Category Archives: News

April Meeting Notes

Thank you to those 14 who came along, to make up quite a small gathering last Wednesday. We were very happy to have Julie Parry among us throughout the meeting. Apologies had been received in advance from some of our friends, and to those who are ‘under the weather’ for whatever reason we send our best wishes, in particular to Jacqui who is in treatment and Fred who is trying his best to heal his leg, to free him up for back surgery.

I’ve been asked for some pens, and although I’d have sworn I had a box, it seems not. Ill get a batch on order soon….

Photobiomodulation

Another topic raised by Alison Smith at our March meeting was Photobiomodulation. You might remember I posted an article about this a few weeks ago, and indicated that our CNS team are discussing plans to bring this therapy to Royal Stoke Hospital.

Just to recap, PBM is a light based therapy that aims to encourage the repair of cells in the head and neck area damaged by Radiotherapy. This intervention is aimed at reducing the long term effects of the treatment on swallowing and speech and it works by shining LED light beams onto the affected tissues. The treatment would be administered in clinic, and would typically take only minutes to perform. It is drug-free, painless and non-invasive, relying purely on the abilities of certain wavelengths of light to penetrate beyond the surface layer of skin and stimulate the repair and regeneration of cells lying beneath the surface.

Emma Hallam, Therapeutic Radiographer, has set up a clinic in Nottingham to offer this service to patients. It’s hoped that Emma will be able to collaborate with our CNS team at the Royal Stoke to help bring this therapy to our Hospitals.

Voice Banking: what’s that? What can it Do?

What is voice banking?

Many people having had Head and Neck treatment lose their voice or speech altogether and require some form of device to assist them with voice communication.  Headcases have purchased tablet computers in the past, where ‘text to speech’ software will read out words and phrases typed in by the patient. This kind of technology is referred to by clinicians as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technology. AAC devices mainly use generic, synthesised voices which bear no resemblance to the person’s own voice.

Voice banking is a process for creating a ‘personalised synthetic voice’ (PSV), a synthetic approximation of a person’s natural voice.

To create a PSV, a set-list of phrases needs to be recorded – often between 350 and 1600. The PSV can then be used on an AAC device to ‘speak’ an infinite number of novel words, phrases and sentences.

There are several suppliers able to help with this process, but the key thing is to anticipate the need BEFORE the speech facility is harmed significantly by the treatment. In this way, the person’s true voice can be ‘banked’ and used as the basis for the AAC device in the future. Very rarely do we get something for nothing of course, so the companies specialising in this will usually require payment for their services. One such company is SpeakUnique. Click on the logo below to find out more.

March Meeting

We had a great meeting last Wednesday, attended by around 20 of us including our guest, Alison Smith, representing Severn Healthcare. Alison is principally an SLT (Speech and Language Therapist) working in the NHS, with special reference to Laryngectomees. Thank you to Alison and Severn Healthcare for setting us up with a bar tab, and buying us all a drink!

During the meeting, Alison had long chats with several of our friends about swallowing, speech difficulties and other long-term effects of the Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy treatments used in cases of Head and Neck cancer.

Two topics came up that I’ll put a separate post about: Photobiomodulation Therapy and Voice Banking.

Thank you also to Hannah Powell (North Staffs CNS), who took time out from her own evening to attend the meeting, and keep up the clinical contact for us all. It’s much appreciated.

March Meeting: Wednesday 5th March at 7.30 p.m.

Hi all. I can’t quite believe we’re in March already! Just a quick reminder that we’ll be meeting at the Saracen’s as usual next Wednesday. Hope the nice weather continues, and we have a good turnout. I’ve updated an earlier post that mentions John’s SECRET, SURPRISE party in November. The venue has now been changed to Werrington Village Hall. See you next week.

Cheque from Mr Hughes

Our thanks to Mr Hughes, ENT Consultant at Royal Stoke, who provided us with a cheque for £120 towards our funds. Apparently this relates to a service he provided last year, where the DVLA provided the cash, and he kindly diverted the payment to us.

It sounds a bit mysterious to me, but on behalf of us all, thank you anyway Mr Hughes! The cheque is on it’s way to our bank via the post office, as it appears Lloyds don’t like working on Thursdays…

**** TOP SECRET **** Please save the date: Sat 29th November 2025

It should be safe to post this request from Lisa, since John doesn’t visit the internet, much less Headcases web site! In any case, please don’t mention this if you happen to bump into John as it is planned to be a complete surprise.

Lisa asks us all to reserve Sat 29th November 2025 as she’s planning a surprise 70th birthday party for John. It will be held at Werrington Village Hall, 358 Ash Bank Rd, Werrington, Stoke-on-Trent ST9 0JS and it’ll start at 19.00. Proper invitations will be sent out closer to the time, but she hopes as many as possible will attend, to mark this special milestone.

February meeting: Wed 5th

Despite some chilly weather, around 20 of us attended the Saracen’s Head for our first meeting of the year. It was good to welcome a new friend, visiting us for the first time. The first visit is always the hardest move after treatment, but it is rewarded by the discovery that you’re not the only one experiencing weird side effects, or trying to eat odd combinations of food! I received a message prior to the meeting from Alison of Severn Healthcare, saying she couldn’t make it this time due to a road closure. I hope we’ll see her next time.

Our thoughts, as always, are with Headcases friends who are struggling with illness. Let’s hope this year brings them positive outcomes, and much needed relief. In particular all our love and best wishes go out to Jacqui at a very difficult time for her, and Russell, who came to the meeting despite his many troubles.

Thank you to Julie, who came along to the meeting and stayed right through to answer questions and help us out in so many ways.

Lisa brought a fine array of her crafts for sale, and John was reporting on the success of his very personal talks at the Royal Stoke and County hospitals regarding alcoholism and his journey to sobriety. These were well attended, and provided medical staff with a rare and intimate insight into this battle. John was also able to collect some cash in our shaker at these talks, and I was happy to bank £15.00 today from that.

First Meeting of 2025

Hi all, just a reminder that we will be meeting at the Saracen’s Head, Sandon Road, Meir at 7.30pm next Wednesday 5th Feb.

Through a consultation with Jacqui, we’ll be joined by Alison Smith of Severn Healthcare. Alison is the Midlands Clinical Specialist Speech and Language Therapist.

Look forward to seeing you all there.