Source: www.express.co.uk
Author: Elaine McLaren

“Nobody particularly enjoys visits to the dentist and I’m no exception, but I’ve always looked after my teeth and have never missed a six-month check. So that day back in May 2009, I wasn’t expecting there to be any problems. I hadn’t been in any pain or discomfort, so I was surprised when the dentist voiced his concern.

‘There’s a white patch on the side of your tongue,’ he told me through his mask. ‘It’s probably nothing but you should get it checked out by your GP, just to be on the safe side.’

Examination over, I sat up in the chair as he explained what he thought it could be – a condition called leukoplakia, which was harmless in its mild form and often disappeared without the need for treatment.

So when, a few days later, I was sitting opposite my GP, I was shocked to hear the condition was closely linked to mouth cancer.

My heart sank at the mere mention of the word. Just seven years earlier, I’d lost my dad to lung cancer.

My thoughts immediately turned to my own children, Grace, who was then only eight, and Daniel, five, and whether they’d have to go through the same trauma as I had with Dad.

As quickly as the notion had entered my head, I brushed it aside. I was only 38 then, I didn’t smoke or drink heavily and I ate healthily. Nothing made me a high risk.

But that still didn’t stop my heart pounding as I sat in the hospital waiting to see the consultant a few weeks later. Opening my mouth wide once again, I steeled myself for the worst possible news.

When he told me I had nothing to worry about, I could have cried with relief.

But its habit of developing into something far more sinister meant that wasn’t the end. I was sent for a biopsy to check for irregular cells and continued to see the consultant for check-ups, then discharged 18 months later. I could finally start to relax and believe it was over.

My dentist wasn’t quite so laid-back. As an expert in mouth cancer, he kept a close eye on it, taking photographs every time I saw him to make sure he could track the changes. It became a routine part of my visits and something I barely even thought about, until five years later I started to notice a difference myself.

All of a sudden, the patch started to rub against my teeth, whereas I’d never noticed it before. It started to get red and aggravated and every time I ate spicy foods, an agonising, searing pain would shoot through my tongue.

As luck would have it, I already had an appointment with my dentist booked, so I decided to see him before doing anything else. I was hoping he would tell me it was nothing, but in my heart I knew that wasn’t the case. Sure enough, he took one look at it and recommended I went back to see the GP.

Just weeks later, I was once again sitting in the familiar surroundings of the consultant’s office. I knew from his straight-faced, stilted reaction – so different to the casual reassurance I’d had before – that it was much more serious.

His voice was calm and steady as he told me I would need another biopsy, but I could tell he thought the worst. I had the procedure two days before Christmas 2013 and though I tried to think positively, telling myself that I’d been worried before and it had turned out to be nothing, the truth was I was terrified.

I spent the entire festive season putting on a happy face and trying to make everything as normal as possible for the children when, inside, all I could think about were the impending results. Every waking moment, I worried about the outcome.

When I returned to the consultant early in the new year, I thought I’d prepared myself for what he was about to say. When I eventually heard the words, ‘You have mouth cancer,’ it turns out I wasn’t prepared at all.

Though I’d known deep down that it was coming, it hit me like a bolt out of the blue as if I’d never expected it at all. As the words began to sink in, it came as such a huge shock that he was talking about me.

I’d always assumed it was a disease that only affected older men who smoked heavily. How wrong I’d been. Mercifully, and thanks to the diligence of my dentist, mine had been caught early enough to give me a great chance. I felt incredibly lucky. I was going to beat this.

But just as I was counting my lucky stars, fate dealt me another blow. A routine MRI scan revealed a mass on my right lung. It couldn’t be diagnosed with a biopsy because of its position, so I had no choice but to leave it there until they’d dealt with the cancer in my mouth.

I was determined to get through it and get back to being a mum again.

In January last year, I had a 10-hour operation to remove the cancer in my tongue and have it rebuilt with tissue and a vein from my arm, which was then grafted with skin from my tummy.

As soon as I recovered, in March last year, I was back in theatre again for a four-hour operation to remove the mass on my lung, which did turn out to be cancerous.

Both of the operations were a success and I’m finally getting my life back on track. I know I’ve got the vigilance of my dentist and the fact that I visited him regularly for the fact that it was caught early enough and I can put it all behind me. If it wasn’t for him, I could still be living with a cancer I didn’t even know was there.”