‘I tried to ignore it, then on a caravan holiday my wife just knew something was wrong’

A dad who had his world turned upside down when his wife noticed something about his face has spoken of his nightmare.

Stuart Kingston noticed he was struggling to eat and swallow but didn’t think anything of his strange symptoms.

Even when his wife Carol realised his face looked uneven the 67-year-old still didn’t think it warranted a GP visit.

That was until their daughter came to visit and was shocked by the lumps in Stuart’s neck and his noticeable change in speech.

The dad finally decided to see a doctor who referred him for an urgent PET scan, later being diagnosed with tongue cancer.

Tongue cancer is a rare form of the disease that accounts for around 1 per cent of all new cancer cases diagnosed annually.

In 2024, 10,825 people in the UK were diagnosed with mouth cancer, which is a 38 per cent increase from the previous decade.

Early warning signs include a sore lump or ulcer on the tongue that doesn’t heal; a red or white patch on the tongue that doesn’t go away; pain or a burning feeling on the tongue or difficulty swallowing or moving the tongue.

“During the pandemic, you naturally kept your distance from one another,” Carol said, recalling Stuart’s first signs and symptoms.

“So it was only later on in the year when we went on a caravan trip and were in close proximity to each other, sat face to face, I saw how uneven Stuart’s face looked.”

After his diagnosis in August 2020, retired teacher Stuart started five weeks of daily radiotherapy and then chemotherapy at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool.

He also took part in a clinical trial so he could “help someone going through the same thing in the future.”

Stuart said: “The night before my treatment started, Carol and I went to see the Blackpool Illuminations. We promised each other we’d come back when my treatment was finished.

“Even though it was another string to my bow in terms of fighting my cancer, my main reason for taking part was to give something back. If the cancer research and knowledge gained from my participation can help someone going through the same in the future, then sign me up.”

Stuart needed to learn how to swallow and use his tongue differently after his treatment.

“When I went home and the worries continued, I really started to struggle,” he added.

“This is why I’m eternally grateful for the speech and language therapy team at Clatterbridge. I couldn’t have made the progress I did without them.”

Stuart, from Widnes in Merseyside, got the all clear in March 2022 and now wants to encourage others to see their GP sooner than he did if they have any concerns.

He said: “Don’t think you’re invincible like I did. Speak with a professional if you’re experiencing any symptoms and put yourself in the hands of the experts.

“No matter how independent or tough you think you are, you can’t cure this by yourself. Accept the help of people who are highly skilled and qualified. Have trust and faith in their abilities and go into everything with a positive attitude taking it a day at a time.”

Dr Heulwen Sheldrick, a speech and language therapist at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, helped Stuart to learn how to swallow again.

She said: “Stuart had a feeding tube fitted at the start of his treatment and our main focus was to adjust what/how to eat and drink in order to safely remove the tube.

“It can be quite frightening to do this, relearning how to swallow and use the tongue in a different way. As a retired teacher, Stuart was really concerned about losing his ability to speak.

“But between the team’s support, Carol’s encouragement and Stuart’s hard work through speech and language therapy, he is now communicating in the clearest and most effective way possible.”