A woman who had dismissed a ‘harmless mouth ulcer’ ended up receiving a shock cancer diagnosis.
Helen Keough had noticed the ulcer underneath her tongue last summer and believed it was due to her being ‘busy and run down’.
Explaining it ‘just felt like ulcer pain’ without ever considering it could be a sign of cancer, she said she’d been to the pharmacy for it and it ‘kept going for a bit and then coming back again’.
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However, the 44-year-old began to get concerned when it didn’t just clear up after a few months. She says the GP told her to go to the dentist, where they filed her teeth down as it was thought they were irritating her tongue.
“But four weeks later it was getting so much worse,” Keough explained. "It got to the point where it was waking me up at night and it hurt to eat. It was just so sore. I was losing weight at the time and was very tired."
She was then referred to hospital for a biopsy but claims she had to wait to receive her results, revealing the sore was in fact a tumour.
"By the time I got my results and was told it was cancer, it had been four weeks,” the Chelmsford woman said. "I didn't fall apart or anything, it was very much 'what are we going to do next?' I didn't really understand how aggressive it could be.”
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Keough then sought a second opinion at a private hospital, where she was told it was stage-two tongue cancer and she needed to have her lymph nodes removed.
She ended up undergoing an operation to have 6cm of her tongue removed followed by a recovery period where she needed to learn how to talk and eat again.
“The surgery was extremely hard to get through. Because tests show this cancer has a very high chance of coming back, they want to give me radiation just in case anything was left behind,” the woman added.
Having ended up undergoing a tracheotomy and skin graft surgery to make a new flap for her tongue, she is now urging others to always advocate for themselves.
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"Radiation for head and neck cancer is life-altering, more so than surgery,” Keough said. “If the GP, dentist, or hospital had done their job, I could've had this dealt with straight away and not been at the stage of facing radiation.”
The woman reckons if she hadn’t gone for a second opinion, she ‘would’ve been dead within a year or two’.
So, claiming she was ‘let down at every turn’, she added: "Now I'm telling everyone if you spot anything in your mouth that doesn't go away naturally in a few weeks to go to your GP.”
Diane Sarkar, Chief Nursing and Quality Officer for Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are very sorry that Helen's care fell below the standard she should expect. We are in contact with her and investigating the issues raised. This is an open complaint and we continue to keep Helen informed and are providing support."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
Jess Battison