Hebburn grandad learns to eat again in time for Christmas following cancer battle

Steve Bent, from Hebburn, was diagnosed with oral cancer in February this year after he went to see the doctor about a small lump under his tongue.

The 59-year-old was admitted to Sunderland Royal Hospital, where he under went gruelling surgery which included a bilateral neck dissection, removal of the tumour along with part of his lower jaw, teeth and then a skin graft to reconstruct the area.

He even lost part of his tongue in the process and spent two weeks in hospital recovering.

During that time, he was fed through a tube as he was unable to swallow and at first, he could only manage a sip of water and some teaspoons of ice cream.

Steve then worked with Beth Halliday, a speech and language therapist at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust and a member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, to regain his ability to eat once again.

Since then, he has been working throughout the year to improve his eating and has reflected on his journey so far.

Steve said: "At first, it was unbelievable that I couldn't even a teaspoon of ice cream - it was so frustrating.

"Going into it, I knew it was a serious operation but no one could have prepared me for the aftermath.

"When I was discharged from hospital, I was still being fed through a tube at home until I was strong enough to start eating soft things.

"It began with things like ice cream and custard before moving on to soup but everything had to be cold and put in a blender so it was thin enough for me to swallow.

"It would take me around 20 to 30 minutes to eat a bowl of soup.

"I eventually was able to swallow things like mash potato and gravy with some soft veg, now that was a luxury."

During his journey, Steve picked up a cook book by Laura Marston, titled "Eating with Confidence" - something she wrote after going through a similar operation.

This, coupled with his work with Beth, allowed him to make big improvements with his ability to eat.

He added: "Beth was fantastic and was always advising me on different swallowing techniques in order to help me.

"As far as I am concerned, she was just born to do the job that she does as she was brilliant.

"You go through so many low points and she was there all the time to help me, even if it was just things like making appointments to get me to progress.

"Sometimes I did feel like giving up but she was there to push me on and gave me the self belief that I could do it.

"Then there was the people at Macmillan Cancer Support in Sunderland who were also a big help."

Beth has praised Steve for the work that he was put in to ensure that he is able to eat again, especially in time for Christmas.

She commented: "I'm beyond proud of what Steve has managed to accomplish since receiving his head and neck cancer treatment.

"Like many head and neck cancer patients, his recovery has not only involved work on his eating, drinking and communication, but also keeping himself psychologically strong throughout. 

"We have worked hard together, along with countless members of our head and neck cancer team.

"His story is truly inspirational and will no doubt empower many others who are facing a journey like his."

Read South Tyneside's news on the go with our free email newsletters - bringing the headlines to your inbox. Catch up on the day's news and sport and enjoy even more from your Gazette. Visit our website here to find out more and sign up.

Now Steve is looking ahead to Christmas and having dinner with his family, although he will still unfortunately be unable to eat his favourite part of the meal.

"I've been somewhat lucky as I've not had to go through chemo, the operation was a success and I'm still cancer free", stated Steve.

"It has taken months to get to this point and I am still learning to cope with how to eat different things.

"Christmas will be a pleasure this year and it will be really nice to be around the whole family.

"I'll be having dinner with my wife and daughter before going to my son's on Boxing Day to see the grandchildren.

"Unfortunately, I still can't swallow bacon so I'll not be able to have any pigs and blankets which will be a big miss as they are my favourite part of a Christmas dinner.

"But things could have been a whole lot worse so I'm thankful for that."