Play-by-play radio announcer for the Chicago Cubs since 1996, there was a time when Pat Hughes thought his livelihood was in peril due to a precancerous lesion on one of his vocal cords. Known as dysplasia, the cause of the condition is often unknown but if left untreated it can turn cancerous.

But today, Hughes’ velvety baritone has never sounded better and for that, he credits the talent and expertise of the experts at NorthShore’s Voice Center. After three delicate surgeries—the last in February 2016—NorthShore experts proudly declared his vocal cords “clean as a whistle!”

Rally Time

“When you’re a broadcaster and have surgery on your vocal cords, it’s an extremely anxious feeling,” recalled the 62-year-old Hughes of Lincolnshire. “You wonder whether you’ll ever announce again. I feel like I’ve got a lot left to give. I didn’t want my career to end.”

Although a tired, raspy voice can be an occupational hazard for a radio announcer, Hughes’ symptoms persisted long after the 2014 Cubs season ended. That is when he sought help from NorthShore. Hughes' lesion was located in the worst possible spot: the crucial vibratory edge of Hughes’ vocal cord.

“The vocal cords are only half an inch to an inch long but their health is crucial for the voice,” say the Voice Center experts at NorthShore. “The vocal cord is wrapped in a lining much like plastic wrap. In Pat’s dysplasia, that lining became thick like shoe leather, and what’s underneath it wasn’t able to vibrate as it should.”

In the Zone: Laser-Focused Care
The NorthShore Voice Center provides state-of-the-art diagnostics and treatments that range from medical and surgical interventions to specialized voice therapy for a variety of issues.

The center features a group of expert surgeons renowned for treating early-stage vocal cord cancer using the innovative KTP laser, which also is used to treat precancerous and some benign lesions. The benefit of the laser, as opposed to traditional surgery and radiation, is that it uses a precise wavelength of light to target and destroy the blood supply that feeds cancerous and pre-cancer tumors while preserving healthy tissue. This innovative treatment was critical in saving Hughes’ voice.

“You have to understand the sensitivity and precision that’s required for surgery like this,” Hughes noted. “The surgeon has to know exactly what he’s doing and not harm any of the good stuff.”

Batting a Thousand
While vocal cord dysplasia can be a recurring disease, there is no sign of a returning clinical curve ball since Hughes’ last surgery. He has since called more than 300 ballgames, which translates into three hours per game of continuous talking—including the historical moment when he became the first Cubs announcer in history to bellow: “The Chicago Cubs win the World Series!”

With the 2018 season now in full swing, fans of all generations are once again tuning in to Hughes’ familiar soundtrack of Chicago summers.