I modified this post rather than start a new one. I'm five days post-op and so far recovery from this has been a bitch. I bounced back after my gallbladder surgery in Feb but I haven't bounced from this one, I've thudded.
Pre-op visit on the 18th. Dr. Haben measures my pitch using a variety and tells me what I can expect. I'm at 128hz or B3. He says he can reliably get me to 200 or 210hz or middle C or G3, a good average range for a woman. Than he scopes my cords...
Turns out my right cord is almost entirely paralysed and there's pronounced asymmetry of the anatomy, likely due to my being tubed for my gastric sleeve and hiatal hernia repair (my thoughts, not his) so suddenly, my minimally invasive double is going to be a much more invasive triple. Hello CTA. **sigh** Dr. Haben is nice, has a dry sense of humour, not much for being especially personable but he's a surgeon. What can you expect.
Day of surgery: car picks mum and I up at the hotel at 0545. I register, get the requisite paperwork done, and wait in the waiting room a wee bit before they bring me back to the pre-anesthesia area. There I get the gown that makes me arse want to show, get the IV put in, answer some more questions, meet the anesthetist (really nice guy), one more talk with Dr. Haben then wait for them to come in and start the Decadron (steroid for swelling and inflammation and the antibiotic). The anesthetist comes back in and starts the Versed (causes sedation and anterograde-amnesia) and wheeled back to the operating theater. Little more chat with the doctors, some small joking then the Versed kicks in and I don't remember a thing until they're waking me up in recovery. This is where the hell starts.
First off, I have a monster sore throat. No nausea or vomiting but I start coughing. A lot. The cough lasted for days, even with the cough meds (I'm allergic to hydrocodone so I asked for dextromorphan which is a cough med with promethazine). My neck is swollen and I generally feel like I've gone a few rounds with an out of control lorry. So I sleep. A lot. Until they wake me up and tell me I can go home (back to the hotel). BTW - you can eat or drink as soon as you wake up but your throat may be very sore and your taste buds off. There's also a list of things to avoid and a lot of meds you go home with (antibiotic, Medrol Dosepak as the swelling can be fatal [I just finished my last dose today], omeprazole [since reflux can dissolve the sutures], and the cough med. Plus he wants you to take both ibuprofen and acetaminophen together every 6 hours for pain. The surgical site pain isn't bad, the sore throat is a monster).
I feel like I want to clear my throat. A lot. So lots of water and learn to exhale without clearing your throat.
Back at the hotel room and right back to bed. I end up sleeping. A lot. I also end up with a low grade fever and a hematoma so I'm bleeding. My fear is that the cough has split an external suture but Haben assures me the next day that it's a hematoma.
Post-op visit the following day: Haben looks at the incision site and sees the blood and states it's a hematoma which has since drained on its own, numbs a nares and scopes my cords and says they look "a little beat up" from the cough but the sutures are fine. He reiterates the post op instructions:
No food after midnight
Never get me wet-wait...wrong instructions, sorry!
No talking, no whispering, no mouthing of words, no lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk until the sutures come out eight days after surgery (this Thursday), avoid making sounds if possible, plenty of warm water on hand, take all the meds, call with any complications and come back in three months. Due to the complications I mentioned above my voice will take longer to recover. Free to go home. Back to the hotel where I sleep. A lot.
Still feeling like a lorry hit me my mum extends our stay another day where....I sleep. I also have a lowgrade fever, still coughing, still having a lot of phlegm, still weak as a kitten. We ended up extending through Saturday and then driving back. My throat is still sore, I'm still kind of weak and I can't make a peep for another three weeks.
This is one rough surgery.
I'll update this again when I get the sutures out on Thursday.
I think you will enjoy the experience and Dr Haben is a pretty good guy. I would tell you to say hi for me but he wouldn't acknowledge that he ever saw me. Let me know if you have any questions I can help with.
REcovery takes a LONG LONG LONG LONG LONg tIME
JUST UNDERSTAND WHAT i JUST SAID.
