Hi Everyone
This is my first attempt at joining chats so please bear with me. My name is Lyndon but everyone calls me Wally. I suppose I was like so many people happily cruising through life with a loving wife, great family and two wonderful grandchildren, semi-retired and just happy! Then I was diagnosed with oral cancer in the Summer of 2017. Mine was under my tongue at the back and about 2cm in diameter. To some extent it changed my life but in a very positive way. I have been so lucky! Throughout all my treatment I have had no fear and only two episodes of feeling any pain. I can't explain why I had no fear. The only moderate pain I felt was when I had my biopsy and I had injections in my tongue and the second occasion was when a new doctor tried to take blood from my foot then ankle. That was no fun! I had a tongue reconstruction with a flap from my arm and stomach and my lymph nodes removed on the one side. I did not need radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Staying in hospital is never much fun and it's sometimes hard to get comfortable and relax but I got through it thanks to the excellent care I received at York Hospital. I was lucky to have an excellent care team of surgeons, speech and swallow specialists, dentist and importantly, my care nurse. She was amazing and with me every step of the way at the end of the phone or email. Now my speech is just about normal and I am a Cancer Champion. I have done two 15000 feet tandem parachute jumps to raise money for York Against Cancer and the York Head and Neck Clinic. I am now hoping to start speaking with people who have just been diagnosed, or are waiting to have their operation or who have just had their operation. The thing to remember is that if the cancer is diagnosed early, then the outcomes are excellent with about 95% being treated by surgery alone. I have been so lucky and my message is, Mouth Cancer Sucks - Check It Out! If you want to read more about my story, go onto the Just Giving website and put in my name (no need to donate). Good luck to everyone.
