Hey lovelies!

Right I promise this will be the last video I post for a while!

This is my more official 2 month update video that I have to send Yeson. You can tell it's official because I bothered with some makeup this time, as Jessie wants to make a before/after vid for their channel from it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CedNbW-Oqm0&feature=youtu.be

O x

PS I'll post in the other thread as well. Not wanting to spam it around, but there are different people in each

Quote from: anjaq on September 03, 2014, 04:19:03 PM
I was told I do have  a tremor now - so it seems that most of the patients coming to Yeson do have such a termor pre op and thus are given the Botox. I do not think having regular Botox injections beyond the healing period makes sense. It is a characteristic of the voice, if it is strong , maybe this is a good idea, but as I understand it, it does not originate from the surgery but rather is there before and is an issue when it comes to healing the voice

I think the Botox is important if you do have a tremor, because the surgery can make it a lot more pronounced... especially to begin with

Quote from: Livvykins on September 03, 2014, 05:36:49 PM
I think the Botox is important if you do have a tremor, because the surgery can make it a lot more pronounced... especially to begin with

Thanks Livvy. I was wondering if regular botox would be necessary, but from what you say it probably is a temporary thing.
Your voice gets better and better, particularly when I hear your pre-op voice next to your post-op voice. It seems so feminine and effortless now.
I have a question you might be able to help with. I am a teacher. From what you now know, do you think I will still be able to project my voice to a class after recovery from surgery?

Quote from: Teslagirl on September 04, 2014, 11:40:12 AM
Thanks Livvy. I was wondering if regular botox would be necessary, but from what you say it probably is a temporary thing.
Your voice gets better and better, particularly when I hear your pre-op voice next to your post-op voice. It seems so feminine and effortless now.
I have a question you might be able to help with. I am a teacher. From what you now know, do you think I will still be able to project my voice to a class after recovery from surgery?

Hey Teslagirl

Well the Botox lasts 3-4 months depending on various factors... When it runs out, you have pills to take for an length of time.

Aw thanks so much for the compliment! It's not quite effortless at all yet, it's still hoarse a lot of the time, but it's slowly getting better

Hmm... that's a difficult one.  It depends what you mean by "recovered from surgery" as this can take up to a year... certainly if I'm talking at any volume, my voice gives up very quickly... but I'm only two months in, and I've only just started doing the exercises.  I think eventually yes you won't have any problems projecting, but it will take time...

O x

Quote from: Livvykins on September 04, 2014, 01:06:28 PM

Hmm... that's a difficult one.  It depends what you mean by "recovered from surgery" as this can take up to a year... certainly if I'm talking at any volume, my voice gives up very quickly... but I'm only two months in, and I've only just started doing the exercises.  I think eventually yes you won't have any problems projecting, but it will take time...

O x

Thanks Livvy. I wonder if anyone here has had VFS at Yeson and is a teacher? If so really appreciate your opinions on using your voice in a classroom situation (or perhaps anyone else who has to speak up); giving presentations for example.

Secondly, I've only just had FFS (a month ago). My nose is still a bit delicate. Do you think I'd be OK for surgery with Yeson next Easter? I take Warfarin, but Dr Ousterhout was able to work around that and I'm hoping Dr Kim will be able to do the same.

Thank you,

Sarah.

Hey there Teslagirl,

I do work as a teacher. My voice was not strong after 1 month for a classroom situation. It weakens and gets hoarser very fast.
After a month you're only able to do very short conversations. I'm juts days from my 2 month mark, and my voice is still not suitable for heavy classroom duty.

I adapted to the whole situation and tend to start a multiway communication to engage the students on the subject. This far it has worked like a charm... but believe me, you don't feel like talking on the weekends :p

Quote from: MeganChristine on September 05, 2014, 06:35:17 PM
Hey there Teslagirl,

I do work as a teacher. My voice was not strong after 1 month for a classroom situation. It weakens and gets hoarser very fast.











After a month you're only able to do very short conversations. I'm juts days from my 2 month mark, and my voice is still not suitable for heavy classroom duty.

