Cricothyroid Approximation

The 'cricothyroid approximation' - it sounds rather like a Robert Ludlam novel but in fact it was a trip to the Wellington Hospital in London, yesterday for an operation by Professor Cheesman to 'up' the pitch of my voice. 

I am generally quite happy about appearance now.  Body shape is good, hair long and lengthening, balding area now pretty much covered by regrowth but then I go and open my mouth and ruin it all.  My voice pitch is low - 'R nought' (as the speech therapists say - of only 87 Hz.  Low even for the male range.  I have put my time in on speech therapy but the therapist and I decided that some surgical help was indicated and so yesterday morning Prof Cheesman sliced across the front of my throat, pulled had on my vocal cords' mounting and stitched me up again.  I am sure he will hate that explanation, but it did for BBC Radio Somerset on Monday morning when I dropped in on the Emma Britain show to keep them updated  (lovely lady).

I am a bit hoarse, and do look rather like I have tried to cut my head off with a hunting sabre, but no doubt it will all settle down soon.  I'll let you know what the results are.

You may be able to watch them for yourselves because the BBC west country current afairs programme 'Inside Out' having been investing some time filming me for broadcast shortly, so fingers crossed for a good result.

The next step is a visit to the speech therapist in London on Friday.

I'll keep you posted!

Robin

Bits and Pieces

I always said that I wouldn't post unless I had something to say, but it probably is time for an update in a number of areas, and a few followers have asked so.....

I passed a useful facila electrolysis milestone yesterday - the first weekly session where the number of insertions was below 200, just at 198.  Yes, I lie there counting them!  This also means that I am down to half an hour and my skin recovers really well - within the hour, mostly.

Tomorrow is another laser session for lower legs, buttocks and small of my back, and that is going really well also.

On Thursday 24 I am speaking on transgender and workplace issues at the national Employment Lawyers Association conference in London - a rather larger audience than I have had before, but a good opportunity.

Perhaps the biggest bit of news is that my voice operation (cricothyroid approximation) at the Wellington Hospital in London has been brought forward to 29 May.  I am really looking forward to that as voice is the big unsolved area for me at the moment.  This balances my worries about doing anything to affect my voice which is, of course, a big part of my working life.

Oh, and I picked up three pairs of white loafers from the good folks at 'Theatrical Shoemakers' in Docklands, so I have a decent range of casual shoes in my rather larger sizes for the coming (hopefully) summer.

And lastly I am now on a pretty strict diet and exercise regime as I want to be down to 12 stones and fit before I head off to Thailand in November to give myself the best chance of a smooth ride through the surgery.  Nothing especially arduous but I am pleased to find that I still only have to tweak the regime a little and the weight strats to come off.

That's all for now!

Robin