A Massachusetts man has had his voice restored through a total larynx transplant The 21-hour surgery transplanted the organ and all associated glands, blood vessels, nerves and airways After four months, Kedian is ready to return home WEDNESDAY, July 10, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- For years, Marty Kedian had been without a voice. Kedian, who hails from Haverhill, Mass., has undergone dozens of surgeries while being treated for a rare form of laryngeal cancer.
As a result, he was robbed of his voice -- along with the ability to swallow and breathe normally. "I was alive, but I wasn't living," Kedian said. "I love to talk to people everywhere I go, and I just couldn't.
I felt strange, and I wouldn't go out anywhere." It was completely out of character for the usually gregarious Kedian. "I'm that guy at the baseball game who doesn't know anyone sitting around them," he said.
"And by the end of the game, I'm friends with everyone in my section." Now, Kedian can return to his role of affable chatterbox, thanks to a total larynx transplant he received at the Mayo Clinic. He is the first Mayo patient to undergo a total larynx transplant, and only the third person in the United States to ever have the procedure, doctors said.
Four months after the surgery, Kedian can speak, swallow and breathe on his own. "Mr. Kedian has already regained about 60% of his voice, which I wouldn't have thought would happen for at least a year.
He still speaks with the same voice and Boston accent he had p.