I welcome any questions about Yeson, you can PM me if you would like.  I would be happy to talk about my experience.  I mean other than the vomiting post anesthesia; I had such a great time in Seoul and with Yeson. 

Glad you are home safely.  These are certainly flying trips!

My op yesterday seems to have gone really well, including the additional cyst situation. I am not in any pain but am just managing the phlegm flow. My tongue is bit swollen though.  I am having a day in the hotel just to rest as I haven't been sleeping too well. The silent thing isn't too hard so far but I imagine I might find things a bit isolating once I am home.

Fortunately no vomiting post-op but I have done so before so I think they medicated me in advance.  Dr Kim is very thorough and explained what he was doing at least 3 times and answered everything in detail. It was a very good day. I was more put off by the cyst wound than the vocal folds but both are tiny.  I even travelled back to Gangnam on 2 train lines last night at 6pm after surgery with no problem.  It must have been all that ice cream! Yeson also gave me a USB-powered humidifier as I commented about how dry the air is here especially as they keep the hotel very warm.  I turn the room heat down every day and the staff turn it back up! I have my window open now to cool the room down.  Little machine seemed to work last night quite well.

So, so far so good. Let's just see what happens over the few months, firstly knocking off this week.


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OMG the tongue thing, I had numb tongue for a few days and it is still a little sore. 

Aren't the trains great!!  I love them so much for getting around.  If only Seattle could figure out mass transit, it will never happen beyond the meager light rail they are building.  Seoul trains were wonderful...

The Hilton wasn't has dry, fortunately.  but there were several places that they cranked up the heat, and then outside was freezing.

So glad you are healing up Emma <3

I liked the subway trains - they are like here in Munich but I think they come more frequently in Seoul. Sadly unlike here in Munich, the transfer walk from one train line to another can be amazingly long in Seoul. Once I think I probably walked about the distance from one station to another within tunnels and underground shopping passages just to get to another train line. At least they have rather clean public restrooms in all the stations - very useful once one is in the phase that requires you to drink water all the time to avoid coughing

I took a series of photos for my FB page of the Subways and used the hastag #Seoultrain

Totally agree on the walking, holy crap sometimes I thought it would be easier to just follow the streets if it weren't below freezing most of the time we were there.  So I guess the underground tunnels and shopping areas were actaully pretty welcomed

Emma,  I hope your recovery is going well and you are able to get out and do some sightseeing.  If you get to the Coex mall, the Aquarium is pretty nice.

Hi Sarah,

It is 3:40am here in Seoul - yes, insomnia is still my friend!

My recovery is ok I guess and I have been taking things very slow. Having 2 wound sites with one a bit higher up than the vocal folds makes it a bit more difficult.  I often wonder which site is contributing to my discomfort the most. I have tiny wound bleeding output in mucous that I hope is coming from the cyst site only.  I am mastering the airway clearing technique as I am very "phlegmy". This is a side effect of having problem sinuses. I will be very curious to hear how I have gone at my check out on Monday.

I am planning to hit Coex tomorrow or Monday. Only a 5-minute walk from Gangnam station on the green line so it is a short ride over there. Thinking of going to the National Museum of Korea today. 

Now to try to sleep!




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Hi everyone,

Just an update on day 12 post-op.  I am still not talking.  I have not uttered a peep since surgery day on Feb 7th.  It is honestly one of the most frustrating things about the surgery.  I am a consultant, and being able to talk and advise my clients is rather difficult right now.  I was even offered a quick project which could have needed me some more money, but I might not be able to do it since it is very client facing...no worries, at least I was the first one they thought of for the work, that means something.

I did get the botox injections following the procedure because of a slight tremor.  There really have been no complications because of this other than I do not have the energy I use to have.  I read that this is a side effect, so basically I just want to nap all the time.  I am still drinking a ton of water, and fortunately, I have not had any coughing fits.  I have had a few incidents when I ate or drank something that made me cough, but I was able to follow their directions of keeping everything open and relaxed , then immediately follow up with slowly drinking water. 

Another frustrating thing is that I find it so hard to interact with people here in the states.  It was easy in Seoul, since we had the language barrier, but here many people think I am deaf.  I want to shout "dude, I can totally hear you, I just cannot talk right now!!"  But obviously I cannot do that. 

I am also on an exercise hiatus while I heal up, and being a very active person, I cannot wait for another week to pass, so I can start running again.  Today I went on a nice long walk, and other than the cold dizzle, it was wonderful to just get out of the house and wander through the wooded neighborhood again.  I have also been spending a fair amount of time alone, since having conversations has been difficult, this has not helped my mood much, so tonight I am going to a friend's house for the evening.  The benefit here is that she is interested in the surgery, so hopefully it will be less awkward than the other times I have been hanging out with people I know.

