For those unaware of Dr. Haben, his website is here: http://professionalvoice.org/feminization.aspx

Dena's experience with Dr. Haben: https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,192393.0.html

Cadence's experience with Dr. Haben: https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,188034.0.html

And now, my experience:

I arrived in Rochester on September 15, and checked into the Rochester Airport Marriott immediately. The hotel sent a courtesy shuttle when I called, so I didn't have to spend any money on a cab.

En route to Rochester


There's a Chipotle near the Rochester Airport Marriott!


View from my hotel room:


The shuttle normally doesn't go take guests to Dr. Haben's clinic because it's farther away, but due to a mix-up (they thought I was going to Unity Hospital), they offered to drive me to 980 Westfall Road, where Dr. Haben's clinic is located.

Dr. Haben was very personable, thorough and detailed in his explanation of what exactly he planned to do, and he gave me a detailed physical examination. This included a photo of my vocal folds, and feeling the movement of my thyroid when entering head voice to determine if the CTA would be good for me. I had lots of movement in my thyroid when going into my head voice, which Dr. Haben said was a good thing.

So I show up at the appointed time on September 16 at the Park Ridge Operating Theater (part of the Unity Hospital complex), which is when I make full payment of the outstanding amount. (about $3,300 after the initial $3,500 reservation deposit).

The nurses, anesthesiologist, and Dr. Haben prep me for surgery (changed into the gown, IV drip, heart rate monitors, etc), and that's the last thing I remember before waking up in the recovery room.

Prep:


My memory is a bit hazy at this point, so I don't remember the exact order of what happened, but I took a walk down the hallway with my nurse (groggy and nauseous from the general anesthesia), tried to pee (unsuccessfully), and had a bite (food was good, but it really, really hurt to swallow).

Dinner (stuffed chicken with rice and carrots):


Throat incision:




Throughout the night, the nurses would come every 1-2 hours to administer more pain meds, anti-clotting meds, antibiotics, walk me down the hallway, refill my IV drip, etc. I was only allowed to use the restroom with a nurse present (outside the restroom), because being under general anesthesia puts you at risk of falling. I managed to pee a little on the 3rd or 4th attempt, which according to the nurse is fairly typical effect of going under GA. I'd describe it as extreme shy bladder. You release the voluntary sphincter, but the involuntary one refuses to relax.

Ask for popsicles!


I had a few


This went on for the rest of the night, until the effects of the GA (mostly) wore off in the morning, and I was cleared for discharge. Except for one male security guard, and another male surgical PA, everyone else was exceptionally friendly, respectful, and used the right pronouns throughout.

Breakfast the next day (french toast & sausages):


IV drip:


View from the recovery room:


Recovery room:


I left the hospital on the 17th and checked out of the Marriott the same day, and checked into a cheaper hotel, because I have to stay an additional 7 days for the post-op check-up. This is mandatory for patients not from the surrounding area (NY, Ontario, Quebec), so doing this saves me a bundle.

I even got a farewell flower! I gave it to the front desk girls at the Marriott.


All in all, everything went smoothly. I came down with a slight sore throat the day before I left for Rochester. It's still tapering off, and that has made the strict voice rest impossible to comply with. I ended coughing up some phlegm and made some high-pitched vocalizations while doing so, but Dr. Haben assured me that the sutures were probably fine, as long as there wasn't any significant pain or bleeding.

I had no loose teeth after the operation, and tip of my tongue is numb but my sense of taste seems unaffected.

Except for a minor anxiety attack earlier today where I thought the CTA made my throat bulge out, and this was all a big mistake, I haven't stopped smiling and being on cloud 9 despite the ongoing discomfort and pain.

More to come as I recover, and many thanks once again to Cadence & Dena for sharing their invaluable experience and results, without which I may not have taken the plunge. You two are the best!

