in outlook.

I woul dnot worry about them turning you down though. I was just recovering from a bad flu when I came there and they did the surgery. So unless something is really off, they will go for it, I believe, as long as you sign them that its ok for you. I have the blood tests report page they did there to check, I can send it to you if you want to check what blood tests they will do. You are supposed to get off dpiro and estradiol pills for some time before the surgery, as do almost all surgeons.

I would not drop the decision to go to Yeson based on slow email replies and their list or requirements. Those two surgeries are quite different after all, especially with Dr Haben favouring the combined method. I would put more value on the surgical technique and results than on pre surgery preparation issues...

Dr Haben doesn't supply mouth guards and I am not all that familiar with them. I only learned of them after my surgery from another site member. If you think you would like to use them, I would suggest asking Dr Haben about them if you decide to contact him. I don't know if the ones in the store would work or if you are better off getting a custom set from the dentist. Most people don't have access problems and tooth damage is rare. While I didn't have any lasting damage, for a while I ate as much soup and soft food as I had.

Quote from: Miss Lux on September 13, 2016, 01:27:26 AM
i can fit 3 but my teeth are touching my knuckles- is that acceptable?

I just tried this, lol and I can also just squeeze them in. I had almost no issues with jaw stiffness or numbness of the tongue, both are common issues for a day or two after this sort of surgery. So I think you are fine in trat respect. But if you are worried, maybe let a dentist check your teeth if they are all in good health and stability. With the endoscopic glottoplasty either at Dr Haben or Dr Kim or others, there is a big instrument put into the mouth and it stretches the jaw and presses on teeth and tongue, so having loose teeth or something like that is an issue that should be fixed before.

Thank you Dena and I Anjaq .... D two of you r like fairy god mothers to the girls here :) .... Always there to help, calm and support....i am not really worried that much about my teeth I guess I am more worried about not qualifying for surgery bec I have had high liver enzymes before due to bad dietary habits , hormones etc ...but no liver disease.... Hopefully  Dr. Kim will say no big deal hihihi.... I totally pass 99% of the time but my voice is the last clue and my biggest insecurity- it passes most of the times but it is still low/ big for a petite girl like me.....i never get sir'd on the phone but i need to be always on guard ,make  sure my tongue is thrusted up and forward- tiring!

Here is what Yeson will check for in the blood tests, at least this was what they did 18 months ago
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FASWkQLr.png&hash=d29ff939480282c157f474f4eb16161cb0338da6)

I just wonder for how long do you habe to stay in Korea for this surgery?

minimum about 8 days. exsmination day, surgery day, checkup after seven days. but is strongly recommend to take some more days at the beginning to recover from travelling, unless you are juwt needing a domestic flight.

Quote from: anjaq on September 18, 2016, 02:40:39 AM
minimum about 8 days. exsmination day, surgery day, checkup after seven days. but is strongly recommend to take some more days at the beginning to recover from travelling, unless you are juwt needing a domestic flight.

Thanks! So about 14 days will be good, right?

Quote from: Maira on September 18, 2016, 08:47:48 AM
Thanks! So about 14 days will be good, right?

14 days are more than good... And btw Seoul is a very beautiful city. There are so many things to visit, the it is worth to stay some extra days. But be careful... Seoul is a shopping paradise...  :D

But if you don't have problems with long time flight it would be fine as well to arrive one day prior consultation or even shorter... And after the las consultation which takes place one week after surgery you are free to leave. But it's up to you how much extra time you like to spend.

Take care...  :-*
Danielle

I read this thread from your day one post up until the very last one. Thank you so much for taking us on such a definitive ride with your entire experience. I love Korea as well , although I find it dirt cheap , I'm from Hawaii and no exactly what to order as Korean food has been part of my life.
Anyway off subject I know.
It was just really great reading about all the different experiences and those of your own. Hopefully you will post a video segment of your voice now.
It's so exciting to hear the girls after the surgery.
Congratulations my dear.

Hi Dena/ Haben girls,
- what requirements does Dr. Haben have pre-surgery?
- is there an airport shuttle in Rochester? Pick up/ drop off
- how long are you required to stay in NY?
- if asked to stay longer, can you recommend an affordable or less expensive hotel/ inn than Marriot?

thanks in advance!

14 days is great. I stayed 10 nights - basically took one day to arrive in the evening, one day to rest, one examination day, one surgery day and 7 days later the post op examination and the day after that I left. I wish I had 3 days before the examination as I was still exhausted on that day, but the flight from Germany was long - I took almost 22 hours from door to door with getting to and from the airports, check in, two transfer stops,...

I think Korea was expensive, but that's probably because the EURO was really getting bad just a few months before I went there. I guess for americans its cheaper there.

Is it true that you can get a trachea shave at Yeson for free when they do your voice?

Quote from: Ellement_of_Freedom on September 28, 2016, 08:08:35 AM
Is it true that you can get a trachea shave at Yeson for free when they do your voice?

Dear Ekement_of_freedom
Welcome to the board...  :D
I'm not 100% sure, but I asked that question three times to jessie, the english patient coordinator from Yeson and she nec er gave me an answer on that specific point. But I know, that Dr. Kim is not so happy when a patient had allready or will have a trachea shave, because the outcome of his surgery will be a little worse.

There other surgeons like Dr. Remacle who do a trachea shave for free, but I don't think, taht Dr. Kim still does.

But may you van ask Jessie, the Patient Coordinator from Yeson by yourself. Here's her email address: english@yesonvc.com

Take care...  :-*
Danielle