Stories

My story starts in May/June 2022, whilst working as a forklift operator on a building site, when my voice was slowly tapering off by the end of the day and it was getting really hard to speak . Like a typical man, I just went through packets of strepsils hoping it wouldimprove after a few days, but slowly the days turned into weeks and with constant nagging from the wife, I finally got an appointment to see a doctor. Within 5 minutes of being in the room she said she was booking me in for an urgent ENT appointment.

Since my total laryngectomy in February 2022, I have taken on a few challenges that most regular airway folk would call extreme — and that, for a lary, sit somewhere between brave and completely insane. Four Hyrox races. The ATHX Games with a fellow lary. Two London to Brighton off-road MTB rides. An Xterra Duathlon. The X-tron Live virtual fitness event, all the way through to the Finals.

It was February 2025. A cold, fresh, beautiful night in Rome. We were getting ready to head out for dinner when my tummy turned for what felt like the 10th timet hat day, a familiar feeling I had only ever felt three years earlier. I couldn't be? Could I? Can wishes in the Trevi Fountain come true that fast? I'd given up testing a few months earlier, sick of the disappointment of seeing negative tests over and over again. But not this time. I stared at the positive pregnancy test in my hand and couldn't believe our luck. Finally. 2025, a year we would complete our little family and a year we'd never forget, although not for the reasons I thought at the time. I'm not sure how long exactly my voice was hoarse for, but I started to notice it around the time I fell pregnant. It got progressively worse as the weeks went on, along with my morning sickness. I mentioned it at my GP appointments during my pregnancy, and they

In January 2022 at age 29 I was diagnosed with Laryngeal Cancer. I had been suffering from a hoarse voice in May 2022 and had managed to be seen by an ENT specialist in June. I was then diagnosed with silent reflux and was prescribed reflux suppressants such as Gaviscon. For the next few months I would continually take things like Gaviscon multiple times a day in the hopes that it would improve the condition of my voice. For a little while it did feel like there were small improvements but my voice still remained hoarse.

My voice had been knackered since early in the year, like a typical man I ignored the obvious, ignoring the nagging of my family and friends. I eventually bowed to the pressure paying a visit to my friendly GP. In those days you could get a GP appointment without having to give your inside leg measurement to the receptionist.

I want to start this story off by saying how unbelievably proud of my daughter I am, and, through this experience, despite it being one of the worst things a child can go through, let alone a parent, she has made me appreciate the little things in life even more.

It was late October 1999 I was a month into my 42nd year and it was just an ordinary day but one that changed my life in so many ways. A life that I am so grateful to still have. I felt a lump on the right side of my neck. Four months later in late February 2000, after GP appointments, dental and then Hospital, I was finally diagnosed as having a Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

My name is Jon, or Jono. I am a 57‑year‑old builder that runs a building company as well as a building consultancy company dealing with health and safety.I have a very active family, with my wife Nicky, dog Fletcher, 4 children and 11 grandchildren.

Howdy! I’m Aaron Wayne, laryngectomee.

My Name is Lucy Lodge and I was diagnosed with Cancer of the Vocal Chords in August 2011 at 25 years old.