Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 17, 1990 TAG: 9005170641
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Ben Smith, spokesman for Walter Reed Medical Center, said the midmorning operation was expected to take about four hours.
Polhill's doctors said Wednesday that such radical surgery might have been avoided if the tumor had been diagnosed sooner.
"If it had been discovered earlier, he probably wouldn't have to lose his voice box, provided he had the right radiation therapy," said Col. Russ Zajtchuk, deputy commander of clinical services at the Army hospital.
He said the tumor is probably at least a year old, but that there is no evidence the cancer has spread. Nonetheless, Polhill's treatment will include radiation therapy, the doctor said.
Polhill, 55, was held captive by Shiite Moslems in Lebanon for 39 months before being released April 22.
"We are going to overcome this ordeal. We are survivors, and we are definitely going to survive this ordeal," Ferial Polhill said at the news conference, which her husband did not attend.
Polhill has told his doctors he was visited by physicians eight or 10 times during his captivity.
"I'm pretty sure they didn't examine his throat," Zajtchuk said.
"He's a smoker and this condition is related to smoking," Zajtchuk said, adding that Polhill told him his captors had kept him in cigarettes. "The growth is involving both vocal cords. One vocal cord, the left, is paralyzed," Zajtchuk said.
Polhill's weak, raspy voice prompted early discovery of the tumor. A full diagnosis was put off until Polhill, a diabetic who was 25 pounds underweight when he was released, gained enough stamina to undergo the general anesthesia necessary for a biopsy.
Ferial Polhill said her husband's spirits were "very high, very positive, strong." Polhill's mother, Ruth, nodded agreement.
Zajtchuk said Polhill had begun working with a speech therapist to explore various methods for voice communication once the larynx is removed.
by CNB