A mum-of-one defied doctors by speaking again, despite having 90% of her tongue removed during surgery for an aggressive cancer.
Gemma Weeks, 37, said she had been having problems with her tongue for six years after a small white patch appeared on the side.
But in February this year a large hole developed, which was so painful she couldn’t eat.
Gemma took herself to A&E, where the mum-of-one was told she had stage four mouth and neck cancer and was rushed into surgery.
According to Metro, medics told her due to the cancer’s aggressive nature she would have to have most of her tongue removed and might never be able to speak again after it was rebuilt using tissue grafts from her arm.
But she defied their prediction when she managed to say ‘hello’ to her fiancé and daughter when they came to visit just a few days after the surgery.
And despite still having difficulty with certain words, she is now able to hold normal conversations.
‘They rushed the surgery through because of my age, and the aggressiveness of the tumours,’ said Gemma. ‘I was terrified at the thought of never being able to speak again, and also to never be able to eat and drink with my mouth.
‘But at the end of the day it was a small price to pay to be alive. I would rather see my daughter growing up and not miss all her special moments.
‘Initially, after the operation, I wasn’t able to talk at all and doctors thought it would stay that way. The first word I said was “hello” when my fiancé and daughter came to visit me a few days after surgery.
‘It didn’t sound at all like me, but it was progress, which I’ve been working on ever since, and now people can actually understand me, mostly.’
Surgeons removed 90% of Gemma’s tongue on March 6 at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, with tissue grafts taken from her arm to help rebuild it.
They also removed all the glands in Gemma’s neck.
‘The surgeons were brilliant, they worked miracles on me by rebuilding the left side of my mouth, and my tongue with grafts from my arm,’ she said.
‘They used a vein, a nerve and lots of flesh from my left arm.
‘I can mostly talk normal now but I struggle with a lot of words, especially if they have c or s in them and i doesn’t sound like I used to. My new tongue is connected to the left side of my mouth so it’s extremely difficult.’
Gemma, from March, Cambridgeshire, said she first had symptoms six years ago, which started as the small white patch on the side of her tongue.
‘I’d also been going to my doctors in these six years saying I felt ill and drained,’ she said.
‘I ended up going to A&E at the end of February as by that point I had a rather large hole in the side of my tongue and was unable to eat as it was so painful.’
Gemma who now faces six weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy has been supported throughout by her family, friends and fiancé Phillip Miller, 38.
Her friend Claire Shafer has begun a fundraising page that has already raised over £1,100 to help the family, as Gemma is currently unable to return to her job as a care assistant.
Gemma said: ‘I wouldn’t have been able to get through what I have without the people I have around me. People have been so kind.
‘When Claire told me she had started it, I told her that people wouldn’t want to give me money but they have – to have that support is moving, and having that financial support makes such a difference.
‘I’m back and forwards to Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge most days, and with the parking as well, you’re essentially paying to be ill. It’s really tough.
‘I want to thank everyone who has donated for being so kind.’
