"My wife saw me get depressed and a little 3aggravated because I couldn't talk."
Kedian 4credits his wife for what happens next. A 2,600-mile trip in February from his home in Massachusetts to Arizona where surgeons at Mayo Clinic 5deemed him a candidate in a clinical trial for an 6extremely 7rare 8procedure. A total larynx 9transplant, including the 10adjoining tissues, 11glands and blood vessels- thanks to a 12deceased organ 13donor.
"The most common question I get is whose voice is it?"
One of Kedian's surgeons says the voice he can now hear is his own, not the donor's.
"The vocal folds and a very 14generic way to describe them are kind of like guitar strings. And so their job is to create a sound. And if you think about the guitar, it's the shape and the body of the guitar that creates that signature sound. It's the same thing with our bodies."
His regained voice started out as a whisper, but nearly five months after surgery, Kedian's voice is getting stronger. The 15tracheostomy will remain in his neck for at least a few more months.
"Now that I have a voice back, I'm going to do everything I can to enjoy every day and make it my best day."
