Woman whose cancer was misdiagnosed as mouth thrush had tongue reconstructed with part of her leg

A woman with tongue cancer had half of it replaced with a piece of her leg after initially being misdiagnosed with mouth thrush.Elaine Sawyer, 54, was diagnosed with Squamous cell carcinoma in February 2024 after finding an ulcer on her tongue.Initially, Elaine was told by a doctor she had thrush of the mouth, but unhappy with that opinion, she decided to get a second.Another doctor referred her to a specialist ward at Queen Victoria Hospital, where she was given her diagnosis.In April 2024, Elaine underwent a 13-hour surgery to remove half of her tongue, which was replaced with a section of her leg.Following the operation, Elaine grew a small amount of hair on her tongue, but this was stopped by the daily “brutal” radiotherapy she had for six weeks.She also had her lymph glands removed as the cancer had spread into her neck.Having never smoked or drank, Elaine isn’t sure what caused her diagnosis, but she is now on the mend and tries to “keep active.”Elaine is now in remission as she continues with her recovery.Elaine, a former caterer from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, said: “My tongue doesn’t move as they removed half of it and rebuilt it from my leg.“I still have problems eating now.“There are certain things I can’t eat as it affects your throat – meat is very difficult, salad.I can’t have anything spicy, and I can’t have wine as it’s acidic.

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“Talking can also be a problem when I’m tired.“They took all the lymph glands out in my neck so it’s been pretty horrific.”Elaine initially noticed she was feeling exhausted but put it down to her chronic fatigue – which she has had since she was 12.But when she noticed the ulcer on her tongue, she decided to go to the doctor.Elaine told Sell Us Your Stor...