A woman was left shocked after an ulcer on her tongue she believed was due to work stress turned out to be life-threatening.
Jessica Tappenden-Rowell noticed something she thought was a mouth ulcer under her tongue in May 2024, and she initially thought it was simply because she was run down from her job.
After the 23-year-old ignored the spot until it became painful while she ate, she was referred to York Hospital by her GP.
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Jessica said: "I had just started a new job so I thought I was just run down, feeling a bit tired. I was exhausted from working.
"I just ignored it [the ulcer]. I was so busy with work anyway it didn't cross my mind to get it checked out. I just didn't really even think about it.
"A couple of months had gone by and it started becoming really painful every time I was eating and yawning, it was bringing tears to my eyes every time I was yawning.
"Any time I was eating tomatoes or something acidic like oranges or lemons it was really hurting.”
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However, it didn’t cross her mind that it could be anything more serious.
That was until her symptoms began to grow.
"It just started getting weirder, there was redness and there were white bumps around it. I could see that it was getting worse,” she explained.
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Her search for answers led to her finding out that it was far more than a simple ulcer. Jessica underwent a tongue biopsy in August, and just weeks later, she learned what it was: cancer.
She was diagnosed with stage one squamous cell carcinoma, but thankfully, an MRI and CT scan determined the cancer hadn't spread, so, she could have it removed, and an operation was scheduled in October.
The cancerous part of her tongue was taken out and the portion was replaced by a section of her forearm, which contained a festival tattoo she got with her friends.
The free flap surgery at Castle Hill hospital in Yorkshire saw doctors take a six-inch by two-inch section of skin from her arm, along with a vein and an artery before plugging it into Jessica’s tongue to continue blood flow to the area.
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Jessica had a tattoo of the initials BOA on her forearm, which stands for Bloodstock Open Air, a Derbyshire festival. Now that this skin has been removed from her arm and it is now in her mouth, the tattoo can be seen on the underside of her tongue.
"It's incredible what they can do, it really is amazing. They've taken my arm and put it in my mouth,” said Jessica. "From not thinking it was anything, to suddenly having cancer, to suddenly having a life-changing surgery. It was wild.”
She explained: "That was like a smack in the face. It was insane. I can't even explain what it felt like going from, 'oh yeah it's nothing, it'll be nothing' to literally, 'okay, this could be one of the worst things ever'.”
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However, it wasn’t just her mouth that was operated on. When Jessica woke up in the ICU after surgery, she discovered a temporary tracheostomy at her throat and was put on a diet of soft foods for two months. This allowed her time to get used to her new tongue, but it’s still a work in progress.
Jessica said: "When it came to speaking I was really slurred and really slow because everything in my mouth was so swollen and my tongue muscle was a lot weaker.
"You have to get used to your tongue and using it to speak, it took me months.
"Only recently people have said to me 'you sound so much like you did before'.
"I'm not there yet, I still have some days where I struggle a bit.”
Jessica is now speaking out and has urged others to check out anything odd that they notice.
"If you have an ulcer that has not gone away within two weeks, get it checked. The earlier you go, the less chance of this type of surgery. If I had gone earlier I might not have [needed] such a large portion of my tongue removed."
Britt Jones