Yeson post-op 1 month questions and picture

12
u/_Ninja_Girl_
Thu Jan 6 08:02:19 2022 UTC
(17 comments)

Picture of the visible result (NSFW) --> https://imgur.com/a/J2DNYp7

Hello ! I'm now back in my country and I'm nearing 1 months post op. I have been advised by Dr Kim to remain silent fort 2 months

This morning I was a witness of a serious car accident and a very nervous policeman started to talk to me, I had no other choices to speak using the least number of word to explain my situation :

" I had voice surgery, got to write"

So I have 3 questions :

- Have I hurt myself doing so and would that affect my result ?

- I sounded squeaky and "watery" half the sentence very high like a little doormouse and the rest androgynous... that sparked a bit of anxiety..

.- I had a 50% vocal folds reductions. Is that common ? I quite don't know :D Can I seat without worrying and hope for a good result ?

Onto being a good patient and do my side of the job by remaining silent then be good at the voice exercises !I recommend Yeson Voice Center to anyone interested, Dr Kim, Jessie and the clinic's voice doctors and ENTs are all sweet people.

- Ninja !

-- Xposted on r/transvoice --

all 17 comments


6
u/[deleted]
Thu Jan 6 08:37:09 2022 UTC
(1 child)

Interestingly other surgeons who perform the same technique as Yesson (such as Markus Hess in Hamburg) recommend a significantly shorter period of silence and do allow very quiet whispering.

If you kept it to a minimum you should be fine after a month or so.

2
OP
Thu Jan 6 11:07:22 2022 UTC
(0 children)

It's reassuring thank you :)
Yes I don't know what makes that difference tho, yet I'm going to follow my Doc's advises ;) -- Thankies !

5
u/ListenInternal
Thu Jan 6 10:30:41 2022 UTC
(6 children)

hi!! i just finished my procedure with dr kim and am flying home tomorrow 😇 if i understood correctly, that is all normal. the hoarseness from botox is expected to last 8 weeks. so in about a month you’ll be able to speak clearly. do your exercises and at month 3 send them your vocal file so they can see how you’re doing! (i think you’ll be A-ok!)

3
OP
Thu Jan 6 11:06:16 2022 UTC
(5 children)

Nice ! Congratulations :) Enjoyed Seoul a bit ?

Thanks for your input, it's reassuring... I can't wait to do my exercices (and once very well healed, even more as J-Mi advised !)

It's really a blessing that we can have reliable voice surgeries today.

3
Thu Jan 6 15:23:01 2022 UTC
(4 children)

yeah we’re lucky to live in 2022. lol and despite being in a cool new country i managed to stay indoors doing work and goofing off most of the time. you should post something when you start talking! we could use more yeson experiences. i’m gonna write something up too at some point. maybe make a video

5
OP
Thu Jan 6 21:12:46 2022 UTC
(3 children)

Yes more testimonies are always welcome :) Maybe I should write something detailed.

1
Sun Dec 11 21:43:53 2022 UTC
(2 children)

I'd love to o hear how things are going today with your Yeson results?

I'm scheduled for end of January.

I'd also love to hear any advice in the trip or things you wish you knew before the procedure to prepare better?

1
OP
Tue Jan 31 09:05:31 2023 UTC
(1 child)

I am more than happy of the results ! I now have the voice that demanded a ton efforts before... But now it's here everytime I open my mouth even when I'm tired, even if I sleep talk.
I'm well withing the female range. To me this surgery is a total life changing success.

1
Tue Jan 31 09:36:00 2023 UTC
*
(0 children)

Wonderful to hear! I'm so happy for you!

Any tips on getting through recovery, or anything you learned on the vocal exercises when you were able to start them?

I had assymetry ( that he corrected) and vocal tremors that should hopefully go away during recovery. I'm 4 days post op - he said he shortened my folds by more than a 3rd, but I didn't catch exactly how much. Got my botox injections yesterday - and flying home tomorrow.

3
u/FailsWithTails
Fri Jan 7 01:45:26 2022 UTC
(7 children)

I had my VSRAC + botox two weeks ago. I wish I asked in more detail about how much of a vocal fold reduction I got.

Jessie is suuuuch an absolute sweetheart. She kept me reassured and guided me through the whole process in their new office. It was a massive help, since I don't know a lick of Korean besides "annyeonghaseyo" and "kamsahamnida".

