Cheese Sarnie Left Me Like This
Doctors rebuilt Rhys’ face using part of his leg
After a busy morning at work in January 2015, it was time for the best part of the day… Lunch!
I had the same as always – my favourite, cheese sarnies.
But, taking a bite, something exploded in my mouth. And it wasn’t the flavour!
Something had popped. And then I tasted it… Pus!
Vile.
I ran to the toilet and got there just in time to vomit.
What on earth..?
Mystery lump
Feeling around my mouth with my tongue, I found it – a lump, right at the back of my mouth on the right-hand side.
It was nestled behind my bottom set of teeth, so it wasn’t surprising I’d never noticed it before.
The mysterious lump leaked into my mouth all day.
Getting home, I asked my partner Naomi, now 22, to have a look.
But she couldn’t even get past the smell of my breath!
‘It’s like something’s died in there!’ she gasped.
And she couldn’t see what could be causing the smell or the oozing.
I had a dental checkup booked for the following month anyway, so I decided to wait until then.
But the pain in my mouth was constant, and my breath was rank.
‘Pooh! Daddy smells!’ our oldest daughter Brooke, now 6, said.
Even baby Hannah, now 2, scrunched up her nose when I gave her a kiss. Something wasn’t right. At my appointment, the dentist didn’t know what the lump was, either.
But, every other day, the lump would pop. I just got used to the taste of the pus.
Food would get stuck near the lump all the time, and the pain never stopped. Plus, there was the awful smell...
Whenever I talked to people in my job as a kitchen warehouse supervisor, people would wince, and I could tell they were flinching at the terrible smell of my breath.
But I tried so hard to just get used to it.
Naomi and I even travelled to Cyprus in October 2015 to get married, and I had to ignore the pain.
My mysterious lump popped drinking the toasts, and through all the lovely food.
By September last year, I’d had enough.
I went back to the dentist and insisted on further tests.
I was sent for an X-ray the next week at Doncaster Royal Infirmary. There, on the screen, I could see a huge, black mass.
‘It’s an abscess,’ the doctor predicted.
I was referred to the
Ear, Nose and Throat Unit at Montagu Hospital, Mexborough. By now, I’d started to feel the right half of my face swelling up.
It was subtle, but enough for me to notice. And the lump had become angry and inflamed.
Over the next few weeks, I was back and forth for more appointments and to get bloods taken.
‘We need to do a biopsy as well,’ doctors said.
Hearing that, I immediately thought of cancer.
But nothing of the sort had been mentioned so far…
In tears
Although benign, the tumour could turn cancerous if left
Then, on 20 December, I was called back in.
Taking Naomi with me, we took a seat in the appointment room, where we
MY WIFE passed out WHEN SHE saw ME!
The hospital lasagne tasted like the best meal ever!
were surrounded by doctors, nurses, surgeons… This had to be bad. ‘It’s a tumour,’ my doctor said. Naomi burst into tears.
I felt numb.
‘It’s benign, but it does need removing immediately as it could turn cancerous otherwise,’ he added.
Turned out I had what’s called ameloblastoma.
The mass was fused to my jaw and could creep up to eye if left any longer.
Doctors said they could try to ‘scoop’ out the tumour, but that there was a risk they may not be able to get it all.
The other option was to remove the bone it was fused to, and reshape my jaw using bone taken from my leg.
‘Take it all out,’ I said, thinking of the girls.
I couldn’t gamble with my family’s future.
Even so, I was still worried that this could be my last Christmas.
So I spoiled the girls rotten.
Then, come the New Year, my name was added to a waiting list.
This rare type of surgery could only be done at the Northern General Hospital. And a titanium replica of my jaw hinge needed to be made and flown over from America.
Finally, on 7 June this year, I went under the knife.
During complex surgery lasting 14 hours, the tumour was removed, along with the righthand side of my jaw.
Then the surgeon used surgical nuts and bolts to attach the metal hinge, and formed the new jaw using bone shaved from my left fibula.
Coming round, I could hardly move.
‘You’re awake!’ my mum Sue gasped.
I gestured to some paper and a pen. Where’s my wife? I wrote. Naomi came in, and passed out from shock.
I couldn’t blame her – when I saw my own reflection, I saw the huge gash on my neck where the surgeon had operated.
Relief all round!
I was kept in hospital for two weeks to recover.
It was 10 days before I could eat solids. And, when I did, the hospital lasagne tasted like the best meal ever!
Over time, I lost over 3st! Now, my mouth can open nearly an inch.that means I can just about squash in a cheeseburger!
I’m still on strong painkillers, and I need to do special exercises for my jaw every day.
I’ve lost three teeth, too, but I’ll get implants soon.
I’m walking fine now as well.
My mouth still droops down on the righthand side. But, if this hasn’t changed in six months’ time, I’ll get plastic surgery.
Luckily, the bad breath has completely disappeared.
Now I can kiss Naomi and the kids again – without getting any complaints!
In fact, there’s not a lot
I can’t do, and it’s all thanks to those clever surgeons.
I can even smile.
In fact…i can’t stop!