{"id":708837,"date":"2019-09-24T06:23:09","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T06:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2019\/09\/24\/doctors-use-part-of-womans-arm-to-make-a-replacement-tongue\/"},"modified":"2019-09-24T06:23:09","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T06:23:09","slug":"doctors-use-part-of-womans-arm-to-make-a-replacement-tongue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/09\/24\/doctors-use-part-of-womans-arm-to-make-a-replacement-tongue\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctors use part of woman’s arm to make a replacement tongue"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A woman has undergone groundbreaking surgery to replace her tongue\u00a0with arm tissue after battling cancer.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Patterson from Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire, was 38 when she was diagnosed with\u00a0tongue cancer in April 2018 \u2013 shortly after getting engaged.<\/p>\n

Mrs Patterson, a learning support assistant, had a sore spot on her tongue and a white patch in her mouth for around eight years which never went away.<\/p>\n

\"Rebecca<\/figure>\n

Rebecca Patterson pictured) from Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire, was 38 when she was diagnosed with tongue cancer in April 2018 \u2013 shortly after getting engaged<\/p>\n

She was initially diagnosed with oral thrush but she was in so much pain she could barely speak or eat.<\/p>\n

She then had a biopsy and received the devastating call from a nurse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mrs Patterson said: \u2018You can never prepare yourself for hearing the words \u201dit\u2019s cancer\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018I sat in the consultant\u2019s room trying to process what was happening thinking am I going to die? Will I lose my tongue? How will life ever be normal again?<\/p>\n

\u2018My world had shattered into a million pieces. I remember saying to the consultant: \u2018I can\u2019t have cancer, my life with my fianc\u00e9 is just beginning.\u2019<\/p>\n

After the diagnosis, Mrs Patterson underwent 11 and a half hours of surgery at the Queen\u2019s Medical Centre in Nottingham. Surgeons removed the right side of her tongue and then removed the skin and an artery from her left arm (pictured) to build her a new tongue<\/p>\n

\u2018I wanted answers to all these questions but didn\u2019t want to hear them. I felt so overwhelmed with different emotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018I also kept flitting between\u00a0feeling physically sick with worry \u2013 to relief that I finally had a concrete answer.\u2019<\/p>\n

After the diagnosis, Mrs Patterson underwent 11 and a half hours of surgery at the Queen\u2019s Medical Centre in Nottingham.<\/p>\n

Surgeons removed the right side of her tongue and then removed the skin and an artery from her left arm to build her a new tongue.<\/p>\n

The team of doctors also removed the right lymph nodes in her neck and two back teeth so the tongue would fit.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n
\"They<\/figure>\n

Mrs Patterson added: \u2018I woke to find my arm bandaged, two drains coming out of my neck, a tracheostomy and a feeding tube.<\/p>\n

\u2018Whilst recovering in hospital, I went through a lot of ups and downs. I couldn\u2019t speak for a week and could only communicate through writing\u00a0everything down.<\/p>\n

\u2018My trachea would leak, and I would end up with crusty secretions around my neck, my arm was like a dead weight and I had very restricted movement in my neck.<\/p>\n

\u2018I couldn\u2019t do anything independently and relied on the nurses to wash, dress and move me. I felt trapped inside my own body. My self-esteem was at an all-time low.\u2019<\/p>\n

After being discharged from hospital, Mrs Patterson struggled to get her life back to normal.<\/p>\n

\"Mrs<\/figure>\n

Mrs Patterson\u00a0has decided to reveal how she came to terms with cancer and coped with life post-surgery (pictured on her wedding day to Craig)<\/p>\n

She said: \u2018Meal times were hard because I had to eat pureed food, I was breathless, I couldn\u2019t shower easily because of my scars and I needed help to go to the toilet. I wanted to feel like \u2018me\u2019 again.\u2019<\/p>\n

But she has decided to reveal how she came to terms with cancer and coped with life post-surgery.<\/p>\n

Mrs Patterson\u2019s Macmillan nurse referred her to the Clinical Psychology Cancer Service based at King\u2019s Mill Hospital to help with emotional support, where she met Macmillan Clinical Psychologist, Dr Sanchia Biswas.<\/p>\n

Mrs Patterson said: \u2018The cancer returning was always at the forefront of my mind \u2013 it was my biggest fear.<\/p>\n

\"Mrs<\/figure>\n

Mrs Patterson (pictured) said: \u2018Meal times were hard because I had to eat pureed food, I was breathless, I couldn\u2019t shower easily because of my scars and I needed help to go to the toilet. I wanted to feel like \u2018me\u2019 again\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Sanchia played a huge part in helping me recover. Therapy might not be for everyone, but for me it has really helped me identify triggers to my panic and how to allow my unhelpful thoughts to come and go.\u2019<\/p>\n

Dr Biswas, Macmillan Clinical Psychologist, said: \u2018It is not unusual to find it difficult to cope with a diagnosis of cancer, the treatment or life afterwards.<\/p>\n

\u2018However, it is important to recognise unhelpful thoughts and emotions that may be keeping you trapped in \u2018vicious cycles\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018Rebecca utilised therapy to help break these cycles and re-connect her with life-fulfilling values. We have a fantastic self-help website with a range of information and tools to help people with the emotional impact of living with cancer.<\/p>\n

\u2018If you need emotional support or just someone to talk to, you can also call the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 00 00 7 days a week.\u2019<\/p>\n

Source: dailymail.co.uk<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A woman has undergone groundbreaking surgery to replace her tongue\u00a0with arm tissue after battling cancer. Rebecca Patterson from Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire, was 38 when she was diagnosed with\u00a0tongue cancer in April 2018 \u2013 shortly after getting engaged. Mrs Patterson, a learning support assistant, had a sore spot on her tongue and a white patch in her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":708838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-708837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-odd-but-true"],"yoast_head":"\nDoctors use part of woman's arm to make a replacement tongue - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/09\/24\/doctors-use-part-of-womans-arm-to-make-a-replacement-tongue\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Doctors use part of woman's arm to make a replacement tongue - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"A woman has undergone groundbreaking surgery to replace her tongue\u00a0with arm tissue after battling cancer. 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