A woman whose tongue was removed after it became cancerous has had a new one made from her arm.
Joanna Smith, 58, of Clapham, Bedfordshire, first realised something was wrong when she spotted a tiny 'ulcer' in her mouth in October last year.
After initially being sent home from her GP with a gel, the grandmother-of-four was finally referred for a biopsy when the growth became the 'size of a Malteser'.
Told she would have just eight months to live unless she had her tongue removed, Ms Smith underwent 15 hours of surgery, involving 29 medics, on January 10.
Doctors then made Ms Smith - who works as a cleaner - a new tongue via skin, muscle and a long vein in her left arm.
Although she has no taste buds, Ms Smith - who is cancer free - was able to talk as soon as she woke from the operation, and can eat and drink as normal.
Joanna Smith had a new tongue made from the skin, muscle and veins in her left arm after her's became cancerous. She is pictured left after the operation, with the scar on her neck visible from where surgeons went in to remove her tumour. She is pictured right at the Bedford Hospital, where was diagnosed with tongue cancer following a biopsy
![Scar shows where tissue was taken from Ms Smith's arm. Medics initially used skin and muscle from her leg, however, this 'turned black' when doctors attempted to reattach it in her mouth. She describes the whole procedure as 'really weird but shows what [doctors] can do'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/18/10/9952420-6716621-image-a-19_1550485245584.jpg)
Scar shows where tissue was taken from Ms Smith's arm. Medics initially used skin and muscle from her leg, however, this 'turned black' when doctors attempted to reattach it in her mouth. She describes the whole procedure as 'really weird but shows what [doctors] can do'
Speaking of the operation, the mother-of-two said: 'It's a bit weird. I look at my arm and see where my tongue has come from.
'I think "that's in my mouth now but yet I can talk" and that's really weird.
'I can't stick my tongue out and I can't say it really feels like a tongue. It feels a bit surreal.
'Before I had it done I was thinking to myself "how it that going to work?" but now I've had it I'm like "wow".
'It's really weird but it shows what they can do now.'
Ms Smith - who does not smoke - went to her GP when the 'ulcer' in her mouth started to grow and became painful.
After initially being prescribed tablets and mouth-ulcer gel, Ms Smith was later referred to Bedford Hospital for a biopsy.
She then received the devastating diagnosis, and was scheduled in for the operation at Luton and Dunstable Hospital.
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