Sorry, Sins -- this is the guy who LITERALLY wrote (and is still writing) the book on preserving the voice -- Steven M. Zeitels, MD, FACS. (Sorry, we JUST got home, wolfed a steak & cheese sub, got a whole bunch of other stuff to do -- don't have time to make blue clickies.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_M_Zeitels
http://www2.massgeneral.org/voicecenter/staff/zeitels.htm
http://web.mit.edu/shbt/research/citations/zeitels_s.html
http://web.mit.edu/shbt/research/citations/zeitels_s_1.html
http://www.vitals.com/doctors/Dr_Steven_Zeitels.html

Etcet Etcet.

Basically Tom's right vocal cord is a goner -- good thing Tom's an old Leftie. Surgery is set for Oct. 20th at Mass General. Tom will stay overnight in the hospital, and we need to stay in Boston -- close to the hospital -- from the Tuesday of the surgery until Friday. Basically Dr. Zeitel will remove the cancerous tissue from the right vocal cord -- that's most of the cord. I watched while they took all the pictures (with a tiny camera snaked through Tom's throat and nose & displayed on the screen next to Tom -- who knew better than to look). The tumor is a big irregular globby thing bubbling up from the cord. This endoscopic partial laryngectomy will be the first procedure.

Then, in several more procedures, he will (this, I think, is where the magic happens), he will rebuild the area of the right vocal cord so that the intact LEFT cord can play off the area and do its thing. Then, I imagine, there will be a lot of voice therapy.

All I've got time for right now -- got a pile of reading to do, too.

Linn