Dearest Kendra:
I've just taken the VFS with Dr. Kim (Yeson Voice Center) and I am in my first month of recovery. Therefore, according with many of your experiences, I have many questions to ask you about the recovery.
I couldn't send PM to you, because I am a new user, and I've found this forum looking for Yeson's surgery recovery process' experiences.
So if you let me ask:
I am in my 1st month and 2 days after the surgery. To be honest, I tried to speak two words, two days before the whole month passed. Q1: would that be a problem taking into account that I even did that without any effort and it was just a moment to check how it was going to be my voice by then? (I expected not much, but well)
Q2: As time passed, I did more tries with my voice, always without straining anything, just trying (as Jessie said) to speak softly, few words, and daily. Sometimes it sounded even better than before, but today, I literally had no voice. Is it normal to experience that instability while producing voice during this period?
Q3: Is it acceptable to practice just as you talked before the surgery as long as you use few words and you don't strain while doing it? - I mean after the 1st month.
Q4: Which recommendations could you give me for the recovery process, and for the voice rehabilitation exercises?
It's very weird, producing good sound on a day, and the next day being unable to do so. Sometimes, my vocal folds produce lower frequence but I think it's due to the paralysis caused by botox
Hi Voriat 🙋♀️ Welcome to Susan's Place! I'm Jessica.
@Kendra has the most knowledge to answer your question as you surmised. There are other members that have experience that can help too.
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Sure, I will do it with more time =).
Thank you very much for your warm welcome, I'm sorry if it could sound abrupt sending a direct question to an user.
Unfortunately I'm very worried about the recovery process of this surgery.
Once more I'm grateful for your understanding. I'll read the forum and introduce myself with more time =)
Hello Voriat. And welcome to Susan's!
If you sleep a few extra hours one night, that feels good but you might be unsteady at first standing up on your feet the next morning. If your voice rests a full month there's a bunch of things that need to "wake up" - not just your vocal chords that are still healing - you're out of practice with something you used to do all day without having to concentrate. Voice requires coordination with breathing, muscles controlling shape of mouth, tongue, etc. Even posture and a sip of water can affect your voice. You're out of practice but that's good because you'll be adjusting to a different default pitch as your vocal chords heal. For the next few months that is literally a moving target.
If you spoke a couple words a few days before that first month ended I wouldn't worry at all. We should all try to follow surgeon's instructions but I couldn't avoid a few coughs during the first month. Main thing is take it easy, don't shout or force too much loudness/volume at first. I was told to avoid or at least minimize caffeine while vocal chords are healing.
Dr. Kim warned me my voice might start out lower in pitch and should gradually increase in pitch as the months go on. He explained to me month #1 the goal is silence, month #2 is taking it easy on the voice and don't expect much. Month #3 is when voice practice starts. Yeson Voice Center provides a set of recommended voice practice instructions. I've also heard of people going to a professional speech coach following VFS - one that is familiar with VFS (might be rare or difficult to find in some cities).
From what I am experiencing the brain is just as important, allowing yourself to speak in a higher pitch and then getting used to it. And of course pitch is only part of how gender is perceived with speech - there is resonance and inflection. Even the choice of words can be influenced by gender, less so in English than some other languages but the difference is there. I find myself listening carefully to female radio announcers, and ask myself why I'm certain the person I can hear but not see is obviously female.
If successful, VFS shifts the foundations to make the rest of the work achieving your new voice achievable or easier. But it's just the foundation.
Thank you very much for your answer Kendra.
My main issue to be worried about is the healing process. Before the surgery I've already had a 200+ Hz voice (but it costed me many efforts sustaining that pitch constantly. It's the result of more than 10 years of practice). I'm sorry because I won't be able to provide you with as many details as you may need to determinate wether if I would have a success in this or not... (Most of everything because of privacy, I can't provide a lot of details about of my Medical History).
But yeah, the main issue which kept me worried was the fluctuation between clear voice/rough voice/no voice... But I think it makes sense because of the botox injections' effect. So if I try to use my vocal folds, as they have been paralyzed by these injections, it would be harder for me, just to produce any kind of sound.
Leaving aside that matter, I'm keeping as much silence as possible. As Dr. Kim said.
But as a conclusion: Would you say Yeson provides over all successful results (taking into account that you're supposed to follow their instructions) ?
I'm aware about I can't expect anything until the 4th to 6th month has passed... Yet, I don't know if I would be forced (or if anyone could be forced) to take a 2nd procedure with Yeson, because of the failure of the 1st one. (Once again, taking into account you've followed everything).
It's a very weird sensation, because, as you said, a phonatory system is very complex, so I don't know which % of success or failure is present, under which conditions and how to feel "safe" testing anything regarding my voice...
But yeah, my main issue was the pitch & voice fluctuations during the 2nd month. I understand as soon as the 3rd month starts, I should have, at some point, voice enough to undertake Voice rehabilitation exercises, but right now I'm even unable to produce any sound, depending on the day.
PS: If my age is something to take into account, I am 30 y.o. I don't know how this could affect the result. I've been on HRT since I was 18 y.o
If your average voice was already 200+ Hz you started out way ahead of me, and your goal was probably to hit that range more naturally or with less continuous effort.
By one measure I think of my VFS as a success because I didn't have any damage. I wasn't sure until the third month. A more tangible success is my voice used to crack at higher pitches, and now my voice cracks or becomes hoarse if I spend too much time talking at my old lower pitch for too long. My voice is now stronger in a higher range. I really shouldn't be speaking in the sub-150Hz range at all, now the problem is my brain with bad habits I need to stop.
Age is important. Yeson Voice Center warned me at age 50+ it's possible to experience much less improvement from VFS (or even no improvement) since vocal chords lose flexibility as we age. A cis-gender female voice sounds different at 70 compared to 20 years old, and any amount of smoking accelerates the aging process.
I am still not quite at my goals but I'm still healing. I think less about my voice now but that's actually a problem, I need to work more on the other parts of speech and my brain still needs to adapt. I need to practice more. I am planning to re-visit Yeson within a year of my surgery - that's purely optional but I'd like to have everything measured with their test equipment after it's all healed.
I see.
Kendra, with your permission, if you want / have any way to communicate with me and you wouldn't mind doing it.
Can I give you an email for that purpose? so if you have more social networks your privacy is safe.
I don't care about publishing this email because I use it for any purpose. I would appreciate a lot another way of communication between us if it's possible ^^.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.com
Once there, we can exchange with more freedom and privacy experiences about the same surgery and I would like to stablish a friendship with you if it's possible =). I really appreciate your help with my issue.
Thank you very much in advance, and sorry if this may cause any trouble.
Hi Voriat, I'll send you an email. (After 15 posts you'll have access to Private Messaging).
I recommend you may want to delete your email from your post. Susan's Place is picked up by public search engines, and automated bots can potentially scan for email addresses.
thanks
Thanks for sharing what you did publicly. I had surgery at Yeson on August 1st, so this helps. (:
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Nice to meet you. If you had your surgery the 1st of August, maybe we could meet at Yeson Voice Center, but the 1st of August I was on my way to Incheon International Airport =).
Likewise, I would like to stablish a more close contact, if possible in a place with more privacy than a public thread. If you agree too, I can publish for a while my email, if you consent a closer exchange of experiences. My surgery date is July 25th.
Sure! That would be fine. I'm always up for meeting new people and making new friends (:
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