Kimberly Williams-Paisley stayed awake despite an intensive three-hour neck operation

Kimberly Williams Paisley talks about her intensive three-hour medical treatment for her rare voice disorder.

After Williams-Paisley discovered her life-changing diagnosis, which ultimately left her unable to speak for two years, the actress turned to top doctors to help her regain her voice.

She was diagnosed during her January 2023 visit to the Vanderbilt Voice Center in Nashville, Tennessee, where health professionals treated celebrities such as Johnny Cash and Wynonna Judd Muscle tension dysphoniaas she had partial paralysis of her left vocal cord.

KIMBERLY WILLIAMS-PAISLEY “FELT TRAPPED IN MY OWN BODY” WHEN SHE COULDN’T SPEAK FOR TWO YEARS

Muscular dysphonia is a change in the sound or feel of your voice due to excessive muscle tension in and around the larynx Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Doctors inserted a scope up Williams-Paisley’s nose and down her throat to examine her vocal cords. However, the medical team said that “the muscles in her neck were so tight that the tendon strands were barely visible,” she described to People magazine in an exclusive interview.

“When we first saw them, it was hard to tell what was happening to the vocal cords themselves,” said Dr. Gaelyn Garrett, senior medical director of the Voice Center.

Before doctors could proceed with neck surgery, they injected a hyaluronic acid filler into her left spinal cord to see if the filler would help her speak.

The medical team then agreed that she needed a three-hour laryngoplasty – “a procedure in which the weak left vocal cord is moved closer to the right.”

“We wanted to customize the cable as much as possible,” said Dr. Garrett, who performed the surgery with her medical team.

KIMBERLY WILLIAMS-PAISLEY had surgery after ‘losing my voice’ two years ago: ‘Never quite came back’

“We kept her awake so we could hear how her voice changed as we manipulated the position of the vocal cord. We are trying to restore the natural voice.”

Williams-Paisley described the procedure as “bizarre” as she was fully awake when doctors opened her throat.

“They put up a plastic sheet so I couldn’t see anything but my throat on a screen they put up. It looked like a different mouth, like a big hole!”

Williams-Paisley remained in good spirits throughout the procedure as she explained that being there during the operation was “wonderfully symbolic” and that she was really ready for it.

According to People, “During the procedure, the team took a silicone rubber implant and placed it next to her left vocal cord to hold it in place, then asked her to speak. They removed it and adjusted the size by hand carving.” They replaced it and had them try again. When her voice returned to its natural tone, they knew it was a perfect fit, and once in place, the implant – which is permanent and meant to last a lifetime – allowed her to speak loudly again for the first time in almost two years.

“I couldn’t believe it was true,” Williams-Paisley said. “It felt great.”

Meanwhile, before the neck surgery, doctors couldn’t determine her health problem because they couldn’t really see her vocal cords. Dr. Garrett described Williams-Paisley’s muscle tension: “It’s almost like putting a string around the tissue that sits right above the vocal cords and squeezing it.”

For a year, the “According to Jim” actress tried to treat her diagnosis, but she said her voice didn’t return.

She practiced both traditional and unorthodox solutions, including “antidepressants, Invisalign braces, vegan diet, hypnosis, a psychic – even an astrologer.”

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“You hope that therapy will fix the problem, but sometimes you discover an underlying problem that wasn’t obvious at first, and that’s exactly what happened with Kimberly,” the doctor continued.

Vanderbilt speech-language pathologist Jennifer Muckala added that Williams-Paisley’s muscles tensed to compensate for her vocal cords.

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“She had to use a lot of force to try to get her vocal cords together because of the weak left vocal fold… She was basically a leaky valve.”

After the medical procedure was completed, the Father of the Bride actress shared her neck scar from the neck surgery on social media. She protected the scar from the sun by wearing scarves.

“I’m not aware of it. I am proud. It’s part of my story,” she said.

The 53-year-old actress is married to a country music star Brad PaisleyShe shared that her husband and children are her biggest support.

As Williams-Paisley went through her tumultuous medical journey, she could only be heard whispering.

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Although her husband tried to be supportive, he admitted he wasn’t always helpful.

“I remember saying, ‘Let me hear your project.’ “Learn to gain power through it.” “I thought maybe she just needed to clear her throat,” he told People. “It was so stupid and naive.”

The country singer gave his wife a bright pink megaphone to call the boys.

“It was one of the nicest things Brad did for me – it was really hilarious and so necessary,” she added. “I started using it straight away. He’s so good at making me laugh.”

The actress has sons William and Jasper with Brad, whom she married in 2003.

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While Williams-Paisley recovers from her vocal strain, she is set to host the third season of the Fox reality show “Farmer looking for wife” Premiere is scheduled for March 20th.