I was forced to have half my tongue chopped off and rebuilt with my ARM after doctors dismissed ‘ulcer’ for years

FOR years, doctors dismissed a small mark on Sharon Moreby’s tongue; they said she was just biting it in her sleep.

But the -of-four was later given a life-shattering diagnosis and forced to have half of her .

Sharon Moreby was forced to have half of her tongue removed The mum-of-four had complained of a sore spot on her tongue for years

Sharon, 54, first spotted a white, cobweb-like while brushing her teeth 20 years ago.

She was repeatedly told it was dysplasia – a growth of abnormal but non-cancerous cells.

Over the following 18 years, Sharon underwent eight biopsies and a laser treatment on the left side of her tongue, but doctors continued to insist the mark was not harmful.

One surgeon even allegedly told Sharon the patch was due to her “biting her tongue” in her , so she followed his guidance and wore dental braces for the next two years.

But the mum’s symptoms continued to worsen, expanding to , jaw pain, issues swallowing, and a new, unexplained lump on her neck.

However, Sharon claims doctors dismissed her growing concerns, putting her condition down to the .

It wasn’t until Sharon underwent yet another biopsy in August 2023 that she discovered the truth – she had an aggressive -related .

Two months later, Sharon underwent a gruelling nine-and-a-half-hour to remove the entire left side of her tongue, as well as and after doctors discovered the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.

Sharon is now in remission but she is urging others to always “listen to their gut” when it comes to concerns about their .

Sharon, who lives in Barnsley, South , tells Sun Health: “I noticed a little white patch on the left side of my tongue that looked like a spider web when I was brushing my teeth.

“I didn’t think much of it; I wasn’t overly concerned.

“I was reading a magazine article about cancers and it mentioned white patches, so I rang my dentist to get it checked out.

“From then on, over the years it just kept coming back. It kept growing towards the back of my tongue, probably to the size of a penny.

“It was getting more severe so doctors kept doing biopsies, but they always said it was dysplasia.

“After that much testing, I thought, ‘It can’t be cancer’.”

Sharon was made to wear braces for two years as doctors thought she might simply be biting her tongue in her sleep.

“Obviously it didn’t work because I wasn’t doing that; it just aggravated it,” she says.

“I think I probably had cancer at that point and I was told I was just biting my tongue.”

Doctors said the mark on her tongue was probably caused by her biting it in her sleep She was later diagnosed with cancer and underwent a neck dissection to remove the disease She had multiple biopsies and eventually had half of her tongue removed and reconstructed Sharon had skin removed from her arm to rebuild her tongue

More than a decade after the white patch first appeared, Sharon’s continued to worsen – but the mum claims health professionals continued to ignore her concerns.

“When it came back this time, I was in a lot of pain,” she says.

“I got horrendous earache and jaw pain, and a lump in my neck.

“They just said it was pain from all the biopsies and the lump was from a blocked salivary gland.

“I kept getting told there was nothing to worry about. Then I started having problems swallowing.

“I went to the GP and explained all the pain I was in and they said it was probably to do with menopause.

“I felt like no one was listening to me. It was like I was hitting a brick wall.”

I would’ve died if I’d listened to the advice of doctors. People must follow their guts and keep pushing for answers

Sharon Moreby

Unwilling to ignore her symptoms for any longer, Sharon visited her dental hygienist who referred her for another biopsy that confirmed she had .

About a third of all occur on the tongue, according to the Mouth Cancer Foundation.

Almost 11,000 people were diagnosed with a form of mouth cancer in the UK last year. There were 3,637 deaths.

Two months after her diagnosis, Sharon underwent a neck dissection to remove the cancer from her mouth, followed by a tongue reconstruction performed using tissue from her left arm.

She is now in remission but feels she was “let down” by the medical community after years of fighting for a diagnosis.

Sharon says: “I’ve no idea why all my biopsies came back clear. If I’d left it much longer, I don’t think I’d be here.

“I feel like I was let down. I don’t know if that white patch I found all those years ago was cancer.

“Now looking back, I wonder why they didn’t look into it more. Why did it keep coming back?

“I would’ve died if I’d listened to the advice of doctors.

“People must follow their guts and keep pushing for answers.”

‘I would’ve died if I’d listened to the advice of doctors,’ she says Sharon after an operation to remove the cancer from her tongue The mum was initially told to wear braces at night to stop her biting her tongue Sharon’s tongue in October 2023 after her reconstruction surgery Sharon, from Yorkshire, undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy Sharon feels ‘let down’ by doctors, who dismissed her symptoms After the mark on her tongue, Sharon developed a lump in her neck, as well as earache, jaw pain and issues swallowing