You had the same hospital meals I had but nobody told me about the popsicles and I sure could have used them. My first attempt at peeing failed and I had a full bladder but the second one worked. It was a good thing because with without the popsicles, I was really pounding down the water to reduce the pain (no pain medication). They gave me my blue gown pretty quick because they were getting tired of calls for assistance to go to the bathroom. Also another difference is they put the IV in the back of my hand instead of my arm like yours. Might be because I have some really big veins in the back of my hand and they were easy to find. It was a problem when I washed my hands after a bathroom break because I had to keep it dry.

As for the coughing, you need to resist the urge to bring your vocal cords together. Instead you lean forward and exhale fast. It doesn't work as well as a cough but that combine with the ever present supply of cold water, it contains the cough pretty well without the cough medicine. I still have an almost full bottle of the stuff missing only one dose and I was able to avoid coughing for a month

I will await additional reports. By the way, I think the hotel gives the hospital a half price rate from what I saw on my bill. If I can get rates like that, I may stay there more often.

It sounds like you had a great experience! I'm so happy for you! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Dena, I wish someone had told me about the popsicles earlier. I only found out about them in the morning, and they really helped numbed the pain in my throat. It's weird that we had the exact same menu! I wonder if they literally serve the same thing every day.

I had my IV drip on my wrist, because that was my most visible vein. I've had IV drips on the back of my hand, and like you said they get in the way and always getting twisted or pulled.

I've actually done the exact same thing you said, where I lean on the bathroom counter with both arms and exhale sharply without engaging my vocal folds, and got rid of a good amount of phlegm that way. I'm just deathly afraid of harming my vocal folds and affecting the long-term results.

I suppose I'm being paranoid, and everything should be fine as long as I don't tear the sutures somehow. No bleeding or unusual pain apart from the usual discomfort, so far.

I'll post recordings as soon as I'm ready to. Rainy day in Rochester today...nice and cool.

The hospital most likely has a weekly menu and as Dr Haben has surgical Wednesday, so we both had the same meal. I needed to be there by 6am and I think I was his first surgery of the day. I didn't meet anybody else having surgery but I passed a small woman in the hotel that I said hi to and she had an over breathy voice. I suspect she may have been a CIS there for surgery with Dr Haben. Kind of wish I asked.

If your reread the instructions, you are supposed to avoid coughing, talking and sneezing but accidents do happen. I said a few words after I was home when I shouldn't have. The truth is the surgery is pretty rugged and as long as you don't have a coughing fit, you shouldn't damage the voice. Do your best to avoid all noise but don't kick your self if you slip up because one little mistake isn't going to harm the surgery.

Because I feared making noise so much, the week before the surgery I practiced clearing the mucus without using my vocal cords. It was a big help after surgery as my first acton after surgery was to clear out a mouth full.

Don't plan on putting up a voice recording soon. Your voice is really going to sound bad the first time you use it. It was two weeks after surgery before I could get more than a whisper out of it so I continued silence until the voice could do a bit more. I drove my neighbor up the wall because she hated it when I wrote notes to her.

My speech therapist said that you should expect phlegm to build up on your cords. It's your body's way of protecting, since it sees this as trauma to them. It doesn't want anything worse to happen. She said to clear my throat, avoid the usual eh-hm! action, and instead make a soft H like sound. Basically, what you're doing by breathing out and not engaging your vocal cords when you do it. Then take a sip of water to finish the clearing. Lather, rinse, repeat. I hope this helps.

I found that those Aloe Vera drinks they sold in Seoul and also sell in stores now everywhere were really soothing for my vocal chords - milk or yoghurt on the other hand produced more phlegm. I always carried a little bottle of water with me for weeks, to make sure I can wet my throat if it itches and to avoid coughing

Update:

Nothing much to report, except that my phlegm has gradually changed from green to clear, indicating I've recovered from the sore throat I came down with just before the operation.

Showered and washed my hair in the basin for the first time since the morning of the operation, so I'm feeling clean and refreshed now.

Discomfort in my throat is much better, and is now comparable to a regular sore throat or cough. I can now swallow without excessive pain, unlike the first 2 days.

