A Story of Grit and Determination

Abstract

Dear Editor, Total laryngectomy remains an essential treatment for locally advanced laryngeal carcinoma. However, it involves lifestyle changes for the patient, such as the inability to communicate verbally, breathing or aesthetic changes, which affect their quality of life and require comprehensive rehabilitation. Speech rehabilitation is of utmost importance for these patients. As part of this, all the patients undergoing total laryngectomy go through an extensive preoperative counselling which includes clear understanding of the surgery, speech and swallowing assessment and familiarization with various modalities of voice restoration. In order to provide comprehensive rehabilitation after total laryngectomy, we have been running a successful laryngectomee club at our institute for the benefit of our patients. Regular three monthly meetings are conducted by this self-help group, wherein the members (Laryngectomees) interact among themselves and also with preoperative patients needing laryngectomy about the challenges of social and physical life they face in the day to day life and their solutions. Most of the patients are able to lead an independent, confident and constructive life. As this entire process requires strong support from family and friends, they were also roped in to be part of the self-help group. As the team started growing in numbers, old patients were involved as volunteers in the group, thus allowing them to guide the new patients through the trauma of cancer detection and treatment. The fear of losing the voice discourages many of the patients with carcinoma of larynx from getting operated. In order to build confidence and to create further awareness on the benefits of the programme, the survivors could not find a better occasion than the Independence Day to showcase their triumph over the disability of speech by reciting the National anthem (Fig. 1). On the 15 of August, 2018, 16 of our total laryngectomees recited our national anthem using their artificial voice, a remarkable feat which has landed them in the India Book of Records. Of these, 10 patients used electrolarynx, and the rest 6 used tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis for voice generation. The main purpose of this feat was to demonstrate that loss of speech after surgery could be conquered with motivation and adequate training. The patriotic fervour instilled the grit and determination in them to accomplish this feat. Probably, this is the first time in India that so many laryngectomy survivors have recited in unison along with the nation celebrating the occasion of Independence Day and making it memorable. * G. T. Jonathan [email protected]