A physician's experience as a cancer of the neck patient.

This manuscript presents my personal experiences as a physician undergoing several surgical procedures including radical neck surgery for removal of pyriform sinus squamous cell carcinoma. I am telling my personal story in hopes that health care providers will realize the difficult challenges that a patient diagnosed with cancer and undergoes extensive surgeries must face. Facing and living through the difficulties and tribulations of a post-laryngectomy patient has illustrated to me how dependent and helpless one can be after this surgery. Being unable to speak, eat, and breathe normally, while dealing with a potential fatal illness, makes the patient extremely vulnerable, both physically and emotionally. During this difficult and challenging time, a proficient, competent, compassionate and caring approach that understands what the patient is experiencing should be practiced.