Our sincerest thanks will always be attributed to Helen. I trawled the internet for a SALT that specialised in the swallow following my husband’s modified neck dissection with tracheal resection. It was so difficult to find the right specialist, so when Helen said “look no further” that’s when his recovery began. Within the first session with Helen’s unwavering help and encouragement, he swallowed for the first time in 6 months! The following sessions he was encouraged and taught how to swallow safely and now five sessions on , we have a life again. I cannot recommend Helen’s expertise more highly, she really is a safe pair of hands, we will forever be grateful
This experience is set against the background of a lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which severely restricted access to health services and therefore being able to ask questions that the NHS simply didn’t have the resource to deal with. Upon diagnosis but before surgery, I engaged Helen to both fully explain the workings of the vocal cords and also to baseline my voice and swallow. Based on this Helen taught me techniques to practice both pre and post op that were of immeasurable benefit. Post operatively, Helen introduced me to further techniques that aided the recovery of my voice, capacity to swallow and also mobility. Her calm and methodical approach gave me the confidence to stretch myself, whilst all the time emphasising the bigger picture. It is fair to say that without the professional support that Helen provided; I do not think that my vocal and swallow functions would have recovered to the degree that they have. This is all the more remarkable given that all of our sessions had to be conducted via Zoom. I would heartily recommend Helen.
From my perspective as Philip’s wife, Helen gave Philip confidence by training him to use the small amount of voice that he had. She made his sessions interesting by using different props and a little humour.
She is an excellent communicator and helped us to understand the complex medical terminology. Helen is definitely someone you would want on your side.Helen was a breath of fresh air when she started to help me with speech training and swallowing exercises, when nobody else was around to help me. If anyone wishes to use her again, she’s very encouraging