Imagine not being able to talk for 11 years. Imagine not being able to smell flowers, or taste your favorite foods. Imagine having to carry a machine around so that you could communicate with others. Imagine all this, and you will find yourself in Brenda Charette Jensen’s shoes.

According to CNN, Jensen, 52, was the second person in the U.S. to have undergone a larynx transplant. Jensen received the transplant in October and after two weeks she heard her voice for the first time in 11 years.

“Good morning.”

“I want to go home.”

Though simple sentences, it was a significant leap in Jensen’s life. Jensen spent two months in rehabilitation to help her do the tasks many take for granted, like talking and swallowing — things she was not able to do for 11 years.

As with any surgery, there are risks.

CNN reports that the biggest risk involves the immune-suppressing drugs that cause Jensen to be more susceptible to illness.

“I can imagine that your quality of life is much worse without a larynx, but you do have to remember the risks,” said Diego Lorenzetti, visiting instructor of biology. “You are more susceptible to cancer after a transplant, because your immune system is repressed.”

Despite the risks, Jensen declares the surgery worthwhile.

“It was frustrating that I had to live with it,” said Jensen to CNN. “When this opportunity came up, I wanted to talk again, and I’m doing it. It was very much worth it.”

Larynx transplants are not the only medical leaps making headlines.

Dr. Madhav Thambisetty, a scientist with the National Institute of Aging, conducted a study that could diagnose Alzheimer’s earlier, according to Voice of America News. Thambisetty was able to detect beta-amyloid — a protein associated with Alzheimer’s — in blood tests of those with Alzheimer’s.

“We don’t know if this protein is the cause of Alzheimer’s,” said Lorenzetti. “We know it’s a marker of Alzheimer’s. Like, having a fever. A fever is the symptom of some sort of underlying condition. The same can be said for beta-amyloid and Alzheimer’s.”

Currently, MRI and PET scans are what are used to detect Alzheimer’s, reports Voice of America. There is also an alternative test; taking spinal fluid. These tests are either expensive, painful, invasive, or all of the above. A blood test would be none of these.

“Our hope is we will be able to identify the earliest changes that occur in the brain, how these changes progress over time, so that we’ll be able to target those for drug intervention, and again, eventually we’ll be able to slow the progression and, hopefully, stop the disease in its tracks,” said Dr. Neil Buckholtz, chief of the dementias of aging branch of the National Institute of Aging, in an interview with Voice of America.

With all these medical advancements, it is hard to predict the sheer expanse of options we could be presented with in the future.