KATIE: WOW! Barb, you have really been through a lot. How did you cope when you found out that you were going to have to have a laryngectomy?

Barb: How did I cope? Well it was a big struggle. At first, I did not really know what the treatment was going to be. Dr. Jones could see how shocked I was with the news of cancer, so he scheduled another visit to discuss treatment options. It was at the visit when it hit me; I was going to have a laryngectomy! I do not know which was more difficult for me, the period before the laryngectomy, or after. Before the laryngectomy, I had so many thoughts running through my head, like “Why me, how was I going to look, and how were people going to act around me?”