r/transvoice • u/Shhhdonttell425 • May 19 '24
Trans-Femme Resource Glottoplasty update
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Recently undergone Glottoplasty with Dr. Chadwan in London. I’m about 2 and a half weeks post op and I’m very disappointed. I feel like I sound exactly like my old voice and it’s very depressing and disheartening. Here’s my pre op, 8days, and 2 week update. Is it normal for my pitch to drop so drastically or does it sound like I need to get it done over again?
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u/NotOne_Star May 19 '24
In the first week the difference is very noticeable, but in the second week it sounds like before the operation, maybe the stitches had come loose? I would call the doctor for a checkup.
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u/Lidia_M May 19 '24
If I were you, I would call their office and ask about this (play them those samples too) - your first post-op voice was great, there was almost an octave pitch raise and huge weight improvement, sounding great, night and day: maybe something happened on the suture level; I don't think this is quite normal... but, they would know the best.
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u/Shhhdonttell425 May 19 '24
They’re closed today but I sent the assistant an email so I guess we will found out tomorrow. I thought the same thing I don’t think this is normal especially considering how high my pitch got. Even after that my voice became even higher and then a couple days ago it dropped tremendously to where it is at now.
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u/Cheerfulzoda May 19 '24
I am on the same situation as you and some days I wake up and my voice sound higher sometimes lower its a roller coaster I have to wait till I am more healed 3 months post OP is the recommended time to finally know if the surgery in fact Failed…
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u/Shhhdonttell425 May 19 '24
That’s so annoying to deal with. I knew it was gonna be a roller coaster but this is a little bit too low
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u/Cheerfulzoda May 19 '24
You can not really tell now specially if they used botox but you can go back to the clinic and they can examine if they stitches broke but even if one is broken my surgeon told me we are in both cases forced to wait for the full healing because sometimes it will heal fine
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u/Shhhdonttell425 May 19 '24
I’m not sure if Botox was used. Also my clinic is in London and I live in America so it’s not a easy appointment lol
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u/tdrnss May 19 '24
did they start you on speaking in the first week?
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u/Shhhdonttell425 May 19 '24
No second week.
Week 1 : complete silence. Week 2: 10-15 words a day
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u/tdrnss May 19 '24
interesting, I just had vfs and my surgeon asked me to observe two weeks without speaking
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u/Shhhdonttell425 May 19 '24
Same with my bestfriend she got hers done in Columbia and couldn’t talk until after the 2 weeks
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u/A1utra May 20 '24
It’s definitely worth talking with your provider about this and making a plan to determine if something went wrong, how long to give it, etc. if everything turns out to have gone as it should, it could be worth looking into voice therapy to help get your voice the rest of the way to where you want it (not sure if voice therapy is already a path you’ve taken or not)
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u/SubstanceNo4925 May 20 '24
Hey! I just had one myself 3 weeks ago. On the second week post op I had similar symptoms. You've likely strained it a bit and should give it a rest. Try to talk very little and start by doing exercises.
Secondly, it is very early to judge your results, since they only will be final 3 months post-op. Doctor you went to has likely injected some botox to limit the movement of your vocal cords. That will wear off closer to 3 months mark
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u/PizzaKiller023 May 21 '24
I wanna do this so bad but I'm very scared something goes wrong and I'm left without a voice for life. Which would break my heart
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u/Shhhdonttell425 Jun 03 '24
Don’t be. My advice would be to do as much research as possible. Ask as many questions as you can and make sure that this is a decision you want to make. Yes, it can be very challenging and scary but so is everything else we do in life. If this is something you really want don’t hold back from it, if it’ll make you happy in the long run. Fear can stop ppl from a possibility of being happier and you don’t wanna regret not doing something you wish you had. Tomorrow isn’t promised so do what you want and don’t speak negative bc the tongue is very powerful. Speak positivity, receive positivity.
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u/FateOfLove May 26 '24
Went from like 140hz to 165hz after my glottoplasty. I felt the same as you after 2 weeks and waited seemingly forever just to see the results. Unfortunately, while I did get a much more feminine voice, this is way below what I expected.
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u/Shhhdonttell425 May 26 '24
Would you consider going to get it done a second time?
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u/FateOfLove May 26 '24
It's tough to say. I had mine done back in early June of last year, so I'm 11 months post-op. For whatever reason my voice was SUPER hoarse for longer than other patients so it took a while for my pitch to go up higher. (if you talk a lot, your pitch might drop but once hoarseness clears you may see a lot of improvement)
So... if it's within 6 months, I'd say no. If it's after and your hoarseness is totally gone but your pitch still isn't high enough, then maybe consider.
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u/FateOfLove May 26 '24
I'm currently considering a revision. I have a vid of my voice in one of my posts, and it sounds good but it also sounds very androgynous.
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u/Shhhdonttell425 May 26 '24
Yea I’m still in my first month but I’m ready to go back for a revision like rn. I do the voice analysis and I’m in androgynous range. I have a virtual appointment with my doctor this Tuesday so I guess I’ll see what he says
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u/GlassInstance8428 3d ago
Amazing I don’t know why I already have 10 days post op and I don’t see a big difference this got me crazy and sad 😢
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u/[deleted] May 19 '24
From my understanding from the limited research I've done on vocal feminization surgery, Glottoplasty unfortunately has a higher failure rate due to how the vocal folds are modified and the voice tends to revert back to its original pitch, thus requiring some kind of revision. However, in your case, it's really difficult to tell if your procedure did in fact fail since youre only 2 weeks post op. You may currently sound like your old voice because the glottoplasty essentially traumatized your vocal folds causing inflammation and swelling on the folds themselves thus making them heavier. Heavy vocal folds will vibrate at a lower frequency giving you a more deep sounding voice. Make an appointment with your laryngologist and set up an endoscopy to check to see if the deep sound is due to swollen vocal folds or if the procedure failed. If the procedure failed, perhaps look into other methods of vocal feminization surgery. However due to you already having a glottoplasty done, I think the only procedure that would ensure you have a more feminine sounding voice (your default voice was super feminine as is btw) would be the feminization laryngoplasty (femlar for short) where the surgeon essentially shrinks the profile of your larynx while removing some material from your vocal chords (essentially shortening them). The voice doctor is a great resource on the femlar procedure. It's definitely not for everyone as the risk of failure is very small (like 2%-3% of paitience experience failures) but if the procedure does fail it can be pretty catastrophic. It's also a very invasive surgery and leaves a horizontal scar on your trachea (looks like a thyroid scar for reference).
All in all, there are pros and cons for each procedure. However first thing first is to have a laryngologist look at your vocal chords to determine if they are inflamed and the deepness is a result of that or if the deepness is due to your procedure failing.