I hope no one minds that I created a standalone thread.  It's just easier to keep it all together in my own thread and I can subscribe to it and monitor questions easier.

First, a bit of background can be found here - https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,200722.0.html. And I'd like to thank Jenny for her original experience that was posted in 2013.  I'd been monitoring that for almost three years before puling the trigger.

I had surgery with Dr. Kim at the end of March this year, and there were no complications.  He did say I had shorter than average vocal cords and that I also had a tremor, which would require botox.  The barrage of tests that were carried out had my fundamental frequency for my 'untrained' voice as quite high and I believe it is in reality 20-30Hz lower, but it's hard to know now. The botox injection was performed just after the post-operative exam seven days later, which showed that it was all healing nicely. In total I think it came out to around £7,000.  If you're worried about having such a procedure done outside of your home country - don't be.  It was a very modern facility with caring and knowledgeable staff (well, the X-ray across the road seemed archaic, but the radiologist was nice).  You'll also be given a number of medications to take for seven days post surgery to help with inflammation, potential infections keeping your stomach sane, and to help prevent you from coughing (which is bad).

Korea was a lovely country and everyone was very nice and helpful throughout my stay.  Personally, I stayed at Phil House (http://philhouse.co.kr/index.php?lengs=en, although I reserved through Agoda) which was cheap, clean, and also had a stove, fridge, and washing machine.  However, I didn't use most of those things, aside from the fridge, so the main benefit was clean and cheap.   If you are someone who wants a more 'full service' experience, this isn't the place for you, though. The trip from Phil House to the the clinic was probably 35-40 minutes and only involved one change on the subway. I found Korea to be quite cheap in most respects (seriously, take the subway, which works out to like £1 each way!), and the most I ever spent came out to around £15 for a huge box of Korean fried chicken that gave me two meals.

The following links were very helpful:
Great Site to see how to get from A to B using the subway - http://seoul.exploremetro.com/en/#
Has lots of info about visiting Korea - http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto
Got a 4G wifi device to carry around - https://roaming.kt.com/rental/eng/product/wibro.asp

I've been able to speak since yesterday, but my voice is very weak and it resonates in my head (to me), like I have a terrible cold. It's coming out in a frequency similar to my trained voice, at least, with no effort.  Later on I'll post some photos of lots of 'things' they gave me in my post-surgery pack; just need to take a few more photos.  Will also do a very short recording with my super weak voice!

Denjin,

Thank you for sharing your voice surgery experience and it is surely a great idea to create your own thread.

I heard your pre-op voice and I must say you sounded heavenly feminine. Wish I had the same and you could only sound better than that post-op. The worst would be the same without making any effort.

Way to go girl! 

Thanks for the kind comment, Brenda.   I sort of liked my trained voice when I was able to keep the pitch higher, it's just that as I got older it was harder to do that.

OK, as promised here are some results from the various tests Yeson performed.  In case people are curious what tests they carry out. (If you only care about hearing the four week voice, that's at the bottom!)

Vocal Cords Top left is before surgery.


CAPE-V


Stroboscopic assessment


'Normal' voice Neither this or the next one are accurate I think, I had problems lowering my voice and also was starting with a head cold.


'Higher' voice


And, here is a few sentences from 'Comma gets a Cure', which seems to be a bit more preferred as opposed to the overused rainbow passage.  My voice is very weak and I'm not really trying or using any resonance control that I'm aware of.
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1Uw9ojQZcK2

Quote from: Denjin on April 28, 2016, 04:57:18 AM
Thanks for the kind comment, Brenda.   I sort of liked my trained voice when I was able to keep the pitch higher, it's just that as I got older it was harder to do that.

You're quite welcome sweety and I am just being honest 

Looks like Dr Kim shortened 1/3 of your vocal folds.

Prof. Remacle shortened mine a bit more because I used to be a smoker.

Quote from: DenjinAnd, here is a few sentences from 'Comma gets a Cure', which seems to be a bit more preferred as opposed to the overused rainbow passage.  My voice is very weak and I'm not really trying or using any resonance control that I'm aware of.
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1Uw9ojQZcK2

WOW! You sound really good and I am very impressed!

Congrats! 

Yeah it looks like 1/3 to me, too.  Mine were shorter than average to begin with, plus I'd never smoked.   Given that my voice now is a little bit higher than my pre-op trained voice without using any effort, I think 1/3 was enough in my case.

I can't wait until I can vary my pitch a bit more - I'm basically forced to be almost monotone now.  I also get a foreign body sensation sometimes after I speak, so I'm trying to keep talking to a minimum.  Luckily I'm not back at work until next week!

Quote from: Denjin on April 28, 2016, 02:14:39 PM
Yeah it looks like 1/3 to me, too.  Mine were shorter than average to begin with, plus I'd never smoked.

I was really a bad girl  I loved drinking, partying and playing with boys until I found my future husband 5 years ago. He rocked my world 

Quote from: DenjinI can't wait until I can vary my pitch a bit more - I'm basically forced to be almost monotone now.  I also get a foreign body sensation sometimes after I speak, so I'm trying to keep talking to a minimum.

It sounds exactly the same for me.

Quote from: DenjinLuckily I'm not back at work until next week!

Lucky girl! I had to go back to work 2 weeks after my surgery or else I would be jobless

Quote from: bmiranda on April 29, 2016, 03:08:43 AM
I was really a bad girl  I loved drinking, partying and playing with boys until I found my future husband 5 years ago. He rocked my world 

It sounds exactly the same for me.

