Tongue Cancer: Diagnosis And Treatment

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Hey everyone,

Just wanted to give a bit info about my diagnosis and treatment.

So I'm a 44 year old non smoker and in 2013 (when I was 35) I had a white patch (Leukoplakia) with moderate dysplasia on the right side of my tongue near the back teeth which was removed through laser ablation. 

Since then my tongue has been generally fine but late last year I had an ulcer erupt in the same part of the tongue where I'd had the white patch.

In January I went to see my old doctor (I'd been discharged from hospital many years previous of course) at a private hospital to see what he thought about it.

He said it looked very suspicious and I was quickly transferred back to my local NHS hospital where I had a biopsy and CT scan.

CT scan didn't show any involvement with the lymph nodes in the neck or metastasis to the lungs but biopsy showed Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the tongue. At this point they think it's stage 1 as the cancer was still quite small and there doesn't seem to have been any spread beyond the tongue.

Surgery was recommended - Partial glossectomy  with a wide excision and level I-III neck dissection.

I had the operation this day last week - Thursday 31st March - And I'm now back home and recovering,

I'm having the usual issues with speaking that you'd expect one week post operative  and numbness/swelling in the neck area after the dissection, again all to be expected at such an early stage in the recovery process.

I'll find out at the end of the month whether I'll need any adjuvent treatment (hopefully not but we'll see)

Main thing I'm hoping for is my speech to settle down (given what I've been through I don't think I'm speaking too badly already) as I'm a weather forecaster on YouTube so speaking is my life...

I've started doing some cancer vlogs on my personal YouTube channel to raise awareness and let people follow my journey:  https://www.youtube.com/user/GavinPartridge

So that's my story. It's been a tough few weeks but I'm getting through and will hopefully be out on the other side very soon but time will tell.

Thanks everyone.

Gavin

  • Hi Debbie, thankfully I'm nowhere near that bad. It's just like a pressure type feeling when I try to open my mouth but I can still open it. Hopefully exercises will nip it in the bud if Trismus is developing but I'll keep a note about the Therobite machine in case things get worse .

    Thanks again Debbie.

    Diagnosis: Squamous Cell Carcinoma right side of the tongue - T2, N0, M0 (2022) / Leukoplakia with moderate dysplasis (2013)

    Treatment: Partial glossectomy with a wide excision and level I-III neck dissection (31/3/22)

    Please check out my mouth cancer vlog here: https://www.youtube.com/user/GavinPartridge

  • Gavin

    I understand from your weather channel that you are doing really well with clear margins and hopefully will be resuming your weather forecasts very soon.  Hope I got that right Blush

    Peter
    See my profile for more details of my convoluted journey
  • Hi Peter, yes indeed, that is correct!

    I had my follow up appointment last Thursday and it was very good news.

    The tongue cancer was removed with a clear margin of healthy tissue and the glands came back clear for cancer cells too.

    At this stage I'm cancer-free and no more treatment is required. I get to avoid radiotherapy and chemo which I am just so relieved about.

    I'm going to restart my weather videos tomorrow and get my life back on track haha!

    Thanks so much to you and everyone here for all of the support. You've all been amazing.

    Diagnosis: Squamous Cell Carcinoma right side of the tongue - T2, N0, M0 (2022) / Leukoplakia with moderate dysplasis (2013)

    Treatment: Partial glossectomy with a wide excision and level I-III neck dissection (31/3/22)

    Please check out my mouth cancer vlog here: https://www.youtube.com/user/GavinPartridge

  • Good news pleased for you Blush

  • Thanks Debbie. I'm very relieved not to need radiotherapy and chemo I have to say! 

    Diagnosis: Squamous Cell Carcinoma right side of the tongue - T2, N0, M0 (2022) / Leukoplakia with moderate dysplasis (2013)

    Treatment: Partial glossectomy with a wide excision and level I-III neck dissection (31/3/22)

    Please check out my mouth cancer vlog here: https://www.youtube.com/user/GavinPartridge

  • That's fantastic news Gavin.  I will be following your forecasts for my garden.

    All the best.

    Linda x

  • I was also lucky I didn’t need RT or Chemo either. I had two similar surgeries robotically, and the surgeon got it all , so I am blessed. Wishing the best of luck with your weather videos 

  • Thanks so much Linda. Hope you are finding them useful?

    Diagnosis: Squamous Cell Carcinoma right side of the tongue - T2, N0, M0 (2022) / Leukoplakia with moderate dysplasis (2013)

    Treatment: Partial glossectomy with a wide excision and level I-III neck dissection (31/3/22)

    Please check out my mouth cancer vlog here: https://www.youtube.com/user/GavinPartridge

  • Thanks so much Debbie Yes, those of us that get out of this with just an operation are very lucky I think,

    Diagnosis: Squamous Cell Carcinoma right side of the tongue - T2, N0, M0 (2022) / Leukoplakia with moderate dysplasis (2013)

    Treatment: Partial glossectomy with a wide excision and level I-III neck dissection (31/3/22)

    Please check out my mouth cancer vlog here: https://www.youtube.com/user/GavinPartridge

  • Hey everyone, my full staging is in: T2, N0, M0.

    So the cancer was a little more advanced than first thought actually. Good job I got treatment when I did methinks...

    Diagnosis: Squamous Cell Carcinoma right side of the tongue - T2, N0, M0 (2022) / Leukoplakia with moderate dysplasis (2013)

    Treatment: Partial glossectomy with a wide excision and level I-III neck dissection (31/3/22)

    Please check out my mouth cancer vlog here: https://www.youtube.com/user/GavinPartridge

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