I've cleared my throat a few more times in line with Cadence and Dena's directions, but very gently, and so far so good. No bleeding or pain, so I think what Dena says about the surgical site being far more rugged that one would think is true. Whatever sounds have come out, sound very high-pitched and falsetto-ish, but I suspect that will change and evolve as the site heals and the swelling goes down.

Anjaq, I'm a big fan of those aloe vera drinks, and I usually have a bottle or two in my fridge, but I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere here with no car, so unfortunately I'll have to wait till I get home. Thanks for the tip though!

The surgical tape over my neck incision is also starting to come loose on the bottom, and there is no discomfort from the incision. It's itchy, but I think that's due to the tape. Can't wait to see what it looks like when it comes off!

I'm also having a great hair day, so there's that.

Yes, the first shower after getting out of the hospital. The day I left I had to clean up in the sink and it just didn't feel right.

As for the noise you make, that can be all over the place. Because I had so much swelling my voice was a whisper for a while. I think the steroids did stop the swelling for a while but once they wore off, I lost my voice.

I'd show you my neck scar but after 35 years, it sags a little like the rest of me 

Thank you for sharing your experience, I'm having the triple with Dr. Haben next Wednesday so your info is extremely useful!

I am VERY excited to see what the outcome of this surgery is like for you! Thank you for making this thread!

Jollyjoy: I just notice you slipped in the back door exactly the same way I did and in the same section. Welcome to Susan's place but we have a little business  to get out of the way
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Jollyjoy & Roni, I'm glad this is helping! There was a dearth of feedback on Dr. Haben apart from Dena's & Cadence's threads, so I'm happy to make this decision a little easier for someone else. I had to decide between Yeson and Dr. Haben, and for me it came down to cost and the availability of both the tracheal shave and the CTA procedure that Dr. Haben provides.

As a reference point, Dr. Haben said my speaking frequency was about 115hz, which is why he recommended the CTA procedure.

Please feel free to message me if either of you have any questions.

Dena, I have an old scar under my chin from a bad fall when I was a kid, that is flesh-coloured, so I'm not too worried about the scarring, but I am hoping for the best!

The surgical scar will be a thin line and heal much better than the injury. I have never had anyone notice mine unless I pointed it out but I admit to covering it with makeup for a few years before I became comfortable with it. Most people if they saw it would have no clue why the scar is there so you can make up a really wild story about someone holding knife to you neck but through super human strength you over powered them  It will be interesting to see how your voice turns out pitch wise because my male voice was around 90-100 Hz and my trained voice 130-140 hz but the doctor never mentioned changing the procedure to a triple. Had he offered additional hope, I would have handed him my plastic on the spot.

Quote from: runaway on September 21, 2015, 03:18:38 AM
Jollyjoy & Roni, I'm glad this is helping! There was a dearth of feedback on Dr. Haben apart from Dena's & Cadence's threads, so I'm happy to make this decision a little easier for someone else. I had to decide between Yeson and Dr. Haben, and for me it came down to cost and the availability of both the tracheal shave and the CTA procedure that Dr. Haben provides.

As a reference point, Dr. Haben said my speaking frequency was about 115hz, which is why he recommended the CTA procedure.

Please feel free to message me if either of you have any questions.

Dena, I have an old scar under my chin from a bad fall when I was a kid, that is flesh-coloured, so I'm not too worried about the scarring, but I am hoping for the best!

Eva also started a Haben thread so that is another data point.

Quote from: iKate on September 21, 2015, 10:00:35 AM
Eva also started a Haben thread so that is another data point.

Warmbody also posted a thread about her experiences and had a great result.

Yes, I don't know why Eva and warmbody's threads slipped my mind, but I remember reading them. Thanks for the reminder.

Eva's thread (glottoplasty only): https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,177709.0/

warmbody's thread (triple): https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,183384.0/

Been there two times! The second time was better but I'm still not happy with the outcome


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Very stressful


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Lyndsey, what happened the first time and when you went back?