A Brechin father of two is backing the bid to raise awareness of mouth cancer across Tayside and Fife.
Painter and decorator Harry Angus (37), who is also a part-time firefighter, asked his dentist to look at what he thought was a mouth ulcer that was not healing.
A short time later he was in Ninewells Hospital having a cancerous lump removed from his tongue and had difficulty eating and speaking for weeks.
Five months after his operation, he says he still has a slight slur but is otherwise back to normal and grateful to the surgeon and clinical team that helped him tackle the disease.
Harry was diagnosed this year and is now back at work with Arbroath-based Angus Decorators. He is keen to support the efforts of Dundee dental students trying to raise awareness the disease during Mouth Cancer Action Month.
He said: ”If there is anything worrying anybody, my advice would be go and get it checked out. I discovered a mouth ulcer and it was not going away.”
Harry has two young children Aaron (9) who is a pupil at Andover Primary School in Brechin, and Rebekah (4). Leading a busy life with his partner Jennifer Taylor and their family, Harry had made several routine dental appointments but, for one reason or another, kept having to cancel.
Many weeks after he discovered the persistent ”mouth ulcer”, Harry made it along to his dentist in May.
”After he had done the routine examination, he asked me if there was anything else and I told him I had an ulcer on my tongue and it wasn’t clearing up. He put me forward for Ninewells and when I went up they did a biopsy.”
The subsequent cancer diagnosis was worrying but, after the quick referral to oral cancer specialists at Ninewells, Harry said he was not surprised to be told the ”ulcer” was malignant.
”It was scary but they said they were hopeful they had caught it early enough.”
After the longest three weeks of his life, waiting for an operation, Harry had a small part of his tongue removed and didn’t need chemotherapy or radiotherapy afterwards.
”I go back every month and they have a look around my mouth. I think they will do that for about a year and then there will be longer between the checks but they will be keeping a close eye on me for the next five years.
”Every ulcer and every lump or bump in my mouth will get a thorough examination to check the cancer isn’t coming back.”
Harry was in hospital overnight after his operation but the major part of his recovery was done at home in Brechin. He was off work for a month.
”I had stitches in my tongue and it was like I’d been to the dentist for a fortnight. My tongue was all swollen and it was difficult to eat and drink. My tongue will take about nine months to get back to normal.”
But he says that is a small price to pay to be back enjoying life with his family and being able to look to a future with them.
”This is a major health issue across the UK and particularly in Scotland,” said Professor Graham Ogden, of Dundee University Dental School.
He said attending a dentist for regular check ups is the best way to ensure early detection and treatment of the disease. Early symptoms of oral cancer can include:
Ulcers that do not heal in three weeks Red or white patches Lumps or overgrowths Numbness of the tongue or other areas of the mouth.Find out more at www.mouthcancer.org