Oral cancer victim replaced tongue with part of hand
10/30/2017
Heather Johnson learned about the terrible disease only when oncology went into the fourth stage of development. The woman saw a small ulcer in her tongue, but did not attach importance to her.
Heather went to the clinic when the pain became so severe that tears appeared in her eyes. Since the disease was neglected, the patient needed to remove the affected part of the tongue to save the life. According to the Daily Mail , the operation was very difficult and was carried out over eight hours.
Removal of the organ and its restoration was performed simultaneously. At first, the doctors prepared the future organ by taking a strip of tissue along with the artery from Heather's hand. At the second stage of the operation, the specialists removed the affected part of the tongue and palatine tonsils. At the final stage, plastic surgeons transplanted the prepared tissue into the place of the former language.
The operation was successful, but the recovery period was not easy for the woman - Heather lost her voice and lost 13 kilograms. After some time, she was able to speak again and is now gradually returning to her usual life. According to the woman, she was amazed to have to remove the organ, but decided to completely get rid of cancer in a radical way in order to live and raise a young daughter. Heather said that at first the language was perceived as a piece of ham, but after hard training she was able to manage it.
The woman speaks with gratitude about the surgeons who were able to restore the lost part of the tongue and return her the opportunity to live normally and fully communicate.
Valeria Sokolova, news editor
