Finding Your Female Voice

I received the following note from the office of Lisa Orloff MD on 28 September 2004.

If you or anyone you know had Laser-Assisted Voice Adjustment with Dr. Orloff, please contact them to help with this important follow-up study.

Hi Andrea,
I'm a research assistant working for Lisa Orloff, M.D. (Head and Neck Surgery) at UC San Diego. We are conducting a follow-up outcomes research project on patients who have had LAVA (Laser Assisted Voice Adjustment) surgery with her.

The responses/ outcomes of patients will have an important impact on the future of voice adjustment surgeries, especially in the transsexual population. We are looking to assess the success of the surgery, based on both the patient's perception of her voice and a group of blind listeners.

Would you be willing to consider posting our announcement on your website?

Because 7 years have passed since the first operation, and the leadership of this research project has changed, there are several patients (2/3) of the 33 who we have lost contact information on.

Thank you in advance for your time,
Sincerely,
Andrea Mann
UCSD School of Medicine
Medical Student, year 2

We Need You!

Who?

The LAVA Outcomes Study at UC San Diego Medical Center is seeking all patients of Dr. Lisa Orloff who have undergone the LAVA (Laser Assisted Voice Adjustment) procedure.

What?

We are trying to assess the degree of pitch change that the surgery produces, as well as the overall change in the voice quality. In addition, we would like to find out how you feel about your voice since the surgery. Currently, little information is available regarding this procedure, so your input would contribute greatly to the knowledge we have concerning voice altering surgery and could profoundly affect the procedure’s future course, as well as our ability to optimize voice-image harmony.

In addition to answering the Post-Op Patient Satisfaction and VHI (Voice Handicap Index) Questionnaires, we ask that you schedule a brief telephone appointment with Steve Goldman, M.A. speech pathologist, for the purpose of recording a voice sample over the phone.

How?

If you have not been already contacted by the research team regarding the outcomes portion of this study, please e-mail us at:

lava_outcomes@yahoo.com

or

talk with Vicky at Steve Goldman’s Speech Pathology Clinic (619) 220-7570.

*Please include your Name, current address, phone number, and e-mail address so that we may send you a packet with the 2 questionnaires and instructions on making a voice sample over the phone.