This is a plea for World Head and Neck Cancer Day. A mouth ulcer that lasts more than two weeks should be checked. You might want to insist on seeing an ENT specialist if it goes on even longer and then you might be well advised to insist on a biopsy.
These ulcers often occur on the side of the tongue and the treatment isn’t pretty.
I remember leaving my last full time job in 2009. I had a recurrence of tongue cancer. The first cancer had been very small but this one was more serious and I had to have nearly half my tongue removed. When I told my boss about my upcoming surgery, he couldn’t look me in the eye. Uninformed people find the replacement of tongue with a slab of forearm tissue downright revolting.
This is all because I developed a long term tongue ulcer and it wasn’t diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma for years. This is an all too common story. Some of us are told we have lichen planus and have that long delay, while others go many months with frequent GP or dental visits until the ulcer is diagnosed. By the time we get to surgery a lot of tongue has to be removed to ensure clear margins. Too big a deficit to just leave. The gap has to be filled and tissue and blood vessels are removed from the forearm with the wrist wound covered with a slice of skin from the thigh.
All initial disgust aside, this is a very successful operation. The native part of the tongue can move the flap around and some people have a very acceptable albeit two-toned tongue after everything has healed.
It’s big horrible all day surgery though and patients are never the same again. Pushing food back to swallow is harder and speech can have a characteristic slur or lisp. On top of that there’s the fear that the cancer might come back. Recovery physically and mentally can take a couple of years or more especially if radiotherapy is advised to decrease the chances of recurrence.
This type of head and neck cancer is not related to HPV so there is no vaccine against it. It’s best to catch it early and leave no long term ulcer unchecked.
Julie McCrossin
July 1, 2020 — 4:32 am
Thank you. This in another informative blog that could well save the life of a reader.
Sammie @ The Annoyed Thyroid
July 20, 2020 — 6:33 am
Thank you for sharing – this information could literally save someone’s life.
Denyse Whelan
July 25, 2020 — 11:16 pm
Thank you for linking up your blog post 20.7.2020. I will be back with my comments this Monday 27.7.2020 when I have more concentration capacity following my major surgery last week. I appreciate your comments always. Denyse.