We’d like to let you know about an exciting week ahead in the Wellington, Wairarapa and Nelson area.
Each year the Cancer Society, Wellington Division has a week of events called Cancer Update. This year the focus is Cancers of the Mouth, Nose and Throat (Head and Neck cancers). There is a free public lecture with our invited guest Dr David Dalley, Director of Medical Oncology at St Vincents Hospital, Sydney, Heads and Tales - the heads-up on cancers of the mouth, nose and throat. This will be held as follows:
- Tuesday 15 June 7.30pm - 8.30pm at Fairfield House, Nelson,
- Thursday 17 June, 12.30pm- 1.30pm at the Masterton Town Hall
- Thursday 17 June 6pm - 7.30pm at the Spectrum Theatre, BP House, cnr Customhouse Quay and Johnston St, Wellington.
All welcome.
The following story by Brian Sheppard from Wellington sets the scene for the week. Brian is a volunteer for the Cancer Society’s Cancer Connect service.
Tongue cancer
I had bitten the side of my tongue. No big deal but after a couple of weeks when it hadn’t healed, I thought I should get it checked out. My dentist spotted its significance and set the ball rolling for treatment. That was nearly six years ago and life has returned to normal, thanks to my dentist; the medical team who did such a great job with surgery, reconstruction, nursing and radiotherapy. My family, friends and employer were all there too, to support me on the road to normality.
I also learned a lot my tongue: its role in positioning food for chewing and swallowing, even crushing food against the roof of the mouth. I learned that saliva, which is damaged by the radiotherapy, was very helpful in chewing such widely different foods as salad greens, some ‘meaty’ fish and some lean meat – but that potato is a great help when eating them, in conjunction with a drink of water.
I also learned that saliva has a great cleaning effect. My electric toothbrush head grew a slime worthy of the best sci fi film and now needs to be stored in a weak solution of mouthwash.
Like so many people who face one of life’s bigger challenges, this experience reinforced the need to value what is and who are really important, and not to let opportunities pass me by.
I know that mine is one of the good news stories. Others will be even better and some much worse but I have recently had the opportunity to gain another perspective. I had the privilege to meet and work with Joel, who lost his entire tongue to cancer. He may have lost his tongue but certainly not his spirit. His only concession to his difficulty was to eat his liquefied food in his room. In every other way, he was a very active participant, and presenter, at large international workshop that we were running.
I may, from time to time, feel self conscious about the difficulty of getting my tongue around some combinations of vowels and consonants, and of choking when I try to talk and eat at the same time but – so what! It is really much more noticeable to me that to others and, if Joel can do it, so can I.
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