Survivorship Spotlight: Pradipkumar Lahiri
For most, speech is the obvious and easy medium for communicating and sharing ideas. However, for some such as Pradipkumar Lahiri, speech does not always come as easily. Lahiri shares his story of how he found his voice after being diagnosed with head and neck cancer and undergoing a laryngectomy, and how he has devoted himself to helping others like him regain the ability to speak.
Due to cancer and the subsequent removal of my larynx, I lost the ability to speak twenty-eight years ago. In the absence of any institution in India that could help rehabilitate my voice, my surgical oncologist suggested I try speaking by breathing air into my esophagus and exhaling instantly to produce sound. This method is known as esophageal speech, and it is very difficult to learn without proper training. However, due to my willpower, I was able to hear my sound one day.
This sound was the steppingstone to the restoration of my voice. Eventually, by learning to shape the sound through the articulation of my lips, tongue, throat, nose, jaw etc., I was able to speak in a hoarse voice. Unfortunately, I could not develop the quality of my speech as I couldn’t find a single institution that could help me. Even now, this type of speech therapy is rarely available in India.
Incidentally, I found a group of laryngectomees in Tokyo that had formed an institution, with the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), to educate speech counselors and provide speech training for laryngectomees in Asian countries. Through them, I was able to receive esophageal speech training, and my voice reached near normal quality within three months. My successful experience with speech rehabilitation thus inspired me to devote myself to helping other laryngectomees who were struggling to communicate.
The opportunity to do so presented itself in an offer to work with the Cancer Rehabilitation Center (CRC). Recognizing that recovery for cancer patients goes beyond medical care, Dr. Pradhan, chief of the oncology department at the Prince Aly Khan Hospital in Mumbai, joined with Ms. Anaita Vesuvala, a breast cancer survivor, to create the CRC. Under the leadership of Ms. Vesuvala, volunteers made up of health professionals and mastectomy patients offer support through sharing their experiences, giving advice, and guiding patients and their families through the rough process.
Aware that laryngectomees could recover their voices through speech rehabilitation/esophageal speech, Dr. Pradhan sought to expand the services of the CRC to head and neck cancer patients. He requested that Ms. Vesuvala find a patient with training in esophageal speech who could join the team. Thereafter, Ms. Vesuvala tracked me down at an international conference and requested that I join them. I accepted, as the offer was the perfect opportunity for me to fulfill my long-held desire to make a difference for cancer patients who wanted to regain their voices.
I was subsequently joined by Dr. Zehera Rangwala, and, in association with Ms. Vesuvala and with the blessings of Dr. Pradhan, we started to provide esophageal speech training to patients who had undergone laryngectomies. Our services include not only vocal rehab and psychological support, but additional exercises, dietary information, and help with using an electrolarynx when necessary. The aid that we provide is not possible without our dedicated volunteers and cancer survivors whose experiences, expertise, and perseverance make our success at the CRC possible. Without a doubt, seeing the patients who work with us regain the ability to talk is the most gratifying reward for our work.
Our training process:
We believe that group therapy consisting of the patients, medical professionals, volunteers, and close relatives, is essential to a healthy recovery.
We are proud that we have rendered our services to more than 1000 patients a year at both the breast and head and neck cancer divisions.
Our resolution at the CRC is that cancer is not the cancellation of life.
Written by Pradipkumar Lahiri; Edited by Avery Singson June 2021
Due to cancer and the subsequent removal of my larynx, I lost the ability to speak twenty-eight years ago. In the absence of any institution in India that could help rehabilitate my voice, my surgical oncologist suggested I try speaking by breathing air into my esophagus and exhaling instantly to produce sound. This method is known as esophageal speech, and it is very difficult to learn without proper training. However, due to my willpower, I was able to hear my sound one day.
This sound was the steppingstone to the restoration of my voice. Eventually, by learning to shape the sound through the articulation of my lips, tongue, throat, nose, jaw etc., I was able to speak in a hoarse voice. Unfortunately, I could not develop the quality of my speech as I couldn’t find a single institution that could help me. Even now, this type of speech therapy is rarely available in India.
Incidentally, I found a group of laryngectomees in Tokyo that had formed an institution, with the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), to educate speech counselors and provide speech training for laryngectomees in Asian countries. Through them, I was able to receive esophageal speech training, and my voice reached near normal quality within three months. My successful experience with speech rehabilitation thus inspired me to devote myself to helping other laryngectomees who were struggling to communicate.
The opportunity to do so presented itself in an offer to work with the Cancer Rehabilitation Center (CRC). Recognizing that recovery for cancer patients goes beyond medical care, Dr. Pradhan, chief of the oncology department at the Prince Aly Khan Hospital in Mumbai, joined with Ms. Anaita Vesuvala, a breast cancer survivor, to create the CRC. Under the leadership of Ms. Vesuvala, volunteers made up of health professionals and mastectomy patients offer support through sharing their experiences, giving advice, and guiding patients and their families through the rough process.
Aware that laryngectomees could recover their voices through speech rehabilitation/esophageal speech, Dr. Pradhan sought to expand the services of the CRC to head and neck cancer patients. He requested that Ms. Vesuvala find a patient with training in esophageal speech who could join the team. Thereafter, Ms. Vesuvala tracked me down at an international conference and requested that I join them. I accepted, as the offer was the perfect opportunity for me to fulfill my long-held desire to make a difference for cancer patients who wanted to regain their voices.
I was subsequently joined by Dr. Zehera Rangwala, and, in association with Ms. Vesuvala and with the blessings of Dr. Pradhan, we started to provide esophageal speech training to patients who had undergone laryngectomies. Our services include not only vocal rehab and psychological support, but additional exercises, dietary information, and help with using an electrolarynx when necessary. The aid that we provide is not possible without our dedicated volunteers and cancer survivors whose experiences, expertise, and perseverance make our success at the CRC possible. Without a doubt, seeing the patients who work with us regain the ability to talk is the most gratifying reward for our work.
Our training process:
- Help patients and their families understand the importance of speech training and motivate them to undergo it.
- Provide patients with necessary prostheses required for daily life such as stoma covers, bath aprons, electrolarynx, etc.
- Teach the necessary exercises and advise them on the proper diet for laryngectomee patients.
- Provide speech therapy training/esophageal speech training twice a week for six to sixteen weeks. Patients who are not able to take up esophageal speech due to age, health issues, and/or who cannot come in regularly are fitted with an electrolarynx and taught to produce sound.
We believe that group therapy consisting of the patients, medical professionals, volunteers, and close relatives, is essential to a healthy recovery.
We are proud that we have rendered our services to more than 1000 patients a year at both the breast and head and neck cancer divisions.
Our resolution at the CRC is that cancer is not the cancellation of life.
Written by Pradipkumar Lahiri; Edited by Avery Singson June 2021