he's a cancer survivor
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Val Kilmer gives health update after tracheotomy, throat cancer: 'I feel a lot better than I sound'
Suzy Byrne
Suzy Byrne·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment
August 7, 2020·4 min read
Val Kilmer is opening up about his health.
While promoting his new film Paydirt, the Top Gun actor, 60, spoke about having a tracheotomy necessitated by his two-year battle with throat cancer. The surgical procedure, which involves an incision in the windpipe and the placement of a tracheostomy tube to improve breathing, completely altered his voice, making it difficult to speak and to be understood due to its raspiness.
Nonetheless, Kilmer told USA Today, "I feel great, and my health is excellent.” And in an attempt to deflect attention from himself, he added that his daughter Mercedes Kilmer, who appears in Paydirt with him and was also being interviewed, “feels great, looks great and her health is excellent" too.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/val-kilmer-health-update-tracheotomy-throat-cancer-paydirt-212801735.html