Excellent Voice Recovering from surgery to remove a tumor from
the thyroid gland, Dr. R. found his voice was hoarse, lacked carrying
power, and faded or failed within a few minutes of conversation.
Rather than have a teflon injection into the paralyzed vocal cord,
Dr. R. elected to try direct voice rehabilitation. His surgeon,
William Longmire, M.D., UCLA Medical Center, referred him to me.
I realized, from what Dr. R. told me, he had been having voice
trouble before his surgery without knowing it. His voice had been
failing and fading, but he assumed this was normal. I concluded
it would take a year for him to regain his voice-a better voice
than he had ever had. It took him one year, almost to the day.
That was twenty years ago. Recently, Dr. R. was on my television
show, speaking with the excellent voice he worked for and obtained
many years ago. He said he never gets hoarse or loses his voice
anymore. His voice is clear and efficient, yet he still has a
paralyzed vocal cord. Not too long ago, I was a guest at his hospital.
Some in the medical community found it hard to believe that Dr.
R. had ever had a voice problem. But he and I both knew, since
we had recordings of his old voice, that once upon a time he had
had a very serious voice problem.
DR. R., Heart Specialist
