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New York Post
I lost my tongue to cancer —I had a new one made from my arm with a tattoo
By SWNS,
7 hours ago
A woman who lost her tongue to cancer had it reconstructed with flesh from her left arm – and has a tattoo on it.
Jennifer Alexander, 52, was 37 when she was first diagnosed with stage one tongue cancer.
For over a decade before that she had a recurring leukoplakia – a painful white patch on her tongue caused by HPV.
But in August 2009, she developed a blueberry-sized tumour, and rushed to a dentist where she was given a biopsy.
Jennifer Alexander lost her tongue to cancer and had it reconstructed with flesh from her left arm – and has a tattoo on it. Jennifer Alexander / SWNS
After undergoing surgery on August 21, 2009 to remove the tumour, the cancer returned twice – in October 2017 and October 2019.
In March 2020, she opted to have tongue reconstruction surgery to prevent the tumour from re-growing – this involved removing a chunk of flesh from her left arm, and stitching it to the rest of her tongue.
Now, her “tongue” is a piece of flesh with a blue star tattoo on it as it featured on her left bicep.
Jennifer lost 60 per cent of her taste buds and had to re-learn to talk, sing and eat again.
Jennifer Alexander, 52, was 37 when she was first diagnosed with stage one tongue cancer. Jennifer Alexander / SWNS
Jennifer, an associate tax accountant, from Marietta, Atlanta, US, said: “I know I don’t look like the kind of person who has a mouth tattoo – but I like to use it to educate people about tongue cancer.
“After my fourth surgery in March 2020, I couldn’t even say my own name until 2022.
“I had to see a speech therapist to learn to eat and speak again.
“He took one look at me and, while he didn’t want me to worry, said he thought it was cancer,” she said.
“He called the ENT specialist and got everything ready for a diagnosis there-and-then.
“He said: ‘You’re going to be fine – but I’m telling you now, this is definitely cancer.'”
Jennifer had a biopsy which confirmed she had stage one tongue cancer – caused by HPV, as confirmed by her doctors.
Due to doctors’ early intervention, the only treatment she needed was surgery to remove the tumor as much as possible – and she has never needed chemo or radiotherapy.
On August 21, 2009, doctors managed to get some of the tumour.
In March 2020, she opted to have tongue reconstruction surgery to prevent the tumour from re-growing – this involved removing a chunk of flesh from her left arm, and stitching it to the rest of her tongue. Jennifer Alexander / SWNS
Jennifer said: “They weren’t taking enough off – it was that one bad cell that reproduced over and over again.
“By my third surgery, I was angry, because I didn’t want to be the poster child for cancer.
“I decided to do things differently, and opted to have half of my tongue cut out and reconstructed.
“I was told I’d lose a dramatic amount of weight afterwards – due to not being able to eat.
“I wasn’t scared about that – I felt like I needed to lose a bit of weight anyway.”
Leading up to Jennifer’s surgery in March 2020, she gained 10lbs but she says she lost 70lbs afterwards – due to only being able to live on protein shakes.
She was told the surgeon would take a chunk of flesh from her left arm to reconstruct the tongue – as she’s right-handed.
Despite this, she didn’t feel insecure about it and was excited to “take her life back.”
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