People who suffer from throat cancer and undergo surgery that result in removal of the voice box find it difficult to speak.

They have to press an artificial valve against the throat with the thumb or hold a device near the neck. The device helps such people speak but they never get back their original voice.

The loss, however, seldom kills the spirit of the survivors. Some of them came together on Tuesday to form a group to interact with each other in their artificial voices and share their experiences.

The laryngectomee club has around 20 throat cancer survivors as members.

The surgery to remove the larynx or voice box is called laryngectomee.

“Since many of these people feel embarrassed and uncomfortable to interact with others, such a club will help them engage with and encourage each other. Some people get depressed after losing their normal voice. A club like this will boost their confidence,” said Harsh Dhar, a head and neck surgeon at Narayana Superspeciality Hospital in Howrah.

R. Ananthakrishnan, 65, a founding member of the club, uses an electrolarynx to speak. Electrolarynx is a device which when pressed against a survivor’s neck helps produce sounds.

Doctors said the resident of Batanagar, in South 24-Parganas, was an inspiration to many people who have undergone the larynx removal surgery. “I move around like any normal man. I enjoy my life,” Ananthakrishnan said.

Laryngectomee is advised only when the cancer reaches stage IV. “In the initial stages, we advise radiation and chemotherapy,” said Dhar.

Post-surgery, a patient has three options to regain his or her speech, though the voice will not be like before. “One option is using electrolaryx, another is installing a valve between food pipe (oesophagus) and windpipe (trachea) and the third is learning to talk in oesophagal voice,” Dhar said.

An electrolarynx costs between Rs 40,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh. It lasts for more than five years but the battery needs to be changed at regular intervals.

As for oesophagal voice, a doctor said the quality depends on practice. “There is a hole in the throat through which air enters. This air enters the stomach and person speaks while burping,” the doctor said.

An artificial valve costs around Rs 40,000 and lasts for one-and-a-half years on an average, head and neck surgeon Sourav Datta said.

The survivors’ club has been named Kantho, after a Bengali film of the same name that tells the story of a voice artist who loses his voice box to throat cancer.

“The movie’s real success is the formation of the club with the same name, Kantho,” said Shiboprasad Mukhopadhyay, who directed the film with Nandita Roy. Mukhopadhyay plays the role of the voice artist.