Tongue most cancers survivor ‘can by no means kiss husband once more’ after surgical procedure

Jamie Powell, a 39-year-old particular training employee from Orange County, California, was identified with tongue most cancers in March 2020 after noticing a raised bump on her tongue. She underwent an eight-hour operation to take away half of her tongue and a few lymph nodes in her neck, adopted by 30 rounds of radiotherapy.

Although she has been given the all-clear, Jamie says she is going to by no means be capable to kiss her husband once more and has needed to discover ways to speak and eat once more. She now hosts a podcast with different tongue most cancers survivors to lift consciousness in regards to the illness.

Jamie stated: “It was unbelievably sad when I realised I couldn’t kiss my husband, Jonathon, 40, again.

“I did not realise it till I used to be healed and beginning to really feel like my former self however rapidly, I simply realised I would not be capable to kiss him once more and I could not bear in mind the final time we kissed.

“I cried about it. I was sad. I was sad for him too – that I wasn’t going to be enough.”

Before her prognosis, Jamie stated she “didn’t even know you could get cancer of the tongue” and defined how when she “began to heal up” her “tongue felt like a foreign object in my mouth”.

Jamie’s journey started in December 2019 when she seen a bump on her tongue.

Initially, her dentist assured her that it was nothing to fret about, however when the bump grew larger, she sought additional medical recommendation. After a biopsy, she acquired the devastating news on March 5, 2020, that she had tongue most cancers.

Jamie stated: “I had to meet with 11 doctors who all told me that I didn’t fit the profile for this cancer as I didn’t smoke or drink and in that time, it had grown, and it was aggressive.

“If you’ve a tongue most cancers or any kind of mouth most cancers it normally spreads in a short time due to the lymph nodes within the neck.

“They scheduled me for surgery on March 23 and the US went into lockdown on March 16 and I wasn’t sure it was going to happen.

“It was stage 3 most cancers, and I used to be in hospital for 10 days. I used to be on a feeding tube and I could not speak.”

Following the surgery, which involved removing half of her tongue and replacing it with tissue from her leg, Jamie faced a long road to recovery. She had to undergo speech therapy to train her tongue to function properly again.

Unfortunately, the surgery alone was not enough, and she had to undergo radiotherapy in April 2020. Despite the challenges, Jamie has made impressive progress and has been declared cancer-free.

Jamie said: “In the months after radiation was achieved, it was horrible, I nonetheless could not eat.

“I had to talk it through with a therapist, and I had a hard time being around my family when they were eating.

“I used to be realising all the things I’d been by means of, and I’d have to consider the phrases and if I swallow or eat.

“I had to do a lot of speech therapy and there are a lot of life-long side effects from neck and head radiation – food will never taste the same and it changes your outlook on food and how you eat.

“The tongue nonetheless looks like a overseas object, however the medical doctors are amazed I can speak this nicely for a way a lot I had of my tongue eliminated.”

Jamie decided to share her story to raise awareness about tongue cancer and provide support to others going through a similar experience. She believes it is crucial for dentists to check not only teeth but also the tongue for any signs of cancer.

She explained: “I assumed it was essential to share as I understand how I felt.

“There was nobody out there that looked like me, and I don’t want anybody to have to feel like I did.”

She added: “Your dentist should be checking your teeth and your tongue – I didn’t know that was something they should be doing.”

Although Jamie has made important progress, she admits that she nonetheless has “bad days” and experiences difficulties with consuming. However, she stays decided to work by means of these challenges and proceed her restoration.

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