Hi MegC,

Quote from: MeganChristine on May 05, 2014, 05:23:16 PM
How long must you resist coffee?

The recovery instructions they enumerated to me are:

absolute voice rest: 1 week
no heavy lifting: 3 weeks
minimal voice usage: 1 month
no singing/yelling: 2 months
no carbonated/caffeinated/alcoholic beverages, hot/salty/greasy foods: 2 months
no smoking: 3 months

Regards,

Amy

Quote from: AmyBerlin on May 07, 2014, 12:16:08 AM
Hi MegC,

The recovery instructions they enumerated to me are:

absolute voice rest: 1 week
no heavy lifting: 3 weeks
minimal voice usage: 1 month
no singing/yelling: 2 months
no carbonated/caffeinated/alcoholic beverages, hot/salty/greasy foods: 2 months
no smoking: 3 months

Regards,

Amy

Thank you so much, should be totally doable 😀 Need to stay off the chili-wagon too, I see. The sacrifices we make to reach our goals. 😉

Amy I'm sincerely happy for you as it seems your doing well. Congrat's Girl!

I'm actually looking forward to an ice cream diet. I'll have to watch my portions though. I wouldn't want to damage my girlish figure, lol!

Ally

My figure is already ruined. Water ice cubes would be right for me 😉

how about stevia sweetened ice shavings 😉

Quote from: Jennygirl on May 07, 2014, 10:36:34 PM
how about stevia sweetened ice shavings

I never had them before. What do they taste like?

Me I looove my very decadent but tastey Vanilla chocolate swirl, and Butter Pecan Ice cream real and fattening!, lol

Hey, I'm allowed some weaknesses gals.

Ally

Stevia seems cool. I never saw it for sale as ice cream though. I need to loose like 30 kilos, thats what? 50 pounds or so? No way I will touch ice cream regularly 😉 . Someone claimed my current voice fits me because I am so big. So I guess I need to change both then 😉

Quote from: anjaq on May 08, 2014, 09:51:02 AM
Stevia seems cool. I never saw it for sale as ice cream though. I need to loose like 30 kilos, thats what? 50 pounds or so? No way I will touch ice cream regularly 😉 . Someone claimed my current voice fits me because I am so big. So I guess I need to change both then

Oh Anja,
      It's just those Northern European Germanic genes, I'm a Nordic type, we both fight the same battle hon!

Quote from: Jennygirl on May 07, 2014, 10:36:34 PM
how about stevia sweetened ice shavings

Hi jennygirl!

What sorts of food did u eat there while on your 7 days voice rest? More like liquid food? Or doesnt matter
As log as it is not spicy? Thanks!

**love ice creams.. But i caugh when eating a lot haha

You can eat pretty much normal food but you're advised not to eat spicy or salty food as this dries out the throat. You have to drink tons of water too. No alcohol, fizzy sodas, coffee or tea. I've never drunk so much water per day ever in my life, but it's all in a good cause.

In Seoul you can eat in the markets (the pancake thing is OK). It's filling and non spicy. Also the KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) is wonderful. Our hotel was literally 5 mins from Kwangchang Market and all the food stalls. So don't worry there's plenty to eat, and if you get bored of Korean food (how could you ?) there's always McDonalds or Burger King.
Good luck.

Quote from: Jmtl on May 09, 2014, 09:57:51 AM
Hi jennygirl!

What sorts of food did u eat there while on your 7 days voice rest? More like liquid food? Or doesnt matter
As log as it is not spicy? Thanks!

**love ice creams.. But i caugh when eating a lot haha

lots and lots and lots of hot stone bimbimbap (with soy sauce or sesame oil to avoid spicy)

I could eat the stuff forever. And I still do, I live 5min away from Koreatown in LA 😉

Quote from: Saskia on May 09, 2014, 10:59:26 AM
You can eat pretty much normal food but you're advised not to eat spicy or salty food as this dries out the throat. You have to drink tons of water too. No alcohol, fizzy sodas, coffee or tea. I've never drunk so much water per day ever in my life, but it's all in a good cause.

In Seoul you can eat in the markets (the pancake thing is OK). It's filling and non spicy. Also the KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) is wonderful. Our hotel was literally 5 mins from Kwangchang Market and all the food stalls. So don't worry there's plenty to eat, and if you get bored of Korean food (how could you ?) there's always McDonalds or Burger King.
Good luck.

Awwww thank you so much saskia! Ill keep that in mind.  🙂 yah, i love food in the markets and specially street exotic foods, im just scared maybe its spicy. And no, i wont be bored with korean food, im there just to eat it. Ha!

Quote from: Jennygirl on May 09, 2014, 12:28:48 PM
lots and lots and lots of hot stone bimbimbap (with soy sauce or sesame oil to avoid spicy)

I could eat the stuff forever. And I still do, I live 5min away from Koreatown in LA

Ha!!    ok, thank you!! I love bimbim too.. Maybe we could have a bite when i come to la next time. 
Btw, u have to avoid sneezing too?  I have a very itchy nose (allergy)  most of the time. Hard to avoid it though. 

