A woman who was diagnosed with mouth cancer has shared symptoms to keep an eye out for, after cases in the UK reach a record high. Karen Liesching-Schroder, 47, was "shocked" to be told that a mouth ulcer she thought to be harmless turned out to be mouth cancer.
The ulcer appeared during the summer of 2016, but it wasn't until February 2017 that Karen underwent a biopsy. Her worst fears were confirmed when she was diagnosed with cancer of the tongue.
Karen also had pain in her mouth, was unable to eat and people were struggling to understand her at work, but she had no idea the symptoms could indicate cancer. The mum-of-two had to undergo radiotherapy, a neck dissection - to make sure the disease hadn't spread down her neck - and gruelling surgery to remove the side of her tongue.
This impacted her speech and ability to eat. At first, Karen was unable to talk, but bit by bit she got her speech back.
She was also fed through a tube for two days before she moved on to puréed food and then started eating solids a week after the procedure. Karen is now six years cancer-free and lives with side effects of radiotherapy which include a very dry mouth and reoccurring oral thrush.
She also suffers from nerve pain on the side of her tongue where the cancer was removed and has to use painkillers. Karen, a school nurse, from Rochford, Essex, said: "I am a healthy person, I run, don't smoke, don't drink much and I eat healthy food.
"I had to have speech therapy, I lost all my confidence and people were struggling to understand me. It has impacted every aspect of life.
"It isn't an easy journey afterwards after you get to that five-year milestone if it is not cancer. You are living with the side effects, there is not a lot of help out there.
"I thought I was a healthy person, I had never heard of mouth cancer, and when they said they were going to do a biopsy I still didn't think anything of it. When I was told I had cancer, I burst into tears.
"I was so shocked, even the specialist was shocked by my shock. My husband was with me and we were at the hospital for hours.
"You get your diagnosis and then you are meeting with everyone who will be supporting you. We got home and didn't mention anything to our children.
"We finally told them before I started radiotherapy. We all sat down together, and my husband did the talking because I felt like I let my family down by putting them through this."
Karen endured what she describes "unbearable agony" during her course of treatment for the disease which included radiotherapy, neck dissection and gruelling surgery for part-removal of her tongue. She discovered running which "kept her sane" and even ran a half marathon just two weeks after finishing cancer therapy.
Karen said: “I just needed to run. Control was being taken away from me by cancer and this was one way of getting control back.
“When it came to the end of radiotherapy, I had the goal that I wanted to run the Southend half-marathon. I was told by clinicians that I wouldn’t be allowed to do it.
“But nobody could stop me, it's what’s keeping me going. Running was my way of being free from it all.”
Karen explained non-healing mouth ulcers, lumps, swellings, and red or white patches in the mouth are the most common signs of mouth cancer. Despite being told the side effects of her treatment could be worse than the treatment, Karen still completed what she claims to be her "best run ever".
She said: “It was all about celebrating life. Being able to do that was really important to me.
“My running club were all there at the end with high-fives, a massive line of them. It was brilliant.
“I had unbelievable support all the way through from so many people. I was very lucky.”
Karen said her life has "never been the same" following the treatment. Complications including "an aggressive form of oral thrush,” learning to speak properly again and concerns about cancer returning are just some of the obstacles she has faced over the last few years - but nothing has stopped her from running regularly.
Karen said: “After you’ve had cancer, you see life a bit differently and you feel a bit more alive afterwards. There’s a lot of things out there to enjoy and now I feel I have a second chance at doing just that.”
Poor awareness of cancer signs means a reported 53% of all mouth cancers are diagnosed in stage four, where the cancer is at its most advanced. This leaves chances of beating the disease up to as much as a coin toss.
Years on from her initial diagnosis, Karen is determined to use her story to help raise awareness of the disease. “A lot of people think that mouth cancer only happens to smokers, but my story shows that isn’t always the case," Karen said.
She added: “If you have been worried about an unusual change in your mouth then get it checked out. Don’t be frightened, but it’s important that you don’t suffer in silence.
"Remember that the sooner it’s checked out, the sooner it can be sorted. Chances are it’ll be fine but in the rare case it is not, it could be a life saver.”
