From cankerous to cancerous.
Rachel Passarella, a young nurse and mother, initially thought the red spot on her tongue was the physical toll of a bad breakup — but the reality proved far more devastating.
“I told myself it was probably a canker sore brought on by the heartbreak and tension. I rinsed with salt water, monitored it, and waited for it to heal. But it didn’t,” Passarella, 42, told Newsweek.
Three weeks later, during a routine appointment, her dentist temporarily assuaged Passarella’s mounting fears, noting that, as a healthy woman who neither smoked nor drank, the spot was most likely a canker sore that would clear on its own.
“I trusted her. I even felt silly for worrying. I knew about tongue cancer from my medical background, but I didn’t match the statistics. I thought I was fine,” she said.
Passarella continued to treat the issue with home remedies, including canker sore patches, coconut oil, baking soda rinses and honey, but the spot didn’t go away — in fact, it doubled in size.
She saw an ENT specialist, who told her it was likely stress-related and gave her steroids. Passarella’s request for a biopsy was dismissed it as unnecessary.
They didn’t help. The pain continued to intensify to the point that eating became difficult and she lost 15 pounds.
Finally, a second dentist she saw was alarmed at the sight of the lesion, scanning it with a handheld oral cancer screening device. It turned up bad news: The lesion was likely cancerous.
She still didn’t manage to get a biopsy for months, but it confrimed her fears.
“On March 2…I got the call: squamous cell carcinoma. Tongue cancer. Six months after that tiny red spot appeared,” she said.
After more testing, she had a partial glossectomy, a procedure to remove part of her tongue. She was diagnosed with Stage 2 tongue cancer — and that wasn’t even the worst part.
One morning, she woke up choking and began spitting out blood clots. The blood then started “squirting” from her mouth.
“I knew instantly that an artery had burst,” she said, recalling how she frantically texted her teenage daughter: “This is an emergency. I’m going to die.”
By the time she reached the ER, she had lost 20 percent of her total blood volume.
Incredibly, the medical team was able to locate the ruptured lingual artery and stitch it, telling her she was a “miracle.”
Passarella has lost roughly 35% of her tongue and is now undergoing speech therapy. Tongue cancer carries a high risk of recurrence, so she must continue to get frequent scans.
“I’m mentally and physically exhausted, but I’m alive,” she said.
Pasarella has since become an outspoken advocate, speaking at dental schools where she shares her story in the hopes that future dentists will take symptoms like hers seriously, especially in those who don’t fit the typical profile of tongue cancer patients.
“Tongue cancer is one of the most misdiagnosed cancers,” she warns.
“Most patients are dismissed for five to six months. Some lose their entire tongue. I’ve spoken to families who lost loved ones because their symptoms were ignored for a year.”
Tongue cancer is relatively rare but on the rise, especially among younger adults without traditional risk factors like smoking.
Experts maintain that tongue cancer that begins in the mouth is easier to spot than tongue cancer that starts in the throat, which is often only caught after the cancer has spread.
Early detection greatly improves outcomes, making awareness critical.
If you notice changes in your mouth that don’t go away, don’t just brush it off — speak with a healthcare provider.
