EXCLUSIVE: Savannah Guthrie and Her Doctor Give Close-Up Look at Vocal Cord Surgery — and the Results
Savannah Guthrie is back in Studio 1A after taking several weeks away to recover from vocal cord surgery.
The TODAY co-anchor joined the show on Friday, Jan. 23, to give an exclusive update on her health, and a close-up look at her recovery and new voice before she officially rejoins the desk on Monday.
Savannah, 54, announced in December she was undergoing a procedure to fix an issue with her vocal cords.
On Jan. 20, she gave a preview of her voice in a video call with the TODAY team. She shared that she was still on vocal rest but allowed to talk for five to 10 minutes every hour. “I think the good news is that it worked!” she said of the surgery.
Since Savannah started at NBC News in 2007, a lot has changed for her — including her voice. Over time, it became much deeper and raspier.
“What I thought was just normal aging and wear and tear got much more noticeable, and this past year, much worse,” Savannah told TODAY in an exclusive interview aired Jan. 23.
“Sometimes, it was hard to get through a sentence.”
What Is Savannah Guthrie’s Voice Condition?
Unable to ignore her voice, Savannah went to Dr. Peak Woo, an otolaryngologist at Mount Sinai and leading voice specialist.
Woo examined her using a stroboscope to look at the vibration of the vocal cords, which produces the sound of our voice.
“What I saw was a hemorrhagic polyp on one side and vocal nodule on the other side,” Woo told TODAY. In other words, she had a ruptured blood vessel on one vocal cord, and a callus from overuse on the other. These caused a rough, gravelly voice.
Polyps and nodules are not uncommon among people who use their voice for a living, Woo explained. They can result from talking too much or too loudly, or even laryngitis.
If left untreated, the voice will get worse and scarring can develop, causing speaking to become painful and limited.
Savannah sought treatment right in time, he added.
Microlaryngeal Surgery
Luckily, there was a fix: microlaryngeal surgery, a delicate procedure that involves using microscopic instruments to carefully repair the vocal cords.
“We use instruments about the size of an ant’s head to carefully remove the polyp portion but preserving the tissue surrounding it so that it should be able to vibrate,” Woo said.
The procedure is performed under anesthesia through a laryngoscope inserted through the mouth.
“I am so ready to get this over with and (have) a normal voice again,” Savannah said in a video recorded at the hospital pre-operation.
An hour later, she was in the recovery room. “Her surgery went very well,” said Woo.
A Completely Silent Recovery
After surgery, Savannah faced perhaps the toughest assignment of her life — staying completely silent for the next eight days.
Instead, she communicated by writing on a white board.
Savannah after her surgery.
When her husband, Michael Feldman, checked on her after surgery, she held wrote, “I’m happy.”
“Doc says you can’t argue with me for a week,” Feldman joked.
She scribbled a response: “Milkshake.”
Savannah recovered at home with her kids, Vale, 11, and Charley, 9, who told their mom she was “still loud” during vocal rest.
An “Emotional” Voice Reveal
One week and many milkshakes later, Savannah returned to Woo’s office for a close-up of her vocal cords and the big voice reveal.
“He inserted a tiny camera up my nose and down my throat to see how the vocal cords were healing,” she said.
Everything looked great.
Dr. Woo checks Savannah’s vocal cords, and she tries her new voice for the first time.
Savannah made her first sound, “mmm,” and then Woo asked her to say a familiar phrase.
“Good morning, today is Tuesday, Jan. 13th, 2026,” the anchor said, using her new voice for the first time.
“It sounds so good, I could cry,” Savannah said after hearing it. “Once again, I was speechless.”
“The voice is really an expression of your soul. And when you suddenly restore it, it can be emotional,” Woo added.
In the weeks following surgery, Savannah worked to get her vocal chords back in shape. “It’s just like going to PT after an injury,” she said.
Voice therapist Shirley Tennyson showed her how simple exercises, like humming through a straw into water, can strengthen vocal cords without straining them.
“Our goal is to preserve this wonderful new voice that has emerged and get it stronger,” Tennyson explained.
Savannah has made excellent progress, according to her care team. As she continues to recover, she’s been warned to avoid putting herself in situations where she’ll to talk too much — the TODAY show being an exception.
