VFS: Dr. Thomas Femlar Questions?

13
u/aliceknowsnothing
Sun Jan 19 05:15:53 2020 UTC
(32 comments)

  1. Is the cost still low 10k usd?

  2. Does volume ever come back?

  3. How adjacent to other surgeries can you schedule this? E.g. ffs

  4. Hows dr. Thomas's bedside manner / responsiveness?

  5. Is this permanent? E.g. can intubation damage it like in wendler glottoplasty?

  6. Is the voice post recovery, effortless? I have a voice im happy with from training but it sucks to use all day and often i lose focus on the conversation at hand while keeping everything in place. Will this surgery fix that?

  7. Whats recovery like painwise?

  8. How much pitch increase did you get from base speaking voice to post recovery base speaking voice?

Thanks in advance! <3

all 32 comments


12
u/kitanokikori
Sun Jan 19 06:52:35 2020 UTC
(13 children)

  1. I've heard it was raised to ~$13k, not sure

  2. Your volume will come back mostly but remember that high voices just don't carry the same. I still struggle in loud bars, but otherwise it's fine.

  3. Well, remember that you don't want to be intubated post-VFS for a While, so you don't want to schedule anything after it.

  4. Dr. Thomas is great, because more than anything, he'll be honest about what he can achieve, the risks and what he can do to mitigate it, and the alternatives. He and his staff legitimately care about your well-being, it's super refreshing.

  5. A bad intubation can indeed fuck it up. I have to go to every surgery now making sure to brief the anesthesiologist - so far, it hasn't been a problem. If you're in an emergency and they slam a big ET tube down your throat to save your life and fuck it up, Dr. Thomas said, "Don't worry, we'll fix it"

  6. I don't think about speaking at all and am gendered correctly via voice 99% of the time. Because I haven't done voice training yet I don't sound 100% cis, but the important part is, I 0% sound like a dude, sooooo /shrug.

  7. Pain is really mild, I was laid out by post-anesthesia nausea the first day but other than that, it was Fine.

  8. I went up a little more than half an octave, which is perfect. Not too squeaky.

2
Sun Jan 19 14:27:57 2020 UTC
(1 child)

This is great information, thank you!!

How was recovery, and did you have to take extra steps to not cough or anything like that for a while?

2
Sun Jan 19 16:30:59 2020 UTC
(0 children)

Recovery is alright, it takes a long time for your voice to fully come back, it's like FFS - a slow long tail after most of it recovers. You do want to avoid clearing your throat, you just do your best

1
OP
Sun Jan 19 18:59:10 2020 UTC
(7 children)

Awesome thanks for the excellent response!

Did dr. Thomas give you exercises to do after? Or what type of training is expected afterwards?

Also do you know how long you have to wait before you can be intubated for another surgery?

Thanks!

2
Sun Jan 19 19:10:08 2020 UTC
(6 children)

He doesn't expect you to do anything specific, if you live in Portland he has a good speech therapist on staff but otherwise you have to find someone local.

As to intubation I would ask him but really I would give it awhile, like 2-3mo at least, you really don't want to fuck up a voice you just got!

1
OP
Sun Jan 19 19:39:32 2020 UTC
(5 children)

Hey thanks very much! I definitely dont want to fuck anything up, but at the same time i dont want to delay vfs for too much longer (as earlier the better from what ive heard and seen).

Trying to schedule vfs, grs, ffs, and ba all within a short time frame is stressing me out.

Anyways thanks a ton for the info!!

2
Sun Jan 19 20:12:10 2020 UTC
(4 children)

I just wouldn't try to do all that in such a short time frame, it's too much - your body has to heal between these. You can combine ffs and ba, then do VFS, then save grs for last imho

1
OP
Sun Jan 19 20:24:08 2020 UTC
(3 children)

If only it were that easy w.r.t. my dysphoria :/

Im getting grs next month as i have a crippling amount of bottom dysphoria.