Quote from: Jmtl on May 09, 2014, 07:48:32 PM
Ha!!    ok, thank you!! I love bimbim too.. Maybe we could have a bite when i come to la next time. 
Btw, u have to avoid sneezing too?  I have a very itchy nose (allergy)  most of the time. Hard to avoid it though. 

I am always down for bap

And yes the no sneezing was hard for me, too. I have allergies and also caught a cold as soon as I got home. It was pretty gnarly- my anxiety and impatience with my immune system was at an all time high!

Hi All,
I wanted to thank Amy for this really great thread. It's helped ease my doubts about going to Yeson next month (off 4 weeks today!). And of course I'd also like to thank Jenny, Sarah, Abby and all the girls who went before. I'm 16 years post-transition and have settled into a fairly quiet (!) life and I do sometimes wonder what I'm doing flying thousands of miles to fix something which sort of works. Having said that I've always struggled with my voice and even these days I still have problems on the phone and in stressful situations I'll stay mute rather than potentially out myself. I'm a bass-baritone (I can still get down to D2), and used to love singing, so if I can get manage to sing again that would be incredible. Frankly I'll be happy with even a minor improvement in my voice though!

Amy when you asked Dr Kim about his suture technique did he say anything about why he uses permanent sutures rather than absorbable? I mean the sutures are in there forever! I wonder if it's possible to remove them endoscopically if they ever caused a problem in later life?

Finally I really recommend Amy's suggestion of learning to read Hangul. I never realised it was just an alphabet and there's lots of online games to help; so it doesn't take too long to learn   

Hugs

Charlotte

Hi Charlotte. I find it fascinating how many of "us" there seem to be - Just like Amy and you, I am also in the same range - 16 years post transition and wonder why the heck I am now of all times thinking about voice and surgeries and maybe even FFS and all sorts of transition stuff again. Its odd, like we somehow are missing some sort of detachment from the whole topic that we cannot get as long as something keeps reminding us of this whole trans issue. Do you have more issues that you are thinking of as well? What voice training did you do up to now and why do you plan for VFS now anyways? I was told by so many people that supposedly with time and proper training the trained feminine voice would become natural habit and come out in all situations, but tht was not my experience, but then again I was told that I did not use the "right" voice training and that this was the cause. So i am trying a differnt one now which is tiresome and tedious and takes more time than I have which is why I cannot really keep it up with the schedule. But I fugured as I can afford VFS financially and time-wise only in fall 2015, I can as well try that for now and see how it goes.
Anyways, I would be interested to hear about your experiences with voice up to now, what leads you to have VFS now after such a long time and maybe you can describe as well what will change for you post-op. e.g. how does it feel, what is easier, what takes the same effort etc. - Congrats anyways to your decision to go for it 😀

Quote from: anjaq on May 10, 2014, 03:30:57 PM
Hi Charlotte. I find it fascinating how many of "us" there seem to be - Just like Amy and you, I am also in the same range - 16 years post transition and wonder why the heck I am now of all times thinking about voice and surgeries and maybe even FFS and all sorts of transition stuff again. Its odd, like we somehow are missing some sort of detachment from the whole topic that we cannot get as long as something keeps reminding us of this whole trans issue. Do you have more issues that you are thinking of as well? What voice training did you do up to now and why do you plan for VFS now anyways? I was told by so many people that supposedly with time and proper training the trained feminine voice would become natural habit and come out in all situations, but tht was not my experience, but then again I was told that I did not use the "right" voice training and that this was the cause. So i am trying a differnt one now which is tiresome and tedious and takes more time than I have which is why I cannot really keep it up with the schedule. But I fugured as I can afford VFS financially and time-wise only in fall 2015, I can as well try that for now and see how it goes.
Anyways, I would be interested to hear about your experiences with voice up to now, what leads you to have VFS now after such a long time and maybe you can describe as well what will change for you post-op. e.g. how does it feel, what is easier, what takes the same effort etc. - Congrats anyways to your decision to go for it

Hi Anja,
Yes it's very interesting how we're all going back and revisiting this transition stuff. I'm also thinking of having a hair transplant to sort out my classic 'M' shaped temples and maybe straightening my teeth, but mostly it's the voice. I just feel it's holding me back. My caution in using my voice makes me socially awkward when meeting new people and I tend to come across as either being shy or aloof - which isn't like me at all. Also I try to avoid making phone calls as well.
I can't quite explain why I'm doing all this now though. I would love to know other people reasons. I wonder if there's a golden thread running through it. Maybe for me personally it's because I have a nagging doubt that I've not been fully socially accepted a woman. I should mention I'm stealth  so it's all a bit of a guessing game as to what people really think. Alternative it could all be a mid-life crisis
I went through about 3 speech therapists in the late 90s which didn't help that much, then I copied off a friend who'd perfected her voice and that's what worked for me. I used to think it was because I hadn't worked hard enough on it - I did actually work very hard - but now I think it's probably the people who succeeded with their voices just had a physiologically better suited larynx. For instance, I've analysed with Praat a youtube video of someone (I wont name her) who demonstrates both her old voice and new trained voice. Her old voice is about 155Hz and her new voice is about 190Hz. I'm naturally about 110Hz and I'd be happy to have a 155Hz voice! So I think what I'm saying is 'one-size' doesn't fit all. Some people are just naturally going to find it easier to achieve a nice voice.   

