Patient Stories

For more than five decades, Jonathon “Johnny B” Brandmeier has made his living with his voice as a radio personality, musician and performer. So when his voice began to change, he knew something wasn’t right. What he didn’t know was just how serious the problem might be—or that the first two doctors he saw in Chicago would give him a diagnosis that left him fearing he could lose his voice entirely.

• After being told he likely had vocal cord cancer and could lose his voice, Johnny B sought another opinion at UC Health.
• Dr. Aaron Friedman discovered a different picture and developed a careful treatment plan focused on both Johnny B’s health and preserving his voice.
• Two surgeries revealed vocal cord scarring, a benign cyst and pre-cancerous changes—but never vocal cord cancer.
• Nearly three years later, Johnny B remains free of pre-cancer and continues regular follow-up—grateful to be back behind the microphone and doing what he loves.

Losing his voice and seeking another opinion   

Johnny B had been using his voice professionally since he was a teenager. He started playing in bands and singing when he was 14 and began his radio career at 15. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, he began noticing something different.

“God, my throat is just kind of falling apart,” he remembers thinking. His voice would become tired, and the problem became more noticeable as his vocal demands increased.

After seeing doctors in Chicago, Johnny B was confronted with the possibility of vocal cord cancer and the prospect of losing his voice.

“I walked out, it was raining, and I just started to cry,” he says.

Then a friend pointed him toward Dr. Aaron Friedman.

A fellow broadcaster who had undergone treatment with Dr. Friedman, an otolaryngologist and laryngeal surgeon at UC Health, encouraged Johnny B to seek him out. After reading about Dr. Friedman, Johnny B made the trip to Cincinnati.

“I just told him that—he saved my life,” Johnny B says. “He saved it. He changed it.”

Getting to the bottom of Johnny B’s symptoms

When Dr. Friedman examined Johnny B’s vocal cords, he found several problems—but the picture was more complicated than the diagnosis Johnny B had previously been given.

Years of heavy voice use had left Johnny B with significant scarring. Dr. Friedman also saw an abnormal area on one of his vocal cords that needed a closer look.

“We didn’t know necessarily just based on the exam in the office what that represented,” Dr. Friedman says. “But we did know that a surgery was going to be necessary for at least diagnosis and hopefully treatment.”

Within weeks, Johnny B was in the operating room. The moment before surgery is one he will never forget.

“Dr. Friedman just comes up to me, and he just puts his hand right there and goes, ‘We got you, John. We got this,” he recalls.

During surgery, Dr. Friedman discovered something no one had seen before: a cyst in Johnny B’s vocal cord. It was benign and could be removed. But there was also the abnormal area that had prompted concern in the first place.

Dr. Friedman removed the cyst and took a sample of the other area to better understand what was happening. The results showed that Johnny B did not have cancer. Instead, he had significant vocal cord scarring and an early abnormal change that would need to be watched closely.

Just as important, Dr. Friedman made a decision about what not to do. Rather than remove more tissue from Johnny B’s vocal cord, he stopped and allowed it to heal.

For Johnny B, that decision reflected something he quickly came to understand about his new doctor: Dr. Friedman wasn't just focused on treating what he saw. He was focused on protecting the voice Johnny B had spent his entire life building.

State-of-the-art procedure to preserve his voice

Dr. Friedman continued to closely watch Johnny B after his first surgery. Over time, the previously biopsied, benign white plaque on his vocal cord began to grow. About a year later, Dr. Friedman recommended returning to the operating room.

This time, the biopsy revealed vocal cord dysplasia, a pre-cancerous condition. Dr. Friedman’s team treated the disease during the second surgery.

For Dr. Friedman, the change proved why keeping a close watch and acting early matter. Rather than radiation (or, if that failed, removal of the entire voice box), Johnny B received surgical treatment to treat only the abnormal tissue while keeping his voice box working.

Dr. Friedman used a state-of-the-art photoangiolytic laser to remove the pre-cancerous surface lining without touching the deeper tissue responsible for vocal vibration.

“That deeper layer is what gives all of us the ability to have a good voice and what we want to preserve as much as we can, if possible,” Dr. Friedman says.

Right there through every step of recovery

Recovery wasn’t immediate. After surgery, Johnny B was unable to speak normally for weeks. His return to using his voice happened gradually.

UC Health speech-language pathologists Lauren and Katelyn also became an important part of his recovery, helping him learn how to rehabilitate and care for his voice. One of the lessons was something Johnny B had never considered in all his years as a performer: warming up his voice.

He learned exercises that included blowing into a straw to help prepare his voice for use. He keeps the handwritten instructions from his speech therapists on his bathroom mirror.

Care that’s worth driving for

Johnny B lives in Wisconsin, meaning his follow-up appointments require a long drive through multiple states to reach Cincinnati. But he keeps coming back.

“Why do I keep coming—driving through all these states, all these weather conditions, snow, rain, sleet or whatever it is?” he says. “Because this is the best.”

Today, nearly three years after his surgical treatment, Johnny B remains free of vocal cord pre-cancer and continues regular checkups with Dr. Friedman.

Johnny B’s experience also gave him a message he wants other people to hear: Don’t ignore changes in your voice. “Don’t wait. Don’t wait.”

His goal is to get back to using his voice in every form of entertainment he can come up with.

“Because that’s the only thing I know how to do. And (Dr. Friedman) has given me that ability again,” Johnny B says. “I can’t thank him enough.”

Why choose UC Health Otolaryngology

Our Voice and Swallowing Disorders specialists care for the full person behind every diagnosis. We work with each patient to build a treatment plan using advanced technology that fits their unique goals. We help people protect their voice and use it to the best of their ability so they can get back to what matters most.

• Whole-person care: We look beyond symptoms to understand each patient’s concerns, lifestyle and goals.
• Personalized treatment plans: Our specialists tailor care to each patient’s needs, balancing effective treatment and quality of life.
• Expertise and technology: Our specialists use advanced diagnostics and innovative treatments to help you keep your voice and swallowing abilities, no matter how common or rare your condition is.

Call 513-475-8400 to schedule.