Cancer Survivor Opens Up About Losing Her Tongue And Having It Replaced With Thigh, “It Grew Hair”

A woman that lost half her tongue to cancer and had it replaced with muscle from her thigh is opening up about her experience.

Cameron Weeks Newsom, 42, was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in 2013 after developing white spots on her tongue. Post-diagnosis, she began experiencing immense pain.

The original spots eventually grew into pinkish tumors on the left side of her tongue, according to Newsflare. After several previous biopsies had turned up negative for cancer, she received her diagnosis — stage four squamous cell carcinoma.

“At the time of my diagnosis, I’d lost over seven pounds because I was unable to eat or drink,” Newsom told the outlet. “It took three years from when the first spot originally appeared for doctors to finally diagnose me – no one ever mentioned it could be oral cancer.”

She was diagnosed in May of 2013 and began chemotherapy in July of that same year. During that time, she could not eat or drink without experiencing extreme pain. 

Her son, Hudson, who was five at the time, didn’t understand why Newsom was upset all the time. It came to a point where Newsom was physically unable to speak to her son or her husband, Anthony, due to the pain.

Chemo was successful, but she still needed to have the tumor out. After the tumor was out, Newsom underwent a nine-and-a-half hour to replace it with muscle and skin from her leg. 

“The weirdest part of the whole experience was when I felt a rough texture on the thigh part of my tongue – and when I looked in the mirror, it had started growing leg hair!” she said. 

She’s now living cancer-free. It’s been nine years since her cancer diagnosis, and there have been no signs of regression. 

“2013 was the toughest year of my life, and I couldn’t of done it without the support of my amazing Antony and the rest of my family,” Newsom said. 

She returned to her job as a gymnastics coach in June of 2014. Since that time, Newsom has mentored several other people who have been diagnosed with the same cancer she had, supporting them through their treatment.