By Itzhak Brook, MD, MSc
The Laryngectomee Guide has been made available on www.entnet.org for patients and physicians by author and laryngectomee, Itzhak Brook, MD, MSc. The guide provides practical information to assist laryngectomees and their caregivers in dealing with medical, dental, and psychological challenges. Topics covered include the diagnosis and treatment of laryngeal cancer; side effects of radiation and chemotherapy; methods of speaking after laryngectomy; and how to care for the airway, stoma, heat and moisture exchange filter, and voice prosthesis. Also addressed are eating and swallowing issues, preventive care, use of CT and PET scans, emergency situations, anesthesia, and traveling as a laryngectomee.
Itzhak Brook, MD, MSc, is an Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He earned his medical degree and completed his residency at Hebrew University, Hadassah School of Medicine, in Jerusalem and obtained his master’s degree in pediatrics from the University of Tel Aviv in Israel. He completed a fellowship in adult and pediatric infectious diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles. For 27 years, he served in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Navy. Dr. Brook is the past chairman of the Anti-infective Drug Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration. He has done extensive research on anaerobic and respiratory tract infections, anthrax, and infections following exposure to ionizing radiation. Dr. Brook was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2006. Two years later he had his larynx removed and currently speaks with a tracheoesophageal prosthesis. He is also the author of My Voice, a Physician’s Personal Experience with Throat Cancer.