Lucky girl! I had to go back to work 2 weeks after my surgery or else I would be jobless

Oh you are lucky - I have not partied enough I guess because I have not met any future husband after over a decade...

For me what was really weird at first was, when I was able to vary pitch again, about 1-2 weeks after the 4 week mark, my voice was overreacting - what I used to have to do to get some pitch variation now brought me all the way into head voice and it was sounding exaggerated - lol - I actually had to learn how to use the pitches properly. A voice surgeon here now was surprised at my upper pitch range and called it "extraordinary"

Luckily my work is awesome, Brenda.  I could take off more I think, but honestly I'd like to go back next week and just keep speaking to a minimum!

I sent a rainbow passage sample to Yeson and they said I'm coming along fine.  They also said the breathiness and quiet voice are due to the botox.  I can't wait for it to reduce, since it's so weird.

When can people typically laugh?  It doesn't really work yet for me, I also notice if I try to use any prosody, my voice easily goes way way up into what used to be falsetto.  Quite strange!  Still, my average pitch at the moment is from 0-15 Hz higher than my old trained voice.

Quote from: Denjin on April 29, 2016, 06:56:41 AM
I also notice if I try to use any prosody, my voice easily goes way way up into what used to be falsetto.  Quite strange! 

Thats what I meant - your voice is not monotonous restricted, but actually it is very sensitive. Like if you set the mouse pointer on your computer to the most sensitive option, you are not able to hit a button anymore because the pointer is already at the other end of the screen - lol...

Quote from: anjaq on April 29, 2016, 08:02:08 AM
Thats what I meant - your voice is not monotonous restricted, but actually it is very sensitive. Like if you set the mouse pointer on your computer to the most sensitive option, you are not able to hit a button anymore because the pointer is already at the other end of the screen - lol...

Ahh, yes!   Will take some time to get used to, although it's still hard to use it much at all with the botox. meh. Aside from giving you a weak voice and making you breathy, it is SO easy to swallow something and have it go down the wrong way, resulting in a coughing fit (which I'm pretty good at avoiding now).

How long did it take others who had botox to be able to speak even remotely usable?  It's five weeks for me and I can only really speak for a little bit in the morning and my voice is useless the rest of the day.  Looking through the old Yeson thread it doesn't seem like others used to have this problem so I wonder if he's increased the botox dosage?

At 6 weeks, I had a conversation in a restaurant with someone from the chat here for about 2 hours and while I had to rest my voice a lot after that, like the whole next day, it was possible to speak with her even though it was evening. But I think it makes sense to better not do that and just speak very little until week 8 to allow it to heal more

I guess it's just that it will get a bit better every day, then.  I have noticed if I speak very much I end up having some foreign body sensation in my throat for a bit afterwards.  Guess the means it was definitely too much speaking.  I also sound very weird and fake at the end of the day.  My mum spoke with me and after like one sentence she said 'we'll talk again in a week'.

Lol, yes, it is difficult at first, which is why I tell people not to count on having a voice back at 4 weeks - it takes longer. And Yesons official recommendation is, if you feel strain, foreign body sensation or hoarseness - rest the voice until it is gone. This menas a LOT of resting the voice even after the 4 weeks. It really gets better at week 8 though and especially when the voice exercises can be done to strengthen the new voice. Hang in there.

Thanks, Anja. 

Yeah every time I get a sore throat or foreign body sensation I then stop talking until it goes away.  Also, my voice gets so strange and hoarse after literally a few sentences over many hours.

For example, I've attached a short bit from comma gets a cure and the rainbow passage below (37 days post).  You'll also notice how I don't use much prosody yet since when I do it is hard to control.  Resonance also at the moment, but I know it will improve.

Comma gets a cure (37 days post)
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1jUyd2vnAAW

Rainbow passage (37 days post)
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0Oy3cnGnTj3

BTW, the pitch is lower earlier in the day before my voice goes weird (205 average instead of 220).

For those who are curious, here are two pre-surgery readings.

Rainbow passage (My lazy voice pre surgery)
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1RYLZFrINWx

Free speaking as low as possible (obviously pre surgery)
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1krkMh0CZeX

To me, rainbow passage sounded better pre-op vs. post-op.

Quote from: KayXo on May 08, 2016, 03:15:44 PM
To me, rainbow passage sounded better pre-op vs. post-op.

Oh yeah it totally does, even though the pitch is lower pre-op.  I passed 100% in the voice department, but I was obviously trying harder on the phone, to the point where my co-workers would giggle at my 'phone voice'.

I don't have the strength to do any real prosody or resonance at the moment. I'm assuming this is something that will improve over time. Hell, I don't even understand how to use my voice, really.  Today I was trying and it seems easier if I go higher, so it will take a while to sort it all out.

Did anyone have to retrain themselves to use proper resonance?  I swear my resonance is off now.  Is it just the botox making EVERYTHING more difficult? 

Yes absolutely. Post OP the voice is not the same as before and it behaves differently, too. It does not work the same way - also in respect to "resonance control"... This is why it takes so long to recover from this surgery - in some ways you have to retrain yourself to use the new voice properly, including resonance and power and volume...

Thanks, Anja.  I honestly just don't know how my voice works at all now, it's so strange. it also seems to up in pitch as my voice gets horse during the day, and I thought the opposite should happen.  Dr. Kim said to 'just speak' but if I do that I think it goes lower than is comfortable and I need to speak higher to make it easier...  I trained myself so long ago it was all just ingrained for me so no idea what I was doing, really.