A 51-year-old dad was told he could have just months to live after going to see his GP when he took a drink of water and it shot out of his nose.
Phil Sledden-Houston, now 51, had to have invasive surgery to remove a huge cancerous lump from his face three years ago after being told he could have just six months to live.
A surgeon had to remove part of Phil's hip bone and move it into his face, leaving him unable to smile, reports the MEN.
Phil, a dad of two, had first realised something was wrong when he took a drink of water and it spurted out of his nose.
He had been a smoker all his adult life.
Phil said: “I started smoking at school when I was around 15 or 16 as everyone smoked back then," he said. "I never thought about how it was affecting my health as I wasn’t a heavy smoker, I only smoked a few a day.
“I continued smoking for years and then in 2018, I was drinking water and some of it came out of my nose. I knew something wasn’t right, so I went to get help.
“I was referred to see a specialist at the dental hospital, who told me I had cancer and that it was serious, and I needed to have an urgent MRI scan and biopsy.
"A week later I was diagnosed with Stage 4 (palliative care) mouth cancer and the doctor told me I had a choice – to decide to have the operation within a month or die. He said I could have six months to live and maybe see Christmas. I had to quit smoking immediately.
“I’ll never forget the surgeon telling me how serious it was, the tumour was in my cheek bone, and he thought it had been hidden for four years. It was the size of a tennis ball and had to be removed. It was a massive operation, and it took me months to recover.”
Phil says his life has improved since he quit smoking (Image: Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership)
Surgeons operated on Phil for over 15 hours. They cut his face in half and removed his cheek bone, eye and palate.
He couldn’t talk or eat properly for six months.
“It looks like I’ve had a tiny stroke, but I have been incredibly lucky as not everyone makes it through," Phil said.
"The medical team manged to remove the entire tumour, so I didn’t have to have chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
“In October 2019, I had a face lift which has given me much more confidence and I only have a faint scar now. One of the biggest challenges was learning to eat and talk just using my left-hand side of my face, as I have no teeth on the other side. I’ve now been in remission for just over three years, and I have never felt better.”
Phil has since been able to return to his job in highways maintenance. Since quitting smoking he says he sleeps better, no longer feels out of breath and had more energy.
He added: "My taste improved and I also started to save money, all of these were incentives to stop smoking but being diagnosed with cancer was definitely my wake-up call as I would have continued smoking.
"I needed the shock of being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer to stop, and I urge everyone to give quitting a go before you end up like me.”
Phil is sharing his story ahead of World Cancer Day this week (February 4).
Smoking is directly linked to at least 15 different forms of cancer, and causes 15 percent of all cancer cases each year in the UK (54,300 cases), according to Cancer Research UK.
It remains the leading cause of preventable illness across the country, eventually killing half of all long term smokers, the charity says.
