I thought I’d give you my personal thoughts on the SpeakEZ cannula.

Firstly let me say a big thank you to this group, here in the UK we are/were not aware if anything like the SpeakEZ and if not for you folks and Google still wouldn’t!

I obviously have a trachy but do not use a tube or cannula in everyday life, but there are times when speaking “hands free” is a must. So after looking at this valve for a while I got in touch with the people at Technical Products, they were VERY helpful and explained what I would need to do to buy one. Things work differently in the UK and as trachy patients we get our supplies free. So I had to get my Doc to write out a private prescription which was then emailed to Technical Products. They then took payment and shipped it to me in the UK. Apologies if this is not relevant but I’m sure people not in the US would want to know!

On receiving the valve I was pleased that it was as compact as I was led to believe. It is a simple design which is often best as it can all be “housed” in the cannula and doesn’t stick out like a trumpet.

Even though I was at work I couldn’t wait to try it so I went into the toilet (washroom) and popped it in. I say popped it in because it really is that simple — just hold the ends together and in it goes. There was a fair bit of coughing and choking the first time (it does improve every time you do it), and hey, presto, I was speaking. To make it clear to you how well this works, let me say I rang my wife and grown up daughter and they were in tears at hearing the old Tim’s voice!

The valve is just as simple to take out and easy to clean, just need to treat it with care.

The valve doesn’t seem to impact breathing air in but it does restrict exhaling and this is a problem for me. Unfortunately, my upper airway is so poor that I have as much difficulty breathing out as I do in. Because of this I tend to only use the valve when I’m not doing anything too physical as I find it tiring. Let me make it clear this is due to my condition not the valve. I think that if you’re trached for apnea or something other than upper airway restriction the SpeakEZ would be perfect and allow you to chat away merrily without the ever present finger at the neck.

All in all a superior speaking valve that will help a lot of people and the team at Technical Products are excellent and helping you make the right choice.

Wishing you all well as always,

Tim, 1/21/14