But yeah i guess i can wait on the vfs another year or so :/

3
Sun Jan 19 20:29:18 2020 UTC
(2 children)

That's fair. I'd give GRS 4mo, FFS 2mo, then do VFS. Make sure the FFS person does not do a trach shave, they can permanently fuck your voice. Dr. Thomas will do it for you safely as part of VFS.

1
OP
Sun Jan 19 20:43:38 2020 UTC
(1 child)

Yeah that sounds better and yeah definitely not getting a trach shave for ffs (my adams apple doesnt show at all atm). I understand with vfs its necessary because of how the elevation is done.

Thanks very much this has been very helpful!!

2
Mon Jan 20 00:32:16 2020 UTC
(0 children)

No problem, good luck!

1
u/KaySOS
Sun Jan 19 19:28:02 2020 UTC
(2 children)

You don't sound like a ciswoman and you don't sound like a dude. So what do you sound like?

2
Sun Jan 19 20:08:17 2020 UTC
(1 child)

On self-deprecating days I say I sound like a muppet :P

1
Wed Feb 26 05:44:55 2020 UTC
(0 children)

Omg I did some recordings yesterday for posterity (and almost strained my voice trying to sing - discovered I can't for shit so no longer care if Dr. T inhibitted that ability lol 🤣), and I thought some of my pre-op 8 months of speech pathologist training sounded like a muppet 😳💕🤣

7
u/KaySOS
Sun Jan 19 19:41:19 2020 UTC
(0 children)

I will chime in and also state that I'm interested in having surgery with Dr. Thomas only because I want any hints of maleness to permanently disappear.

I sound female and I have managed to sound this way because I know how to raise my larynx and modify my resonance. Nonetheless, in my 13 yrs since living fulltime as a woman, I always worry that if I drop my guard, cough, laugh whatever, my voice will sound male. This constant worrying is literally making my life a living hell. I am ridden with anxiety and by the end of day, I come back home, exhausted.

I want the surgery to allow me to relax and not have to worry anymore. To give me the certitude, that no matter what, my voice can never again sound male. But I also don't want it to sound weird or have a hoarse voice the rest of my life. These aren't sacrifices I'm willing to make.

What's been your experience? Has the surgery achieved this?

4
u/[deleted]
Sun Jan 19 06:01:54 2020 UTC
(2 children)

My volume is still pretty good. Fantastic bedside manner, I have nothing but praise to his professionalism.

1
OP
Sun Jan 19 18:56:49 2020 UTC
(1 child)

Cool thanks! Did you do voice training afterwards? (I know yeson gives exercises to do)

2
Sun Jan 19 19:06:12 2020 UTC
(0 children)

I haven't done anything as its still healing and settling in. Definitely better sounding so far.

2
u/ThrowAwayT1217
Fri Feb 21 21:05:21 2020 UTC
(9 children)

Hi I'm going next week! As of about eight months ago when I made the appointment, it was still $10k even, but that may have changed?

1
Sun Feb 23 07:35:02 2020 UTC
(4 children)

Mine is this upcoming week (25th of February). The price I was given was closer to $13k if I recall.

I wonder if we’re having surgery the same day?

1
Sun Feb 23 10:36:16 2020 UTC
(3 children)

I believe we are 🥰

1
Sun Feb 23 17:59:19 2020 UTC
(2 children)

That’s so cool :) What’re the odds we’d run into someone else with the same surgery day randomly online? 😂

2
Mon Feb 24 01:06:26 2020 UTC
(1 child)

Right? I am in town now. My office consult is tomorrow afternoon. Want to grab lunch or something?

2
Mon Feb 24 02:06:32 2020 UTC
(0 children)

Sure, I’ll PM you and we can see what we can figure out!

1
Thu Dec 29 17:05:27 2022 UTC
(3 children)

Heyy can I ask how the surgery went? Are you happy with the results ?

