05/12/2026
A special shoutout to one of our amazing therapists, Cami Morris!
For many in our community, Dr. Amabile Milano spent decades helping others heal. Today, she’s sharing her own story, a reminder that speech therapy can make a meaningful difference at any stage of life. At Raleigh General Hospital, our speech therapy team helps patients regain strength, confidence, and quality of life through personalized care and compassion. We’re honored Dr. Milano trusted us with her care and grateful she allowed us to share her experience.
"I suppose people would wonder why someone my age would need speech therapy. In my case, I developed a problem with my vocal cords due to my age. They had become atrophied and did not touch anymore, so my voice became hoarse and weak. It became so quiet that people had difficulty hearing me. I was referred to an Ear, Nose & Throat physician. When he examined my vocal cords, he explained what has happening. My treatment options were to have injections around my vocal cords so they would function more efficiently or try speech therapy for voice treatment. We decided to start with the speech treatment first. So, he referred me to Raleigh General speech therapy clinic. Right before I was supposed to start my voice treatment, I aspirated and was hospitalized for aspiration PNA. Therefore, I was motivated to start speech therapy as soon as possible to strengthen my vocal cords and reduce my risk of getting another pneumonia.
Thank goodness for Cami Morris, my speech therapist. She taught me strengthening exercises and how to use my proper breath support, volume, and quality of voice to communicate more effectively. This treatment has impacted my voice a great deal. My friends and family are able to hear me better. My sister does not have to wear her hearing aids anymore while we talk. Not only is Cami skilled speech pathologist, she uses her personality as a healing tool. I appreciate that because when I was in medical school one of our professors encouraged us to use our personalities as healing tools.
I think that one reason why my speech needed to be improved in volume was because I retired after over two decades of being a plastic and reconstruction surgeon here in Beckley. When I spoke to dozen of patients, families, colleagues, and hospital staff numerous times during the week. So I guess that old saying, "if you don't use it, you loose it, applies to being able to speak loudly enough to be heard."
