North Shore man regains voice after historic surgery

Ten years ago, Marty Kedian got some bad news. Doctors diagnosed the Haverhill man with laryngeal cancer, a tumor that grows on what is commonly known as the voice box.

Over the years, as he underwent treatment, Kedian’s voice shrunk to a whisper — and then, last year, to no voice at all.

“My only option in Massachusetts was a total laryngectomy,” he said. “I said to my wife, I’m not doing that.”

Kedian’s reluctance to undergo that surgery is understandable. A laryngectomy would get rid of the cancer — but at the expense of his voice — forever.

And so Kedian signed on to an experimental surgery — something that’s only been done twice before in the U.S. Last February, doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, removed Kedian’s cancerous larynx and replaced it with the larynx of a donor.

And after 18 months of living in Arizona, Kedian and his wife, Gina DeFeudis, returned to Massachusetts. Thursday, friends and family threw a welcome home party at the Steeple Hall at Mission Oak Grill in Newburyport.

They were treated to Kedian — talking.

“It’s been a journey,” he said. “It’s been more than a journey. It’s been an adventure.”

An adventure that’s left Kedian determined to see that others have an opportunity to get the same surgery he had.

“Everybody should have a voice,” he said. “Nobody should be left without a voice.”

Laryngeal cancer is considered rare — and incidence in the United States has dropped dramatically over the last 30 years — largely, the American Cancer Society reports — because fewer people are smoking. Still, the Society estimates 12,650 Americans will develop laryngeal cancer in 2024. About a third will not survive.

Kedian’s transplant left him cancer-free. However, he is still dealing with a tracheostomy tube — but anticipates it could be removed soon. That would mark the first time in five years he’d be free of the trach, which assists with breathing.

“I pray for the people who have them,” he said. “It’s not a good way to go through life.”

Kedian said his first priority is to spend time with family and friends — most especially his young granddaughter, Charlotte. He is looking forward to reading books with her.

Someday, Kedian and his wife hope to meet the family of the person who donated the larynx.

“It’s such a tremendous gift they’ve given us,” said DeFeudis. “I can’t imagine what they’ve gone through. But just knowing the donor is living on in Marty... I hope they can take some comfort in that.”

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