A mum who was told she had just two weeks to live is still going strong seven years later thanks to pioneering treatment.
Alison Hough, 59, has been able to meet her five grandchildren and attend her daughter's wedding thanks to a ground-breaking treatment which involved a 17-hour operation to remove a cancerous tumour. Alison, an adult nurse lecturer at Keele University, was suffering from nose bleeds and nasal congestion in March 2016. After several weeks, she visited her GP.
Her symptoms didn't get better, so she was sent to the Royal Stoke Hospital for a CT scan. When she saw the results, Alison knew something was "very wrong".
She said: "I told them I wanted to attend my daughter's wedding; I wanted to be there. But they couldn't respond. That's when it sort of hit me."
The biopsy results confirmed the family's worst fears. Alison was suffering from a cancerous tumour called adenocarcinoma. Because her sinuses were so swollen, crying could have caused a dangerous nose bleed, so she had to stay strong, reports Stoke-on-Trent Live.
Alison bravely agreed to a 17-hour operation where surgeons removed the tumour along with her whole nose, right eye and part of her right cheek. Specialists used a 3D print of her face to plan the removal of the tumour and reconstruct some of her features after the operation. The procedure was successful and the grandmother-of-five has been declared cancer free and says she is now "living her best life."
She said: "There was no choice, really - I was given the chance to live. It was easier to say yes as it had to be done. There is no gift I could ever give that would be enough to say thank you to them. They've given me that chance to see my grandchildren, to see my daughter get married and be there.
"I'm living my best life. I don't feel like I need to do anything, go on holiday to Barbados, or travel the world - I'm just enjoying my life as it is."
After the operation, she underwent six weeks of tough radiotherapy. As well as losing her hair, the radiotherapy damaged Alison's forehead bone and top jaw.
She added: "My bone deteriorated from the radiotherapy. I had the bone removed from my forehead and it was replaced with part of my shoulder blade. It destroyed my upper jaw, too. They took the bone out of my lower leg, the fibula, and they structured a top jaw out of it."
"The period of recovery was a huge challenge, because, physically and emotionally, I was a different person. I had everything replaced, in the form of prosthetics. I've got a nose, an eye and part of a cheek, which helped me accept what had happened.
"Mr Gahir and Mr George are incredible. I had great trust in them. I appreciated what they told me and everything they have done. They explained everything in great detail."
Alison was able to make her daughter's wedding in 2017. She said: "My daughter asked me for the first dance. We danced to When You Tell Me That You Love Me by Diana Ross. That brought some tears to people at the wedding."
"I couldn't believe I was still alive, I was really pleased to be there." She has also been able to meet all five of her grandchildren - Minnie, Elsie, Sid, Olive and Harry - all born after her diagnosis.
Alison was invited to share her story in a documentary for the University Hospital of North Midlands (UHNM) Charity. The film highlighted the life-saving work surgeons Mr Gahir and Mr George carried out with the support of cutting-edge technology. She said: "Anything I can do to give back to this amazing team of people, I would have done. This was an opportunity to thank them."
Specialists used a print of her face to plan the removal of the tumour and the reconstruction of some of her features following the operation. Mr Gahir, who is a head, neck and maxillofacial surgeon, said: "The factor at that point was the extent of the tumour into the brain. In a lot of units this would have definitely been deemed inoperable and she would have probably have been having palliative treatment.
"But we were very fortunate at the time we had the latest technology and that was 3D printing. We found it very beneficial. We could print a model of the face and see the extent of the tumour."
To donate to the UHNM Charity, click here.
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