I adapted to the whole situation and tend to start a multiway communication to engage the students on the subject. This far it has worked like a charm... but believe me, you don't feel like talking on the weekends :p

Hello Megan, thanks for replying. From what you've experienced so far, do you have confidence that eventually your voice will be strong enough for regular classroom duty (say a lecture)?
I listened to your five week voice and although your pitch has not yet raised much, the purity and clarity of your post-op voice is amazing. It is totally female already and any pitch increase will only help. I think this is what I've deduced from the voices I've heard. Although the Yeson procedure is described as a pitch altering surgery, the main effect seems to be this increase in clarity. Your voice seems effortless now, whereas your pre-op voice (like the rest of us I imagine) sounds controlled and not effortless. Very well done! I might try to go to Yeson in the Easter holiday and after that student interaction in my college will be minimal. You have such a difference before and after.

Oh ok. So after 2 months it still is not good for teaching work, that is a bit suboptimal. If I aim for doing this in spring (just as Teslagirl this would be because only then there is a gap where I would have loss student contact), 8 weeks would be about the maximum time I can retreat from teaching. Effortlessness would be really the best result.

If the primary barrier is volume as opposed to longevity, you could use a portable headset amplifier until it came back to full strength. I've seen teachers do this without it being questioned at all.

Please note that I have 7,5 hours of classroom activity each day. I'm no ordinary teaching situation. For normal teachers, at least, here where I live you only have 4 hours of classroom activity each day. The rest is preparations etc.


Do also note that we are all individual. My healing process might differ quite substantially from others...

So what's optimal or not totally depends on how fast you are healing and how you are healing.

Quote from: MeganChristine on September 06, 2014, 03:31:07 PM
Please note that I have 7,5 hours of classroom activity each day. I'm no ordinary teaching situation. For normal teachers, at least, here where I live you only have 4 hours of classroom activity each day. The rest is preparations etc.


Do also note that we are all individual. My healing process might differ quite substantially from others...

So what's optimal or not totally depends on how fast you are healing and how you are healing.

Wow, 7.5 hours of teaching per day! We're not quite that intense. The most I do is probably six hours, but then not every day.Because the college year has been finishing earlier and earlier, I'm hoping that most of my teaching will be out of the way after Easter and I'll only have to talk with colleagues. I'm in the Midlands BTW.

Yep, it is quite intense. It's no like this everyday, tho.
I tutor intensive courses which usually last for 9 days and up to a month. The education is modular, so the participants has to graduate from one module to be allowed to start on the next.

I'm an external hired in every now and then to teach in the field of pneumatics More precise, breaks, on huge rolling machines that can be insane 8000ft long and weight thousands of tons


I'm located oversea in the last outpost before the North Pole )

Ok, for me , teaching is rarely more than 2-3 hours, although there are block courses where i have to be with the students all day long for a week, but i do not have to talk all the time then.
The important thing to me is that eventually after 6 months or 12 it will all be good again. Sadly few have that experience yet to say if the voice is as strong, loud, powerful as before, is one gets strained more or rather less, if shouting is ok... Most here are jus some weeks post op

Hey lovelies!

Question... Has anyone started taken the pills that were given to you by Yeson? 

I'm getting the time that I was told to start taking them... I just googled what kind of drug they are, and I'm pretty worried about taking them... Has anyone had any negative effects?  Clonazepam sounds pretty hardcore to me

It is pretty hardcore... Have not started on them yet, but starting to get to that marker myself.

I'm not even sure if I'm going to do it. Not a very good thing to have benzodiazepines in your blood, if you are involved in an accident...

Can I ask those who have had it done; is the botox injection given whilst you're under anaesthetic, or afterwards when you're awake? If afterwards, does it hurt a lot?

Sarah

From the reports I have read, it is given about a week after the surgery, so one is awake for it. Must be an unpleasant experience. So far I only know one person who did not get one.

Quote from: anjaq on September 24, 2014, 08:49:19 AM
From the reports I have read, it is given about a week after the surgery, so one is awake for it. Must be an unpleasant experience. So far I only know one person who did not get one.

Eek! Someone tell me they use a local anaesthetic, please!

Does Botox hurt a lot if injected?
Otherwise - if they inject an anaesthetic first, this also hurts, whats the gain?

Quote from: anjaq on September 25, 2014, 10:59:12 AM
Does Botox hurt a lot if injected?
Otherwise - if they inject an anaesthetic first, this also hurts, whats the gain?

Yes, but you wouldn't need to inject so deeply as most of the pain will be due to nerves just below the skin. It would be nice to hear from someone who has had it done. Anyone?