"I can never French kiss my husband again after having half of my tongue removed"
- 11 months ago
A woman says she'll "never French kiss again" after having half of her tongue removed and replaced with leg tissue after a cancer diagnosis.
Jamie Powell, 39, was diagnosed with tongue cancer in March 2020 after discovering a raised bump on her tongue.
After undergoing tests, Jamie was told she had stage three cancer and would need half of her tongue removed as well some of the lymph nodes in her neck.
She underwent the eight hour op in March 2020 and found herself having to learn how to talk and eat again - while coming to terms with her new tongue, which she says felt like a "foreign object".
She then underwent 30 rounds of radiotherapy before being given the all clear on June 30, 2020.
Jamie now hosts a podcast with a fellow tongue cancer survivors talking about the reality of the disease.
Jamie, a special education worker, from Orange County, California, US, said: "It was unbelievably sad when I realised I couldn't kiss my husband, Jonathon, 40, again.
"I didn't realise it until I was healed and starting to feel like my former self but all of a sudden, I just realised I wouldn't be able to kiss him again and I couldn't remember the last time we kissed.
"I cried about it. I was sad. I was sad for him too - that I wasn't going to be enough.
"I didn't even know you could get cancer of the tongue.
"It was a massive shock to the system.
"My entire sense of who I was being taken away.
"It was devastating, but it was either have this surgery or I'm not going to be around.
"When I began to heal up, my tongue felt like a foreign object in my mouth. I had to train it to be in the right place to talk and connect it with my brain."
Jamie woke up one morning in December 2019 and noticed a bump on her tongue.
Jamie says she was in "shock" after the diagnosis and days later found herself under the knife having half of her tongue removed.
Unfortunately for Jamie, the removal of part of her tongue was not enough to give her the all clear and she had to undergo radiotherapy in April 2020.
After finally being told she was cancer-free, Jamie's focus turned to recovery and learning how to use her tongue again.
Jamie Powell, 39, was diagnosed with tongue cancer in March 2020 after discovering a raised bump on her tongue.
After undergoing tests, Jamie was told she had stage three cancer and would need half of her tongue removed as well some of the lymph nodes in her neck.
She underwent the eight hour op in March 2020 and found herself having to learn how to talk and eat again - while coming to terms with her new tongue, which she says felt like a "foreign object".
She then underwent 30 rounds of radiotherapy before being given the all clear on June 30, 2020.
Jamie now hosts a podcast with a fellow tongue cancer survivors talking about the reality of the disease.
Jamie, a special education worker, from Orange County, California, US, said: "It was unbelievably sad when I realised I couldn't kiss my husband, Jonathon, 40, again.
"I didn't realise it until I was healed and starting to feel like my former self but all of a sudden, I just realised I wouldn't be able to kiss him again and I couldn't remember the last time we kissed.
"I cried about it. I was sad. I was sad for him too - that I wasn't going to be enough.
"I didn't even know you could get cancer of the tongue.
"It was a massive shock to the system.
"My entire sense of who I was being taken away.
"It was devastating, but it was either have this surgery or I'm not going to be around.
"When I began to heal up, my tongue felt like a foreign object in my mouth. I had to train it to be in the right place to talk and connect it with my brain."
Jamie woke up one morning in December 2019 and noticed a bump on her tongue.
Jamie says she was in "shock" after the diagnosis and days later found herself under the knife having half of her tongue removed.
Unfortunately for Jamie, the removal of part of her tongue was not enough to give her the all clear and she had to undergo radiotherapy in April 2020.
After finally being told she was cancer-free, Jamie's focus turned to recovery and learning how to use her tongue again.