My Mouth Ulcer Was Deadly

Kylie Has Had Her Tongue Removed And Rebuilt, But Her Battle Still Isn’t Over

- Emma Levett

Most people have had a mouth ulcer, and when 36-year old Kylie Cilek noticed one on the end of her tongue she didn’t give it much thought at first.

“I put ulcer gel on it but it wouldn’t go away,” she recalls. “I kept seeing GPs but they all prescribed different creams, gels and antibiotics that didn’t work.”

So, in February 2017, after six weeks with a sore, red tongue Kylie did what anyone would. She started googling.

“It came up that it could be cancer and I started worrying,” Kylie tells New Idea from her home in Sydney. A mum to Isla, who was 2 at the time, she was understandably cautious and went to see a specialist.

“The ulcer had a ridge around it, which I didn’t realise at the time but now know is a tell tale sign of cancer,” she explains. “He took a biopsy and five days later he called to say I had a squamous cell carcinoma on my tongue that needed to be removed.

“There was no explanation for it. I wasn’t a smoker or drinker. It was really horrible luck.”

Kylie’s husband Tanyu, 45, was with her as she was taken for surgery to remove the tip and left side of her tongue. He and Isla were also there to celebrate when the surgeon said he’d got it all afterwards

“I couldn’t relax, though,” Kylie recalls. “I had this feeling there was something else. My specialist suggested I see a psychologist but I didn’t need a psychologist. I wanted someone to take me seriously.”