FIRST POST OP REGRETT

John Popper from Blues traveler had the WLS ,  I am sure there are some interviews out there somewhere .

Thank you very much.. I'll talk to just about anyone who can give me a little hope. Im just not ready to give it up yet.. Yes he did have the surgery as I remember.. I did make an appointment with someone next week so hopefully its just a matter of retraining.

  Yeahhh    the Big Popper ..   

    I noticed Dr. John also lost a BUNCH of weight in Blues Bros 2000 , but don't know if it was through WLS .   He does sound a bit different now, not better or worse, just a little different .. 

When I saw John after his weight loss, I was like who the Efff is that guy.. BT must have a new front man..  Was weird to see him that way.

  I've often wondered how much of a difference that might make ...   I think sometime back we had an operatic singer on OH that lost a lot of weight, and reported it did make a big difference for them (can't rememberi f that was positive or negative, though) ..  

  I don't know about pitch and tone and such, but I would think a person would naturally sing better when they're not 1/2 ouf of breath to do it ..   Also, the larger vital capacity now (i.e. not a lot of body fat crowding the lungs)  would seem to indicate you should be able to hold/sustain notes longer than before ...

  Any wind or brass instrument players out there?   I've wondered how the weight loss experience effects their ability to blow ..  

You'd be surprised how many obese singers have powerful voices and lung capacity. When I was at my heaviest, I could barely run to the end of my driveway but I could hit notes and hold it for a very long time!

 Wow ..  interesting ..  I always wondered about those large opera singers, like Pavarotti (and the big ladies in the German operas), and how they were able to belt it out so well despite their size  ..      My late dad was a huge Mario Lanza fan, and I think he said Mario's best days, unfortunately, were when he was at his heaviest.  (I remember dad also saying the reason Mario died young of a h.a. was b/c of his yo yo dieting, sadly   ) ...

does'nt the wind come from your lungs?  Carnie Wilson is another

Wow, finally someone else who not only is going through what I've been going through but has put it into words better than I ever could!

You are NOT alone in this struggle. I have always been a singer, mostly in church. I've always sung in choirs, solos, groups, you name it... After surgery my wife was the first (and only) person bold enough to tell me to my face that my voice is not the same. I don't have nearly as much power behind my voice and I also don't have the range I once had. Most days I cannot sing in falsetto AT ALL, which is really weird to me. I never used to sing in falsetto in front of people but I was always able to if I wanted to. I always wanted to ask my surgeon if anything he did may explain this problem but I was always too scared to ask because they probably would just think I was crazy. I figured maybe they messed with my diaphragm in some way or something.

After about the 1 year mark I got most of my power back but it's not the same. I still can't hit the high tenor notes I used to be able to belt out before but I've learned to master my new range and I'm trying to deal with it best I can. Falsetto is just a memory for me now. When I hit those high notes my voice cracks and just goes all over the place like I have no control at all.

Maybe now that more guys are chiming in about this, we can come up with some kind of theory behind it. This is the first I've heard of the theory regarding the hormonal imbalances, but it makes some sense. I came to the conclusion it had to do with being somewhat "weaker" inside after the massive and rapid weight loss. I am clinging on to the hope that one day I will regain my pre-op voice one way or another...

I'm an amateur singer but a pretty proficient clarinetist.  I'm not having breathing issues; what I am experiencing is my throat closing up after playing for a while.  I was back to playing about three weeks after surgery.  My preaching/projecting voice has not been affected but it seems like my soft voice is sometimes softer and breathier than I am expecting.  I'm assuming I need to give it time and hope it's the same for you!

Very interesting to hear how many singers we have on the board.  Sounds like we need a men's chorus gathering sometime!