# Life as a Laryngectomy

- By: TAPAS KUMAR HALDER
- Date: 2021-05-19
- Classification: Photograph
- Museum: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Life_as_a_Laryngectomy.jpg)
- Rights: [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
- Picture: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Life_as_a_Laryngectomy.jpg/1920px-Life_as_a_Laryngectomy.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

A total laryngectomy, which involves the complete removal of the larynx, becomes necessary when conservative methods like chemotherapy, radiotherapy or partial removal are no longer effective for advanced laryngeal tumours. After a total laryngectomy, breathing and swallowing are completely separated. Next, your surgeon creates a so-called stoma (tracheostoma), which will help you breathe after surgery. From the outside, a hole is now visible in the neck, allowing you to breathe. Since: This hole leads directly to the windpipe, which the surgeon has sutured to the skin during surgery.