Hi, everyone.  If you've read some of my posts here, you know that I am considering a glottoplasty with Dr Haben in Rochester.  I've just gotten notice that I can take 3 weeks off in October, which is when I plan to have the operation.  I have been working on my voice for about two years.  In that time, it has come a long way, but I still have bad days, moments where I slip, and getting a cold is the worst. 

I have decided against the "triple" which includes a CTA because I play clarinet for a living and I am to nervous to do anything that invasive to my vocal cords and airway.  My expectations for this surgery are that I will be locked into a pitch zone that is closer to my trained voice without fear of dipping back down into the male zone.  I do not expect it to be a cure-all, but I am hopeful that I will be more comfortable speaking and exploring resonance when I don't have to concentrate so much on pitch. 

For reference, this is a good example of where my voice is currently.  Not perfect, but much better than it was two years ago!  http://vocaroo.com/i/s1RwqWxs1Xld

I'm still getting a little nervous before calling in to schedule.  What if I don't get the results I hope for?  What if there is an unforeseen change that has a negative effect on my playing?  What if I don't heal in time before rehearsals resume? 

Any bits of advice regarding surgery, what to expect, what to work on, etc are greatly appreciated. 

I think that you have to be very conservative when estimating healing times. Its not something to be relied on.

My prep:

Stay as healthy as I can. Take your vitamins!
Follow the surgeon's instructions and disclose everything, all medications and health conditions (if any)


If you smoke, quit. I also stopped spicy food.


Above all remember that it's not a magic procedure. You still need to learn how to use your new voice.

I opted to go to South Korea to Dr Kim at Yeson. I will be there soon.

Your voice sample already sounds good. So I think you are right - a surgery can help you to maintain that voice easier and not slip - but it will probably not make it any "better" in terms of pitch.

I must say, listening to some of the voice samples here makes me envious - I never managed to use such a high pitch before the surgery - I got resonance ok and prosody at least partially ok, but pitch was costing me so much effort to rise that I did not manage to maintain it. Even now I think my voice is still in a mode where it is a bit breathy and not as clean and clear as with some people here, but I had that issue pre op and so it makes sense to still have it now - as you said - its not a magical cure...

Thanks for all of your comments.  I think I'm going to make the call tomorrow morning- eek!  It's still so far away but I am still a bit nervous because once I set a date, it means it is actually happening!

Anja, I think your voice sounds a million times better than mine so don't be envious :-)
After reading some of your posts, you have a 3+ octave range not unlike mine.  My top note that I can squeeze out (and only on good days) is a Bb 5 which is only a few semitones or so higher than you.  Not that anyone would ever speak up there lol, but you already have such a big range that I'm sure you could learn to speak higher if you wanted to.  I think your voice already sounds great so it's totally up to you and what you feel best represents yourself vocally.  If you are interested in strengthening your head range and developing a mix, I would be happy to share a few exercises I use from my singing coach.

With pitch locked in, I feel I would be better able to focus on a timbre that is less "male falsetto." I am curious if any of you ladies have noted any changes in breathing after the surgery.  Dr.  Haben says any changes are extremely small and imperceptible but because of my playing, I worry about that a lot.  If I couldn't expel the same amount of air or at the same rate of speed it would have a drastic effect on my playing.

Yes - i had that feeling too- When I booked the flight, fixed the surgery date and booked the hotel it was suddenly all more real. When I wired the money for the surgery, it was like it became fully real - no way back now...

Quote from: kwala on June 03, 2015, 03:00:40 PM
Anja, I think your voice sounds a million times better than mine so don't be envious :-)
After reading some of your posts, you have a 3+ octave range not unlike mine.  My top note that I can squeeze out (and only on good days) is a Bb 5 which is only a few semitones or so higher than you.  Not that anyone would ever speak up there lol, but you already have such a big range that I'm sure you could learn to speak higher if you wanted to.  I think your voice already sounds great so it's totally up to you and what you feel best represents yourself vocally.  If you are interested in strengthening your head range and developing a mix, I would be happy to share a few exercises I use from my singing coach.

