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Mr Grimsinger - his story, after laryngectomy

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    >> Thank you very
    much, sir, for coming
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    in and sharing your
    story with us.
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    If you could, could
    you please tell
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    us what your name is
    and where you're from?
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    >> My name is
    Todd Grimsinger.
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    I am from Fort
    Worth, Texas.
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    >> Great.
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    >> I had my
    surgery back in
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    September of last year.
    I'm six months in.
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    >> Six months in. You have
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    an excellent voice for
    being six months in.
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    >> Thank you very much.
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    >> Great. What are
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    you doing now
    professionally?
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    >> I went back to
    work in February.
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    I work for the
    Coca-Cola company,
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    been with them
    for 31 years
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    and did anything to
    do with warehousing.
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    >> And you continue
    to work for them?
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    >> I continue to work
    for them. Yes, sir.
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    >> Wow. So you've
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    got as I can see here
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    you've got your
    voice prosthesis.
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    It's a Provox
    voice prosthesis.
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    >> Yes, I do. Vega 2,
    I think it's called.
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    >> Yeah. Provox
    Vega, yeah.
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    And you have a HME
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    and a StabiliBase
    adhesive?
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    >> Yes. The StabiliBase
    I really love.
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    The other bases I would
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    blow the seal
    within the hour.
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    This I get two to
    three days out of.
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    >> Two to three days.
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    Excellent. And it's
    comfortable for you?
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    >> Yes.
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    >> Great.
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    >> I mean I could
    move my neck.
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    I'm not restricted.
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    I even ride my
    motorcycle now.
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    >> Great.
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    So you ride motorcycles,
    you ride bikes.
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    What other hobbies
    that you have?
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    >> I used to work
    in the yard,
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    yardwork, housework,
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    everything around
    the house.
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    >> Excellent.
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    >> Woodworking, just
    about anything.
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    >> Wow. So having
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    a laryngectomy
    doesn't seem
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    to have held you
    back at all?
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    >> No, because I was
    really determined.
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    Because the first
    day they told
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    me I could do
    anything but swim.
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    And I don't care to swim.
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    So then with my wife,
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    her job, she travels
    all the time.
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    So I had to learn how
    to do all this by
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    myself because my kids
    are grown and gone.
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    And I take care of my
    granddaughter every
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    day after 3:00 when
    she gets off school.
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    >> Wow. So you seem
    to be pretty active.
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    >> I have to be because
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    after I finished
    radiation,
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    it was like the world
    came to an end.
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    I had no place to go.
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    Then I was determined
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    once I could start
    swallowing again,
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    eating right, I was
    determined to be normal,
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    as close to normal
    as I could.
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    Like they say here,
    the new normal.
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    >> The new normal. And how
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    old were you when you
    had the laryngectomy?
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    >> Forty-nine.
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    >> Forty-nine.
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    >> But this is my third
    bout with cancer.
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    >> Third bout with cancer.
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    Tell us a little
    bit about that.
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    >> In '99 I was diagnosed
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    with testicular
    cancer that
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    has been metastasized to
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    right side of the
    ball in my body.
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    >> Wow.
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    >> I went through
    four surgeries
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    and six months of chemo.
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    At the same time they
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    realized I had
    kidney cancer.
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    >> Wow.
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    >> Then I had to do
    chemo for four months.
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    Then I had to wait a
    month to get stronger.
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    They removed my
    right kidney.
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    >> Wow.
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    >> And I had to do one
    more round of chemo.
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    Then they
    declared me free.
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    >> Wow.
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    >> Then 12 years later
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    I came down with
    throat cancer.
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    What makes me so mad,
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    not mad about it is,
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    no, I was a smoker.
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    Everybody told me
    to quit smoking.
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    But nobody ever said
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    anything about
    throat cancer.
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    It's always lung cancer.
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    >> Right.
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    >> What hurt me the most
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    was putting my family
    through this again.
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    And that's really
    where I was really
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    upset because my family
    and I we're so close.
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    >> Sure. Wow. Had
    quite a number
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    of challenges that
    you had to deal with.
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    >> Right. Then when
    they diagnosed me
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    with throat
    cancer, excuse me.
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    When they diagnosed me
    with throat cancer,
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    I had basically two weeks
    to make a decision.
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    And Dr. Dusek told me
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    that I had no
    choice but to do
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    this because the
    tumor was so
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    big it was closing
    off my airways.
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    >> So in order to
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    breathe they had to
    do the laryngectomy.
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    >> Right. Most
    tumors are round,
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    mine was flat against
    the voice box.
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    They didn't think
    they're going to
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    have to take
    the voice box,
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    but they did anyway
    just to be safe.
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    >> And so were
    you aware of that
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    before the actual
    procedure?
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    >> Yes. The first
    time I saw Dr.
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    Dusek when he I guess,
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    scoped me, he saw that
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    the tumor was
    different than normal.
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    >> Wow. So when
    they told you
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    we're going to do
    a laryngectomy
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    , how did you feel?
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    >> Didn't really
    know. They told
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    me it'd give me another
    chance at life.
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    >> Great.
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    >> Since I've done cancer
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    before, it's really oh,
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    well, I made it
    twice before,
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    a third time I
    can do it again.
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    >> Got you. So you
    went through that.
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    So after the laryngectomy,
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    what challenges
    did you have to
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    overcome to get to
    where you're at now?
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    >> The challenge
    was dealing
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    with all the new mucus,
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    dealing with changing
    the seals every day,
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    learning how to re-talk,
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    learning how to
    re-swallow, how to eat.
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    >> Got you. And obviously
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    you've overcome those?
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    >> Yes.
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    >> Great.
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    >> They did also
    take out my thyroid.
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    I lost 60 pounds
    since my surgery.
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    But the doctor said,
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    that's all I'm
    going to be.
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    I drink protein shakes
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    daily, take my medicines.
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    I don't smoke no more.
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    I put my cigarettes down
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    the first day they
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    told me I had
    throat cancer.
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    >> Got you. So if
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    you were to give
    advice or have
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    the opportunity to speak
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    to someone that's about
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    to undergo a
    laryngectomy procedure,
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    what advice is it
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    that you would
    give to them?
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    >> Just relax, go with it
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    because it's a whole
    new life for you.
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    It's another way to live.
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    >> So it's just
    another way to live?
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    That's great. Is it
    drastically different?
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    >> With God's honesty, no.
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    Because before I had
    allergies real bad.
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    It's always
    sinus drainage,
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    always something
    like that.
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    But now I don't
    have that troubles.
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    >> Great. Is there
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    anything else that
    you'd like to add,
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    Todd before we end
    the interview here?
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    Anything that you'd
    like to say to someone
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    that laryngectomies
    to their families,
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    to anyone?
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    >> Just relax.
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    God gave you a second
    chance and go with it.
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    >> Great. Thank
    you very much.
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    >> Thank you.
Title:
Mr Grimsinger - his story, after laryngectomy
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Duration:
08:10
Miami Online edited English subtitles for Mr Grimsinger - his story, after laryngectomy Jun 5, 2025, 9:13 PM
Miami Online edited English subtitles for Mr Grimsinger - his story, after laryngectomy Jun 5, 2025, 9:13 PM

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