Gnu - the docs thought that they knew the best way forward for Kendall. Unfortunately a lot of them aren't totally up to date with the latest methods. If Kendall had been told what radiation would do he would not have taken that option. It was presented to him as the lesser of two evils, that or chemotherapy. At least chemo would have not caused the lifelong aftereffects that he now has to live with and the cancer returned within a couple of years.

His laser surgery excised the cancer completely on that vocal cord. He was unlucky that another cancer developed on the other vocal cord.