Sarah Caroline Markley
Sarah Markley's Virgin London Marathon 2014 page
Fundraising for Mouth Cancer Foundation
Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
I'll be running VLM 2014 in memory of a very close friend's husband, Paul Beament.
10 years ago when Paul was diagnosed with mouth cancer, it killed 1 person every 5 hours in the UK.
Sadly, 11 months after his diagnosis, Paul became one of those statistics. He was a fit, non-smoking, 34 year old vegetarian.
Due to late detection, it’s on the increase. It now kills 1 person every 3 hours.
Help the fight against mouth cancer by knowing the signs and symptoms. Early detection is the key to successful treatment. Survival rates are improved if the cancer is detected early and rapidly treated. It is important to have self-awareness and to perform regular, self-examinations to help in the early identification. Common symptoms include:
• A sore or ulcer in the mouth that does not heal within three weeks.
• A lump or overgrowth of tissue anywhere in the mouth.
• A white or red patch on the gums, tongue, or lining of the mouth.
• Difficulty in swallowing.
• Difficulty in chewing or moving the jaw or tongue.
• Numbness of the tongue or other area of the mouth.
• A feeling that something is caught in the throat.
• A chronic sore throat or voice change (hoarseness) that persists more than six weeks, particularly smokers over 50 years old and heavy drinkers.
• Swelling of the jaw that causes dentures to fit poorly or become uncomfortable.
• Neck swelling present for more than three weeks.
• Unexplained tooth mobility persisting for more than three weeks - see a dentist urgently.
• Persistent nasal obstruction, particularly associated with mucus (clear, purulent or bloody) discharge causing difficulty breathing through nose.
• Unexplained persistent earache.
Ensure your dentist does a mouth cancer screening at your next appointment.
For more information: http://www.mouthcancerfoundation.org/get-involved/where-your-money-goes