Health and wellbeing event for people who have had a laryngectomy

A special health and wellbeing event will be held this Friday to provide support to people and their families and carers living with a laryngectomy in Devon and Cornwall.

The event is being held in the Mustard Tree Cancer Support Centre and is being run by the speech and language therapists in the peninsula area (Plymouth, Torbay, Cornwall and Exeter), in conjunction with the Macmillan Living With and Beyond Cancer team at Derriford Hospital.

The event will run from 12.30pm until 6.30pm and will provide an opportunity for people who have had a laryngectomy to share experiences and knowledge, have their questions answered, increase their confidence after treatment with travel, food, swimming and communication, and learn about new advances in technology.

Health and Wellbeing events are being promoted by the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative (2013) to support people after their cancer treatment, to enable them to lead as healthy and normal a life as possible.

People who have had a laryngectomy, have had their larynx removed and their airway separated from their mouth and nose. This has a huge impact on their lives.

Dr Amy Roy, Consultant Oncologist and Mr T Malik, Consultant Surgeon for Head and Neck, will be holding a question and answer session about managing physical symptoms after treatment. Those attending the event will be able to gain practical tips for travel, including the use of portable nebuliser and Julia Bird, Clinical Psychologist, will be giving a talk about how to cope emotionally with life after treatment.

2012 MasterChef winner, Anton Piotrowski, has put together a special menu for the event. During the afternoon, Anton and a fellow chef with a laryngectomy, will hold a discussion on how to enhance smell and taste following surgery.

Julia Pockett, Macmillan Speech and Language Therapist, said: “We are thrilled to have Anton’s support for this event. Patients who have had a laryngectomy may find they have a reduced sense of smell and taste and Anton will be looking at ways to help overcome this and share some of his tips.”