{"id":753,"date":"2026-05-30T10:36:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T10:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=753"},"modified":"2026-05-30T10:36:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T10:36:58","slug":"kauai-man-finds-new-hope-after-surgery-to-rebuild-his-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=753","title":{"rendered":"Kauai man finds new hope after surgery to rebuild his voice"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Nearly four weeks ago, Makali\u2019i Andrade of Kauai was preparing for a rare voice surgery in Tennessee. <\/p>\n

Read more Former Hawaii County official sentenced in affordable housing scheme<\/a><\/p>\n

The operation went well, and he\u2019s now hopeful for the path ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel good. I can breathe better already,\u201d Andrade said.<\/p>\n

His voice may sound soft now, but it is in the early stages of what\u2019s promising to be a strong recovery.\u2028<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cAfter my traumatic injury the first time, I started out like this. My nerves [grew back] wrong. They were crossed,\u201d he said. \u201cSo this surgery, they had to cut those nerves out and they did four nerve graphs. So it\u2019s like back to square one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Andrade is hopeful as ever for the prospect of his voice one day returning. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust stoked. Technology man, it\u2019s pretty amazing,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Andrade nearly died three years ago in a foil surfing accident. It left his trachea severed, and he had long-term vocal paralysis.<\/p>\n

In early May, he flew to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee to undergo vocal reconstruction surgery. The medical team documented the six-hour procedure.<\/p>\n

Read more Vigil set as community mourns Puna homicide victims<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to rewire the nerves to the diaphragm that helps move the lungs, and then also rewire and strengthen the vocal cords to another nerve,\u201d associate professor of Vanderbilt Otolaryngology Dr. Sarah Rohde said.<\/p>\n

They say it\u2019ll take at least six months for him to really start seeing results.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose nerves grow imperceptibly slowly, and they have to travel some distance from the branches that we spliced in. But over time, over the next couple of months, he should start to see some improvement in movement of his vocal cords,\u201d Dr. Alex Gelbard, Vanderbilt University Medical Center Otolaryngology professor said.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The nerves grow about a millimeter a day. There\u2019s been just six others times this operation has been performed by doctors at Vanderbilt. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really proud and excited for him and hopeful that with some time to heal he\u2019ll have a great outcome,\u201d Dr. Rohde added. <\/p>\n

Read more Lost brothers reunite on Maui, fulfilling late father\u2019s final wish<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Doctors say it’ll be six months before results really start showing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nKauai man finds new hope after surgery to rebuild his voice - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=753\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kauai man finds new hope after surgery to rebuild his voice - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Doctors say it'll be six months before results really start showing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=753\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-30T10:36:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=753#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=753\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"Kauai man finds new hope after surgery to rebuild his voice\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-30T10:36:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=753\"},\"wordCount\":380,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=753#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/5bf9509b28ce39c2f9489c7e63312681.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=753#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=753\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=753\",\"name\":\"Kauai man finds new hope after surgery to rebuild his voice - 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