For the last week, I've been having stress-induced borderline-nightmares, most of which involve me accidentally speaking in a hoarse voice, then being reminded I'm not allowed to speak, and then waking up in a panic. Or dreams where people try to instigate arguments with me, and I've woken up legitimately upset and about to rant. I've honestly been super scared of accidentally speaking.

I've sneezed once, though it was mostly just an airy wheeze because I fought hard to suppress it. I've been able to chase away every other sneeze so far. As for coughing, I keep getting these throat itches, leading to as gentle coughs as I can reduce it to. I've tried the "exhale trick", and almost always, it just tickles my throat further.

Fingers crossed I haven't messed up my surgical results. I'm doing my best.

Edit: Quick question: iirc, Dr. Kim told me I could resume HRT right after the surgery. Is this what y'all were told too?

4
OP
Sat Jan 8 11:03:16 2022 UTC
*
(6 children)

Actually if you take a ruler, measure the base of what has been sutured and measure your vocal folds at the base of the news commissure you can approximate a ratio. You normally have printed pictures in your outpatient booklet. If not maybe you can ask Jessie to E-Mail them to you ?

Oh yes Jessie is wonderful and an excellent professional. Even today being weeks post-op she maintains excellent communications. A true professional and sweet person.

About the nightmares and anxiety I really feel like we (yes, us) should stay busy in a nice way, like seeing cool and understanding friends and get fresh air. I feel like getting out and enjoying Seoul while being there may be a good decision ! It's not a traumatic invasive surgery but recovery from VFSRAC is a little challenge by itself... One should stay positively busy : Keeping your mind away for it to stay relaxed is better for healing in the long run.

As Dr Kim and Jessie told me, there is -reasonable- room for errors. Like you can sometime do an uncontrolled cough or sleeptalk... But anytime you have control over you should stick to what the clinics advises. All in all worrying can become good if you chose to listen to it and indulge in something you love to get better each time it's happening :)

About resuming HRT I had no instructions whastoever. So I considered I will have a long flight and resumed on my first day home.

3
Sat Jan 8 13:58:26 2022 UTC
(2 children)

Thanks for the heads up, I'll check the photos after I get out of bed!

I flew home on New Years Day, and actually crossed the International date line at 11:50 PM, which took me from New Years Day, back to New Years Eve, so I entered 2022 a second time! This was very meticulously planned, and I'm glad the airline didn't botch it by changing my flight.

I, too, resumed HRT after returning home. I've been jetlagged the entire past week. It hits me real hard.

I'm actually trying to start up dating and such. Hoping to maybe meet up once I can start gently speaking a little..? Though I'll still be typing a lot.

2
OP
Tue Jan 25 20:13:17 2022 UTC
(1 child)

That's so funny ! Happy² New² Year² !
How do you feel as of today ?

3
Thu Jan 27 07:23:04 2022 UTC
(0 children)

It took me a solid 2 weeks to get over jet lag. Still resting my voice whenever I can, though I've gently tried it out. Speaking anything is a mental hurdle anyways.

They were right about it being like switching from a cello to a violin - it's as if the strings don't work the way I know how to play them.

Honestly, the longer I wait, the slower time seems to pass - it's grueling sometimes. 4 more weeks to go before I can start the training exercises.

3
Sun Jan 9 03:55:42 2022 UTC
(2 children)

I did a measurement - apparently, they only shortened mine about 35%. Wonder what's the average.

I'm going to have to train really hard I guess for that last leg of the race.

4
OP
Sun Jan 9 13:27:06 2022 UTC
(1 child)

"Only" ? You are right in the ballpark don't worry :)

When they do the examination, they assess how much they will reduce too so your voice will be natural and have a correct pitch. You can tune a bass guitar up to a guitar range, but if you take that bass guitar and try to go as up as a ukulele... It's going to sound weird and very thin.

So usually Dr Kim choses a reduction between 1/3 and 1/2 (as it seems) according to your very own morphology. as of myself I had veeeery long vocal cords, was OK resonance wise but I was unable to raise my pitch more with those chords. Hence the 50% reduction.

Remember : We are all different and there is no "one size fits all". Else every surgeon would do VFSRAC and the assessment would be the anesthesiologist consultation only :D -- Relax :) It helps healing !

5
Sun Jan 9 15:52:25 2022 UTC
(0 children)

Thanks, that was reassuring - I was trapped in my own head there.

I got quite anxious, since I'd previously done some pitch sampling of voices I considered my personal goal, and I used to be a bass singer in highschool choir.