{"id":408828,"date":"2026-04-20T20:41:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T20:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/408828\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T20:41:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T20:41:07","slug":"patients-journey-from-incurable-larynx-cancer-to-years-in-remission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/408828\/","title":{"rendered":"Patient\u2019s Journey from Incurable Larynx Cancer to Years in Remission"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n \"Mark <\/p>\n

Mark and his dog Sammy. Photo credit: Mark Montoya\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For months after his surgery, Montoya relied on a chalkboard to communicate and, later, an electrolarynx \u2014 a handheld device that produces a mechanical voice, when pressed against the throat. It was a difficult period in Montoya’s life as he struggled to recover and learn new skills.<\/p>\n

Finally, five months after his laryngectomy surgery, Montoya received a tracheoesophageal prosthesis (TEP), a small valve implanted by Guo in the stoma, a permanent opening in his neck, that allowed him to produce his voice by covering the opening and directing air through the esophagus.<\/p>\n

His rehabilitation was intensive and ongoing. His speech-language pathology team including Blumenfeld and Kristen Linnemeyer-Risser<\/a>, worked with him tirelessly \u2014 teaching him the mechanics of his device, managing complications, and replacing the prosthesis when needed, typically several times a year.<\/p>\n

“My speech therapists worked with me day and night,” Montoya said. “They must have seen something in me and knew I could do it.”<\/p>\n

It took nearly a year, but Montoya learned to talk again. He still sometimes reaches for the electrolarynx as a backup when he’s tired. And the stoma remains a visible, permanent reminder of what he’s been through.<\/p>\n

The Return of Incurable Disease<\/p>\n

As the new year began in 2023, updated imaging delivered the worst news yet. Montoya’s cancer had returned in his lymph nodes \u2014 a new tumor in the neck and concern that it had spread to his chest. His cancer was officially considered incurable, meaning no further surgery or radiation would be offered.<\/p>\n

“I was really scared then,” Montoya said. “I did a lot of soul searching and had to prepare to meet my maker. The hardest part for me was telling my mom.”<\/p>\n

Montoya returned to see Sacco, the medical oncologist who had been by his side through his entire journey, to discuss his options.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mark and his dog Sammy. Photo credit: Mark Montoya\u00a0 For months after his surgery, Montoya…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[103,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-408828","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}