Well - I am still having some ways to go to become truely friends with my voice. Its a lot better than pre op in any case already - and of course - that upper vocal range is not useable for anything but rollercoaster screams maybe. Speaking higher however is a strain and it sounds like it too, so I think I cannot really do that. I definitely would be interested in strenghtening my upper range and mixing it better with more exercises Thanks.

QuoteI am curious if any of you ladies have noted any changes in breathing after the surgery.  Dr.  Haben says any changes are extremely small and imperceptible but because of my playing, I worry about that a lot.  If I couldn't expel the same amount of air or at the same rate of speed it would have a drastic effect on my playing.

I think its no issue - with playing music, you dont put out a lot of air in a small time but rather play it long. A steady air flow for some time certainly is not affected. The only issues I heard about so far is one case where it has some effect on breathing strongly in higher level cardio sports and the other is that when singing, taking a full breath takes a short while longer, so that may be the thing that is most likely a possibility that could affect you...

Well, it's a long way away but I paid the deposit and booked my surgery October 21st.  Thanks for all the advice and support!  Wish I could have done it sooner but I'm just glad I was able to find a time that will accommodate my work schedule and give me enough days to heal properly.

Congratulations and good luck for everything

I think you'll love your results from Dr. Haben.  I love mine.   My thread has an after recording if you'd like to hear.

Congrats and good luck! You'll be in for a ride. I am not regretting my VFS for a single minute.

Quote from: kwala on June 02, 2015, 12:57:10 PM
I'm still getting a little nervous before calling in to schedule.  What if I don't get the results I hope for?  What if there is an unforeseen change that has a negative effect on my playing?  What if I don't heal in time before rehearsals resume? 
Any bits of advice regarding surgery, what to expect, what to work on, etc are greatly appreciated. 

As I am at the two week mark after surgery, I can give you a little feed back. Dr Haven is pretty good and nailing time improvement. My voice is still messed up from swelling but I can already see the improvement in pitch and I am hitting the range I once had to use a falsetto to get near.

I wouldn't worry much about your playing because I have noticed no difference in my ability to take air in. One exception is mouth breathing might be an issue because you don't want to cough for a couple of months and dry air through you mouth might cause you to cough.

As for healing, if you don't have to speak, that shouldn't be a problem. If you have to speak your ability to project could be limited for a while. There is a complication that one person has had where she couldn't speak for a month after surgery and recovery was slow after that.

It would be best not to rely on your voice for a while after surgery. When I set my surgery date, I figured 7 weeks before I had to have a voice. Things didn't happened the way I thought they would and now I don't need the voice for around 3 months but I can already tell the voice should be usable in between 1 and 2 months.

Quote from: Dena on July 31, 2015, 08:37:17 PM
As I am at the two week mark after surgery, I can give you a little feed back. Dr Haven is pretty good and nailing time improvement. My voice is still messed up from swelling but I can already see the improvement in pitch and I am hitting the range I once had to use a falsetto to get near.

I wouldn't worry much about your playing because I have noticed no difference in my ability to take air in. One exception is mouth breathing might be an issue because you don't want to cough for a couple of months and dry air through you mouth might cause you to cough.

As for healing, if you don't have to speak, that shouldn't be a problem. If you have to speak your ability to project could be limited for a while. There is a complication that one person has had where she couldn't speak for a month after surgery and recovery was slow after that.

It would be best not to rely on your voice for a while after surgery. When I set my surgery date, I figured 7 weeks before I had to have a voice. Things didn't happened the way I thought they would and now I don't need the voice for around 3 months but I can already tell the voice should be usable in between 1 and 2 months.

Thanks for the feedback.  I have 3 weeks off and I don't have to rely on my voice at work for much, and if inhaling and exhaling aren't problematic I should be playing again after the first two weeks and can continue to rest my voice as needed.