What an interesting day.
I called in to the hospital I use to work at and where my treatments where performed and had this new device tried. It is a Provox Free Hands Flexi voice made by Atos and has been given to me by the company in order to see if I like it and if I can help them sell more of them.
The principle is simple. After a laryngectomy you breathe through a hole in your neck (stoma) and you have no vocal cords and your mouth has no connection to your lungs. A small plastic tube, about 8mm long is put in a hole made between your trachea and your new throat. By blocking the hole you breathe through with a finger, the back pressure forces air through this tube into your mouth and you use your mouth to form sound and words.
This device sits over the stoma in a stick on base and has a flexible membrane, when you exert pressure to speak the membrane closes and the air is pushed through the little tube to the mouth. Hence it is hands free.
None of the speech paths had used one before so we were all keen and happy to try. After a bit of 'the riveter diverter fits into the thingy' we read the instructions and I put on the baseplate, put in the hands free set, looked at the two speech paths and said, 'Well does it work?' It did and it was very strange to talk again without physically blocking my stoma. Instead of being lost for words, I was lost with what do I do with my hands?
We had a chat and checked a few things and off I went. I called into my lab and surprised the bejesus out of my staff by talking and wandered off into the day.
I drove to the nursing home and went to see Rebecca and she was suitably amazed and happy, we also got a bit emotional but enough of that.
The device itself is a bit of plastic and a silicon membrane. I think you could make it for maybe 50 cents, they sell for $800 and last for a maximum of 6 months.
My part of the contract is to get the politicians here to supply the product to laryngectomy patients as an essential piece of equipment; at the moment they are considered 'cosmetic'.
I'm off to see the State Minister of Health soon to convince him that being able to talk is not cosmetic.
I have to admit that I have felt very strange being able to talk at will and have forgotten to talk several times during the day.
