When Amir Ahmed discovered he had cancer, he offered his girlfriend the chance to make a new life without him. But she stuck by him, as did his family and thanks to drastic surgery and facial reconstruction he is now fully recovered. Karen Armstrong talks to him and his consultant

LOOKING at Amir Ahmed, you would never guess he has had part of his jaw and half his tongue removed in a life-saving operation by a leading face and oral surgeon.

A systems engineer for the Guardian newspaper, Mr Ahmed was only 28 when he received the devastating news he had a cancerous tumour on his tongue.

The cancer was aggressive and needed immediate surgery.

The now 29-year-old said: "I had what I thought was a really painful ulcer. I was given some mouth gel by my dentist, and I was taking the full daily dose of Nurofen.

"The right side of my tongue, my right ear, and my whole skull was hurting. I was biting my tongue in my sleep, and then waking up because I was in so much pain."

Wanting a second opinion, Mr Ahmed visited the London Hospital Dental Institute in Whitechapel Road. He said: "I really thought it was my wisdom teeth, and I needed them to be taken out.

"I had a biopsy on my tongue and was told to come back in a week's time. I thought 'oh it's a problem with my tongue'."

Within a fortnight, Mr Ahmed was diagnosed with mouth cancer and referred to consultant oral and facial surgeon Iain Hutchison, who performed the astonishing 12-hour operation at the Royal London Hospital.

Dr Hutchison said: "It is probably the longest operation in the NHS. It is four operations rolled into one.

"Firstly we take out the cancer. This is very emotive because you are dealing with the face and facial appearance. You are also dealing with speech and the ability to eat a normal diet.

"We took away some of Amir's lower jaw and half of his tongue, and all the glands in his neck. We had to split his jaw to get access to the back of his mouth.

"In Amir's case we did not need to replace any bone, but we took some fat and skin from his arm to replace part of his tongue. Then we have to carve the tissue to mould the right shape to fit on the tongue."

Amazing micro-surgery was then performed, joining an artery and vein in Mr Ahmed's arm to his jugular vein and carotid artery to ensure an immediate blood supply.

Dr Hutchison said: "The arteries and veins are only one millimetre in diameter so any blockage meant the second, third and fourth part of the operation failed if the blood could not get through."

Finally, a skin graft was taken from Mr Ahmed's stomach to cover his arm from where skin had been taken.

Mr Ahmed also had a tracheotomy to enable him to breathe as the operation causes facial tissue to swell and block the airway.

He said: "I woke up with several hundred stitches in my mouth and pipes everywhere. I was in hospital for ten days, and fed through a tube for four of those days.

"I did at times think 'why me?' I don't smoke, I don't drink. I thought I was healthy."

Mr Ahmed said his determination to beat cancer helped him through the highs and lows of fighting his illness: "One of the first solid meals I was given was a plate of mashed potato. It took me about an hour and a half to eat it. But I was determined to eat and live a normal life."

The cancer survivor then underwent an intensive six-week course of radiotherapy, fivedays a week.

"I was in so much pain I was on liquid morphine. The radiotherapy really wiped me out. But I was so determined to get through it. Even in hospital I would get up and do exercise," he said.

Speech therapy at Whipps Cross Hospital followed the radiotherapy treatment. Mr Ahmed said: "My speech is not like it was, and my sense of taste is lessened, but my health is improving all the time."

Tai Chi and meditation helped Mr Ahmed, but he said behind him was the constant love and support of his family and then girlfriend, Shahnaz.

Mr Ahmed said: "Everyone stood by me and that gave the strength to get through my illness. Shahnaz and I were planning to get married when I was diagnosed with cancer.

"I told her it would be difficult, and I would understand if she wanted to leave. She told me not to be silly and she was there every day for me."

The couple were married last May in Wandsworth, and currently live in Walthamstow.

Now fully recovered one and a half years later, Mr Ahmed still has check-ups every two months at the Royal London Hospital.

Out of all bad things comes good, and Mr Ahmed said his recovery has given him a more positive outlook on life. He said: "I don't worry about the little things any more as life is precious."

Dr Hutchison explained that before the days of facial reconstruction, facial surgery would have left people with severe deformities.

"Now we can take out large cancers and reconstruct faces, so people like Amir can lead a normal life," he said.

He added that research into cancer of the mouth was vastly underfunded compared with cervical and testicular cancer and leukaemia, despite mouth cancer being as common as leukaemia and more prevalent than cervical cancer in UK women.

Responding to these shocking facts, Dr Hutchison founded the Facial Research Foundation, Saving Faces, two and a half years ago, a charity which seeks to improve the treatment of mouth cancer and other diseases and injuries affecting the face.

Dr Hutchison said symptoms of mouth cancer included a constant mouth ulcer, red or white patches in the mouth, constant soreness in one side of your throat, or a neck lump. Dr Hutchison said if people had concerns they should see their GP, and ask to be referred to their local oral and facial surgeon.

If you would like more information on the Facial Research Foundation, or would like to make a donation, go to www.savingfaces.co.uk. Alternatively you can call 020 76017582.