Quote from: Dena on October 11, 2016, 10:35:39 PM
he wouldn't acknowledge that he ever saw me.
: ??? how come?
The thing I like about Dr. Haben is he tells it like it is. He doesn't sugarcoat things.
Quote from: anjaq on October 12, 2016, 08:29:44 AM
: ??? how come?
Patient confidentiality. When you go to him you get complete privacy about your treatment which is a good thing as many of us are stealth so some degree if not completely.
ah ok - I sort of assumed you would give him an ok ;) - yes - it would be very bad if people would talk to others about this. i also had to approve the video that Yeson put on Youtube with my voices on it
Hope things go well! I have another friend who's seeing Dr Haben in November actually.
Hopefully this works. If so, this is me less than a week before VFS with Haben on the 19th.
<object width="148" height="44"><param name="movie" value="http://vocaroo.com/player.swf?playMediaID=s1xeULveN0sR&autoplay=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://vocaroo.com/player.swf?playMediaID=s1xeULveN0sR&autoplay=0" width="148" height="44" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><br><a href="http://vocaroo.com" style="font-size:xx-small;" title="Vocaroo Voice Recorder">Record and upload audio >></a>
So messy but it plays. Oh well.
good luck
Good luck Wynter! I hope it all goes well for you!
Good luck! hope all goes well tomorrow!
Quote from: GeekGirl on October 18, 2016, 10:37:33 PM
Good luck! hope all goes well tomorrow!
I modified my original post with my experience with the pre-op and post-op periods. Five days post-op now.
Wow sorry to hear it's been rough so far. Hope it's easier going forward.
I'm curious about your voice beforehand.
You say your voice is around 128Hz, did you do any training at all to get up into that 200Hz range at all beforehand?
The reason I ask is I regularly train to be in the 200Hz range but my issue is my voice kinda drifts down as I forget about it.
When he says he can get it to 200Hz, does that mean it will never go lower? Sorry I'm kind of a newbie when it comes to VFS research at this point.
CTA will remove the bottom end and VFS will move your voice up. The problem wth CTA is it will limit your overall range which might be undesirable if you sing.
Quote from: Dena on October 25, 2016, 07:52:00 AM
CTA will remove the bottom end and VFS will move your voice up. The problem wth CTA is it will limit your overall range which might be undesirable if you sing.
Which I do but the vocal cord paralysis made it necessary. :(
Quote from: Debra on October 25, 2016, 07:41:45 AM
The reason I ask is I regularly train to be in the 200Hz range but my issue is my voice kinda drifts down as I forget about it.
When he says he can get it to 200Hz, does that mean it will never go lower? Sorry I'm kind of a newbie when it comes to VFS research at this point.
That tendency to drift lower is a reason why many get VFS
Realistically the voice will go below 200 Hz after a VFS as well. There is a cutoff at the bottom end, I had a 80 Hz lowest possible voice range, average speaking voice was 135. After VFS my low end is 120 Hz and average is 180. So the average is a number that comes up when you read a paragraph. Within that you will have words with 300 Hz and some below 200 Hz even if the average is 200 Hz. Its not a big deal unless your lowest parts are very low or your average drops below a certain range.
VFS usually makes it easier and natural to use a higher average, but it still allows some lower pitches to be used intentionally, although not as low as one could intentionally reach before the surgery
Ok thanks everyone. Sorry, don't mean to distract from the thread ..... but what exactly is CTA?
The surgery involved squeezing the larynx with a wire so it stretches the vocal cords. In some people the gain is minimal and it is the older form of voice surgery before VFS. Dr Haben uses CTA when VFS will not provide sufficient pitch increase to give some additional boost. You can learn more about it off the link.
http://www.professionalvoice.org/feminization.aspx
Quote from: Dena on October 26, 2016, 03:02:02 PM
The surgery involved squeezing the larynx with a wire so it stretches the vocal cords. In some people the gain is minimal and it is the older form of voice surgery before VFS. Dr Haben uses CTA when VFS will not provide sufficient pitch increase to give some additional boost. You can learn more about it off the link.
http://www.professionalvoice.org/feminization.aspx
Or when you have a paralysed vocal cord. :(
Quote from: Wynternight on October 26, 2016, 03:34:13 PM
Or when you have a paralysed vocal cord. :(
That is interesting because one of my cords is longer than the other. Dr Haben said it was because one was partially paralyzed but yet he didn't recommend CTA to me. If he had, I had my card ready to run.
