Glossary
The words you are likely to hear from your care team, explained in plain language.
- Adhesive
- A thin patch that sticks to the skin around the stoma and holds the HME in place. Also called a baseplate.
- Chemotherapy
- A cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs.
- Electrolarynx
- A small electronic device held against the neck or cheek, or used with a tube in the mouth. It makes a sound that you shape into words. Also called an artificial larynx.
- Epiglottis
- The flap that covers and protects your airway when you swallow. It is removed in a total laryngectomy.
- Esophageal speech
- A way of speaking without a device. You swallow small amounts of air into the food pipe and bring them back up to make sound.
- Esophagus
- The food pipe. It connects your throat to your stomach.
- Heat and moisture exchanger (HME)
- A small cassette with a foam core treated with a salt solution. It catches heat and moisture when you breathe out and returns them to your lungs when you breathe in. Often called your “new nose”.
- HMEF
- An HME that also filters bacteria, viruses, dust and pollen.
- Indwelling voice prosthesis
- A voice prosthesis that is fitted and changed by your clinician.
- Laryngeal cancer
- Cancer that forms in the tissues of the larynx.
- Laryngectomee
- A person who has had a total laryngectomy.
- Laryngectomy tube
- A soft silicone tube worn inside the stoma to keep it open. The HME attaches to it.
- Larynx
- The voice box. An organ in the throat that sits on top of the windpipe and holds the vocal cords.
- Mucus plug
- Mucus that has become thick, crusty and hard to cough out. It makes breathing difficult and can be dangerous.
- Neck breather
- Anyone who breathes through an opening in the neck rather than through the nose and mouth.
- Non-indwelling voice prosthesis
- A voice prosthesis that you learn to remove and replace yourself.
- Occlude
- To block the stoma, usually with a finger, so that air goes through the voice prosthesis when you speak.
- Pharynx
- The throat. The muscular tube that connects your mouth and nose to the food pipe.
- Radiotherapy
- A cancer treatment that uses beams of intense energy to kill cancer cells. Also called radiation therapy.
- Speech therapist
- A specialist who treats problems with speaking and swallowing. Also called a speech-language pathologist (SLP) or, more generally, your clinician.
- Stoma
- The permanent opening at the base of the neck that you breathe through after a laryngectomy. Also called a tracheostoma.
- Stoma button
- A short, soft silicone button worn inside the stoma to keep it open. The HME attaches to it.
- Total laryngectomy
- An operation to remove the larynx and epiglottis, often done for advanced cancer of the larynx.
- Trachea
- The windpipe. It runs from below the larynx to the top of the lungs.
- Tracheoesophageal (TE) puncture
- A small opening made by the surgeon between the windpipe and the food pipe, where the voice prosthesis sits.
- Voice prosthesis
- A small plastic device with a one-way valve, placed in the wall between the windpipe and the food pipe. It lets you speak by sending air from your lungs into the food pipe. Sometimes called a TEP.