3
Sat Dec 31 04:22:05 2022 UTC
(2 children)

Not going to lie - the nasal exams are uncomfortable, but if you've had a covid test, not far from that, it's just every day for a week. I went while I was recovering from ankle surgery, so that made all of it worse. There were a couple of semi scary moments where I had a little trouble breathing between swelling and excess secretion, but nothing I couldn't get through with just sitting up, taking slow controlled breaths, and calming down. The swelling was really uncomfortable and very unpleasant to look at for a month or two.

The results? I can't complain. There's no obvious trace of an Adam's apple. Mine wasn't crazy, but it was there, and now it isn't. The scar a couple years later is hard to see, especially among normal skin folds in that area. To be perfectly honest, I still feel like I kinda sound like a dude if I hear a recording of me not trying and just being chill around people I'm comfortable with. Other people in person though say it sounds more like just a tall chick with a sorta deep voice, and I'm 6', and I have a long history of smoking and drinking, so I guess? If I am putting forth any effort at all though, I feel super confident and happy with my voice. If I'm not paying attention and sneeze, cough, or clear my through, the default sound to me sounds feminine. If I use my "telephone voice" I feel like my voice actually sounds pretty and natural now. If you're worried about singing, I can't offer you any promises, but my one anecdotal experience is that it feels more like singing when I was a kid. I can sing along with Tegan and Sara now, King Princess, Fletcher, etc, and it's not a huge strain anymore. Do still get vocal feminization coaching - but yes, get this surgery too if your voice gives you gender dysphoria. Because my most blah not thinking about it sounds like your average chick with a low-mid pitch voice, but definitely a female resonance I think, and like I said, you put forth the tiniest effort and it surpasses your best pre-op. At lest for me :shrug:

Oh back to the singing - my wife says mine is so much better now because I'm more naturally in register instead of struggling a falsetto. I'd say before I was in the barri range and now I'm about alto.

  • oh and there are literally things I can't do with my voice now. my wife (trans) doesn't like that idea for herself personally, and she's also an active vocalist with a very solid feel for where she is and doesn't want to risk anything from it. if that's something that matters to you (metal growls, pulling out man voice for whatever reason, etc), something to consider *
1
Sat Dec 31 11:27:25 2022 UTC
(1 child)

Hey wow thank you so so so much for answering. That was really really helpful. Can’t thank you enough. So you do not have any problems with your voice? Can you talk a lot without getting exhausted? Like can you use it as much as before the surgery without it exhausting you or something? And breathing is back to normal too? Did you have any surgery afterwards and how did that go with breathing tube? Was the volume affected ? Did you have any laser treatments?

No need to answer all the questions. It was already so helpful. Im wishing you the very best and have a great day and a great new year

1
Thu Feb 2 00:16:13 2023 UTC
(0 children)

Nope, no problems with my voice, and no fatigue with normal use, definitely can use more than before because I'm not expending so much effort feminizing my voice. Breathing back to normal. Have had laser on face and perinium/scrotum, and have had vaginoplasty. I told the anesthetist about the vocal procedure and who performed it, and had no issues. Oh also had an ankle surgery without issue. All the best to you. Over all I'm very happy with my results from Dr. Thomas and Dr. Bluebond (the vaginoplasty).

2
u/ThrowAwayT1217
Tue Feb 25 21:01:56 2020 UTC
*
(3 children)

Y'all. u/probablyAmy and I are totally alive after procedure. I for one am happy to answer questions and will be back in a few months to post progress recordings :)

1
Tue Feb 25 21:03:59 2020 UTC
(1 child)

Same :) Now for 2 weeks of silence. 😂

1
Tue Feb 25 21:28:45 2020 UTC
(0 children)

😳🤯😬🤣🥰

1
u/ThrowAwayT1217
Wed Feb 26 05:45:54 2020 UTC
(0 children)

Also, I want to thank you OP for introducing me to a new friend :)