Wynter we had the surgery on the same day...but I din't get the CTA, Dr. Haben said I don't need it. I feel that I am back to normal The first day was d only problematic day for me... I was groggy and I vomited.
Quote from: Miss Lux on October 27, 2016, 04:02:56 AM
Wynter we had the surgery on the same day...but I din't get the CTA, Dr. Haben said I don't need it. I feel that I am back to normal The first day was d only problematic day for me... I was groggy and I vomited.
I think I saw you and your mum at Haben's office for our pre-op visits and saw you both when I took a lap around recovery to wake myself up.
I had the sutures out today. It was somewhat painful as Dr. Haben uses a long running suture with about an inch on either side that's untied to make it easy to remove. Good news is the wound edges are well approximated, there's hardly a mark and things look to be healing well. Three weeks until I can talk again.
Quote from: Dena on October 26, 2016, 03:02:02 PM
The surgery involved squeezing the larynx with a wire so it stretches the vocal cords. In some people the gain is minimal and it is the older form of voice surgery before VFS. Dr Haben uses CTA when VFS will not provide sufficient pitch increase to give some additional boost. You can learn more about it off the link.
http://www.professionalvoice.org/feminization.aspx
Very interesting, thanks. I have been wondering more about the differences between the old way and the new way
Wynter it's your 30th day already! Have you tried out your voice? How was it? Mine is at the level of a whisper so I don't think I am capable of recording it yet.....
Quote from: Miss Lux on November 17, 2016, 08:38:46 AM
Wynter it's your 30th day already! Have you tried out your voice? How was it? Mine is at the level of a whisper so I don't think I am capable of recording it yet.....
Oh wow, it is. I was thinking it was Saturday! I have to try!!!
Quote from: Wynternight on November 17, 2016, 03:55:35 PM
Quote from: Miss Lux on November 17, 2016, 08:38:46 AM
Wynter it's your 30th day already! Have you tried out your voice? How was it? Mine is at the level of a whisper so I don't think I am capable of recording it yet.....
Oh wow, it is. I was thinking it was Saturday! I have to try!!!
Bah! Counting a 30 day period it's the 19th. :(
I started talking some last night and more today - so far my voice is weak (as was expected) and as whispering as dry leaves on Autumn grass (also expected).
I'm just happy I can speak now!
Finally we can talk :)
To be fair, these exact, prescriptive dates don't mean anything. For Yeson I was told four weeks, for example. The reason they put the dates out there is most people ignore the doctor and they hope by giving you a specific date the chances are someone is going to wait longer to not listen. ;)
I waited the full 30 days and started talking yesterday.
Hi Wynter,
How r u? How's ur voice? I hope you are doing and healing well :)
Quote from: Miss Lux on December 30, 2016, 03:23:35 AM
Hi Wynter,
How r u? How's ur voice? I hope you are doing and healing well :)
I'm doing well, thank you. The raspiness is gone for the most part and I have good strength and volume. I'm still at a little higher pitch than I like but my surgery was more complicated due to the paralysed vocal cord so I'm still healing. All in all I am quite pleased. :)
Yay Wynter!! Glad everything is healing up and you are happy. :)
Fun fact, you had your VFS on my birthday...
Good to hear! Yay!!!! I am so happy for us 🙏🏻🍷🍾😄.. I think Dr. Haben has been spawning good to excellent results as of late. My fairy godfathers - Dr. Chet, Dr. Berman and Dr. Haben 😂