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.
“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 Story: “I felt very unwell, then I noticed a little ulcer on top of my tongue.
“It was the tiredness I noticed first and then I couldn’t swallow certain foods.
“I had flu-like symptoms as well.
“Firstly it was misdiagnosed as thrush of the mouth in October 2023, which I knew I didn’t have.
“My sixth sense kicked in and thought I had to get a second opinion in February 2024.
“She sent me to Queen Victoria Hospital – a top head and neck ward.
“They didn’t like the look of it and said they’d need to send me down the cancer path and I thought, ‘What the hell?’
“He could tell it was cancer as it had grown and split – it was also the fact I couldn’t swallow certain foods.”
Elaine spent another three weeks in the hospital after her operation before undergoing radiotherapy.
She said: “I was on a food tube for weeks.
“I had to learn how to walk again as the leg had such a mass taken out of it.
“I was given a whiteboard after the op to communicate, which I tried not to use too much as I wanted to get my mouth moving.
“But it was very difficult as my tongue had swollen three times the size.
“I grew some hair on my tongue as it was from my leg but the radiotherapy zapped that.
“The cancer in my neck was contained within the lymph glands so I only needed radiotherapy.
“But it was six weeks of daily radiotherapy – it was pretty brutal.
“They put a cage mask on you with a gumshield to keep the tongue still – it’s like something from a horror movie.”
Elaine believes the rise in mouth cancer cases could be down to people not visiting the dentist as frequently.
Data released by the NHS in the autumn of 2025 revealed the number of annual mouth cancer cases in England reached 9,293.
This is an increase of 37% in the last decade, and more than double the number recorded a generation ago.
She said: “Tongue cancer cases are on the spike in the young.
“They don’t know why.
“I feel that the youngsters aren’t going to the dentist so it’s not being picked up.
“It looks like a normal ulcer to begin with.
“I asked my surgeon and they have no idea what’s causing the spike.”
