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In This Issue:
Thomas Page, 86, plays the trombone.
Optimism and determination have served Thomas Page well. Diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2007, the then 84-year-old underwent a round of radiation treatment and chemotherapy before doctors determined he would require surgery to treat his cancer.
“Three different doctors told me that my trombone playing days were over,” said Page, who has played the instrument since he was 10 years old.
In February 2008, Page underwent a laryngectomy, or removal of his voice box, followed by a complex free flap reconstruction of his airway. A flap is a piece of tissue transplanted from one area to another. In Page’s case, a portion of skin on his forearm was transferred to his neck, where it was connected to blood vessels and structured to serve as a new tube to his stomach.
“Our focus for the surgery was getting rid of the cancer and putting him in a position that would allow him to speak,” said Keith Saxon, MD, of the Division of Otolaryngology, who performed Page’s laryngectomy. Donald J. Annino, MD, also of the Division of Otolaryngology, performed the reconstruction.
Shortly after the laryngectomy, Page underwent a second procedure called a tracheoesophageal puncture. Surgeons created a passageway between his trachea and esophagus, inserting a prosthetic device that keeps food out of the trachea but lets air into the esophagus, allowing him to speak.
“I think initially he was discouraged, but he never gave in to it,” said Linda Leahy, Page’s daughter. “There was a long period of time where he couldn’t speak or eat, but he never thought he’d never play again. He always believed he would.”
In the months that followed, Page met with speech pathologist Pamela Harvey, MA, CCC-SLP, several times a week to work on regaining his ability to speak. He progressed so quickly that it wasn’t long before he and his team, along with a group of speech pathologists and doctors at MGH, moved on to his next goal: to once again play the trombone.
“To describe Mr. Page as ‘robust’ is understating his level of energy and determination,” said Harvey. “It takes a lot of respiratory coordination to get the prosthetics working together in a way that allows him to maintain adequate pressure to play a wind instrument. It’s quite extraordinary, and he is one of the only patients in the world to have achieved this.”
A member of two bands, Page once again plays the trombone regularly, participating in concerts at local senior centers. “I want to thank my wife and children for encouraging and supporting me during my recovery, and I hope my story gives people facing this operation the courage to try things they never thought possible,” he said.