Hugs

Charlotte

Hi, Charlotte.
This is pretty interesting indeed. We seem to share a lot. Actually I am hoping to see some improvement now for hair regrowth at the temples by applying progerserone gel there. I am seeing some success, reducing that M-Shape a bit. dont know if it will save me any other procedures I considered.

Quote from: Charlotte on May 10, 2014, 05:38:03 PM
mostly it's the voice. I just feel it's holding me back. My caution in using my voice makes me socially awkward when meeting new people and I tend to come across as either being shy or aloof - which isn't like me at all. Also I try to avoid making phone calls as well.
.... Maybe for me personally it's because I have a nagging doubt that I've not been fully socially accepted a woman. I should mention I'm stealth  so it's all a bit of a guessing game as to what people really think. Alternative it could all be a mid-life crisis

Yeah , dito. People always say I am shy. I am talkig a lo tmore nowadays but just because I am ignoring my voice somehow in these situations... I dont know... I also wonder if it is mid life crisis. whats your age if I may ask? I am almost 40. Transitioned at 23. Trying to be stealth but am not sure how well that works. I get asked about my voice a lot and some times last year I was misgendered which totall yshocked me and broke my bubble about being convinced to be stealth...

QuoteI used to think it was because I hadn't worked hard enough on it - I did actually work very hard - but now I think it's probably the people who succeeded with their voices just had a physiologically better suited larynx. For instance, I've analysed with Praat a youtube video of someone (I wont name her) who demonstrates both her old voice and new trained voice. Her old voice is about 155Hz and her new voice is about 190Hz. I'm naturally about 110Hz and I'd be happy to have a 155Hz voice!

I totally get that. This is what I think too. so many people say "you can do it with therapy alone, I did it and I had such a male voice. Then they play it and it is like 140 Hz or so. Add 40 to that and you are in female vocal range by a good margin. Mine is almost exactly like yours then, 100-110 Hz. I can manage to get the same change like others - +40 Hz. End up talking at 140-150 Hz if I do what I can do.  This is still in the male range and below the lower female range. My dream would be to be at 180 or so without having to strain my voice. So I think physiology is really working against me and in favour of some people that say it can all be done easily with therapy.

I hope you will post some recordings from before and after your surgery there and describe a bit how the change feels like. If I may, I would also like to PM you to stay in contact as your physiology and background in terms of transitioning and in terms of voice seems to match mine so well, that I think your experiences with VFS are more applicable to me than some of the others here. THX

Greetings

I am 27 years post op, and have lived more than half my my life as female. My voice was 95% OK, however I occasionally got misgendered on the phone which was a huge blow and felt like a dagger through the heart. I guess I could've managed without the VFS since my pitch is 165Hz. But after hearing Jenny and Sarah decided this was something I definately wanted to do. I retrained my voice after transition by copying my female colleagues at work and by using my head voice. This worked really well, for many years and I thought that it was the best I could do until I discovered VFS. My partner and family were dead against me going but I'm so glad I went ahead. I too thought I'd finished with surgeries but I was drawn back in. I've promised everyone thats it now. I'm stealth too and had to invent reasons why my face was going to change (FFS) and why my voice might go higher as the months pass by.
If I can achieve the 75hz extra suggested by Dr Kim, I'll be ecstatic, but my goal is to never ever get misgendered again because of my voice.

My best wishes to all those girls who are going to Yesons.
Saskia 

Saskia, 27 years must almost be the record except for Eva. You even did FFS? Why that, too, if you really are living stealth and only had the voice issues on the phone mostly? Was it that you just were not happy with your face when you saw yourself? I read a few reports from FFS people about the nerve damages they have and I am scared away from that, but up to now most VFS with Dr Kim seem to go well, so its an option for similar reasons - not ever being misgendered or questioned about being trans again for voice reasons. I am not sure it can provide that result for me or if it is needed to get there but I do still consider it. I would however also be happy if I could hear from you, Saskia about how it will be for you and how it does feel and compare to before. Not so much about what other people hear or say about it but how it is for yourself - what changes iin the way you can and have to use the voice and how does it feel like. I keep imagining that it is just easier to reach a higher pitch later and that the low pitch is blocked and that for some magic reason the average speaking pitch is subconsciously raised as well - ideally one does not have to use as much pitch and resonance control later... lots of things I would hope for. So I hope you will write a bit about how things change for you, Saskia, as well 🙂