Woman uses arm flesh for tongue surgery, now has blue star tattoo on it

A woman with tongue cancer chose to get reconstruction surgery and used the flesh from her left arm for it. She now has a tattoo on her tongue, since she had a blue star tattoo on her left bicep. Jennifer Alexander, who is now 52, was diagnosed with tongue cancer at the age of 37. She witnessed recurring leukoplakia, a painful white patch on her tongue caused by HPV.

In 2009, a tumour developed on the tongue and she rushed to the dentist. A biopsy was done and the tumour was removed. However, the cancer returned in October 2017 and then again in October 2019.

In 2020, she decided to get tongue reconstruction surgery as that was the only way to prevent the tumour from growing again. A chunk of flesh was removed from her left bicep and stitched to the rest of the tongue.

Also Read:Woman weighing 50 kilos gets fat loss surgery, becomes infertile

The blue star tattoo made its way from her arms to her tongue. It might look cool, but Jennifer has faced some issues over it. She was once pulled over by an officer who thought the tattoo was a Listerine tab.

Challenges after tongue surgery

Jennifer faced several challenges after the surgery. She had to learn to talk and even eat again. Most of her taste buds were also gone. The associate tax accountant from Marietta, Atlanta, says she couldn't even say her own name for two years. “I know I don’t look like the kind of person who has a mouth tattoo – but I like to use it to educate people about tongue cancer. After my fourth surgery in March 2020, I couldn’t even say my own name until 2022," she told the New York Post.

“I had to see a speech therapist to learn to eat and speak again."

The loss of taste buds means that tasting food takes time now. “Sometimes, with food like ice cream, I have to wait for my brain to send the ‘cold’ signal before I can register what it is.”

Jennifer first saw signs of a problem in her 20s. She had a large white patch on her tongue, and every time some food or drink touched it, she felt a burning sensation. She says she"lived in denial" until her aunt took her to a dentist. Jennifer was told that it looked like cancer. “He said: ‘You’re going to be fine – but I’m telling you now, this is definitely cancer.'”