CareTips

To help improve performance and prolong device life, clean your voice prosthesis in the morning, evening and after each meal using the Provox Brush and the Provox Flush...

Typical signs your voice prosthesis is leaking: •Coughing during or after eating and drinking •Fluid/food-stained mucus •increased mucus •Recurrent chest infections

Do not panic, assess the situation* 1. Are you having difficulty breathing? • If so, seek medical attention immediately 2. Is the voice prosthesis lost? Do you believe the voice prosthesis fell into your trachea (windpipe) and possibly into your lungs? • If so, seek medical attention immediately

Suggestions and Anecdotal Treatments Used in the Field that May Help Extend the Life of your Provox Voice Prosthesis

Provox ActiValve voice prosthesis (VP) is intended for those people who experience early leakage (device life less than 4-8 weeks). Provox ActiValve has magnets to help the valve stay closed. It works similarly to a Provox Vega or Provox2 voice prosthesis but does require additional maintenance and attention to precautions.

After your laryngectomy, the function of the nose and upper airways are lost because you are breathing through your stoma instead of your nose. The air you breathe is not warmed or humidified, often resulting in increased sputum production and coughing...

1. Press on the HME with your finger to occlude the stoma. Practice in front of a mirror if you are having a hard time getting a good occlusion. 2. Say “hay.” 3. Take your finger off the HME after you have spoken. Be careful not to release your finger too early

A speaking valve and Heat and Moisture Exchanger (HME) with both automatic and manual occlusion.

After a tracheostomy, you breathe through a tracheotomy tube and bypass your mouth and nose. As a result, you lose the ability to heat, moisturize, and filter the air you breathe. A Heat and Moisture Exchanger (HME) saves the heat and moisture that you exhale and gives it back when you breathe in.

Provox Luna is a solution designed to help you sleep comfortably, to soothe your skin and to improve lung health. Provox Luna is a complete nighttime system that includes Provox Luna Adhesive made from skin-friendly hydrogel, a soft heat and moisture exchanger called Provox Luna HME, and Luna ShowerAid with special strips to keep the adhesive in place when showering.

After your laryngectomy, the function of the nose and upper airways are lost because you are breathing through your stoma instead of your nose. The air you breathe is not warmed or humidified, often resulting in increased sputum production and coughing...

What is abdominal breathing? • Breathing from your abdomen by using your diaphragm (which is underneath your lungs) instead of using your chest muscles. • Moves more air into and out of the lungs

Your nose and upper airway condition the air you breathe by providing heat and humidity. Because a laryngectomy reroutes your airway intake to the stoma (or tracheostoma) and bypasses the nose, a different method of conditioning is needed. Without conditioning, the cool, dry air you breathe in often causes unpleasant side effects such as increased mucus production and coughing, sleeplessness, and other social problems.

Provox Luna is a solution designed to help you sleep comfortably, to soothe your skin and to improve lung health. Provox Luna is a complete nighttime system that includes Provox Luna Adhesive made from skin-friendly hydrogel, a soft heat and moisture exchanger called Provox Luna HME, and Luna ShowerAid with special strips to keep the adhesive in place when showering.

Press on the HME with your finger to occlude the stoma. Practice in front of a mirror if you are having a hard time getting a good occlusion. 2. Say “hay.” 3. Take your finger off the HME after you have spoken. Be careful not to release your finger too early

• Just mouth the words when you are learning to speak with the EL. • Keep your arm close to your chest when you are speaking, it helps position the head of the EL against your neck. • Keep your chin in a natural position and do not force air out of your stoma when trying to speak

A speaking valve and Heat and Moisture Exchanger (HME) with both automatic and manual occlusion.

Make sure your stoma is clean. If you are wearing an HME, it is still a good idea to practice occluding your stoma without your HME. There may be a time when you may not be wearing your HME and you will need to speak

When using a voice prosthesis, fluency of speech and the ease of speaking depend on a number of systems working together. • Breath support. • Coordination of occluding your stoma. • Coordination of voicing, specifically, the length of your phrases and pausing at natural places in sentences. This improves your ability to speak naturally and easy.

Things to Do to Prepare for Travel Before you travel, find out the following: • The name and contact number for a clinician that sees laryngectomees in the area you are visiting. Contact Atos Medical for suggestions as needed:

1. Before the surgery, record your loved one’s voice. 2. Contact your local Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and/or Fire Department. Inform them that a laryngectomee is a total neck breather and: • He/She ONLY breathes through an opening in their neck called a stoma. They are a Total Neck Breather. • Their Voice Box was removed, and they may have trouble speaking