I think Rose asked about the cost of the surgery.  Here is a rough breakdown of what I spend on this trip.  Please note that the travel & hotel costs may vary, especially, since my friend and I did stay at a 5-star hotel on the executive floor.  I was able to cash in some rewards points which covered just over half of the cost of the hotel stay, meaning that my personal hotel cost was for only 4 days, not 10.  They benefit of years of accumulating travel and reward points I guess.  Plus my friend and I tend to treat ourselves to nice things

Airfare: $1,584.76
Hotel: $1,697.40
Yeson: $7,932.57 (surgery, plus botox)

This nets out to just over $11k

I still have another 18 days of no talking left.  I am being good and quite honestly, it isn't that hard not to talk, since I feel like I have a sore throat anyway.  I did laugh once while in Seoul, it was very brief but sounded better than how I laughed in the past.

I recommend getting a nice pen and notebook, I pretty much use this all the time.  I also have an iPad and the Apple pen, which is also quite useful.

Lastly, I have nothing but positive things to say about Yeson.  Dr Kim, Jessie, and the rest of the staff have been nothing but helpful, understanding, and nothing but a pleasure to work with.

That is it for today.  I will update again if there is anything new to add...

-Sarah

Thank you all for sharing your experiences and tips, it is invaluable for others who plan similar procedures in the future. Good luck with your recovery Sarah and Emma!

A quick update (and sorry for dumping my stuff in Sarah's thread).

Had the check out at Yeson. Both surgery sites are healing very well. Relief! Botox in. Didn't really like that part. Voice exercises explained. Extra pills prescribed for when the Botox runs out. Didn't think I needed that but there you go.

To echo lots of Yeson patients, what a wonderful team they are at Yeson. The pity is that at the point when I just want to say thank you, I am being bombarded with information and instructions while being unable to speak. A note later might have to do. Dr Kim and Jessie will be back in Australia doing consults at the end of the year so I will let Dr Kim have a look at my progress then.  Will certainly motivate me to do a good job. 

So the first week is over tomorrow and I fly home tomorrow night. Not sure if I will miss Seoul. Perhaps if this had actually been a holiday. To be honest, I am sick of doing these transition surgery trips. This one is the last. I'm done.   

Finally, a huge thanks to everyone who has shared their VFS journeys on Susan's. So much wisdom in one place.

Much love

Emma

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Quote from: EmmaD on February 20, 2017, 05:52:38 AM
A quick update (and sorry for dumping my stuff in Sarah's thread).

No worries at all!  Thank you Emma for sharing your experiences too.

I am now at 2 weeks no talking, and it is getting old.  I am going to make it a full 30 days...

Emma, I second your comment about transition travel.  This trip was actually my last for transition, if I had only known about it a decade ago.  My next surgery trip is more about me getting older and wanting things "firmed up" but it is really no different than cosmetic surgery any cis-woman would have.

-Sarah

Quote from: EmmaD on February 20, 2017, 05:52:38 AM
Voice exercises explained.

I guess it would make sense to go over this before the procedure so we could try it and be told "yes that's the way" or "no not quite like that". If I ever go to Yeson I'll ask for this.

Quote from: Fresas con Nata on February 20, 2017, 01:28:35 PM
I guess it would make sense to go over this before the procedure so we could try it and be told "yes that's the way" or "no not quite like that". If I ever go to Yeson I'll ask for this.

Good point. We only practiced the lip trills without sound along with the massage technique.  Fortunately, most of the voice exercises are very similar to what I have done in the past. But I had the same thought when I was stressing over the past week.

cant u post before afters?

Yeson requires 4 weeks of recovery with no speaking during that time. Even after that it may take a a couple of months or more for a full recovery. If you would like to hear some results of a similar surgery from another doctor, you can view Dr Haben's results here. I am the 64 year old voice sample.

I will post some once I can talk again.  I am waiting the full month to allow for optimal healing.  I can tell you I laughed today and it is in a higher register.  I was not expecting that, nor the laugh for that matter.  It just kinda came out.

They said we should be able to say a word or two, but it has only been two weeks and I am patient.  15 more days!!!

oh i didnt know u just had the surgery my b

No worries, I am happy to help anyone interested in having surgery at Yeson by answering any questions about my experience. 

Hang in there - the month will be up before you notice!  I'll never forget my month of silence, though.

I have exactly 12 more days left of no talking.  This song has been running through my mind all day:

Quote from: Inarasarah on February 18, 2017, 06:57:06 PM
Hi everyone,

Just an update on day 12 post-op.  I am still not talking.  I have not uttered a peep since surgery day on Feb 7th. 

Sarah,

Oh. You are already at home again. I have been too busy writing research proposals during the past 2 weeks to read your posts. Glad that you had no serious problem during the surgery. Hoping that your voice will recover soon with dramatic changes.

barbie~~