Jeana Keough revealed the “painful” first symptom on her tongue that led to her cancer diagnosis and “immediate” dissection in an exclusive email interview with Page Six.
The “Real Housewives of Orange County” alum — who can’t speak at the moment as she undergoes treatment — recalled noticing a sore on her tongue sometime last year.
So she went to her “trusted dentist,” who “insisted” that one of her teeth was “digging” into her tongue and causing the sore.
“It felt like a small issue,” Keough, 70, admitted. “There was no mention of a specialist, no suggestion for a biopsy and [the dentist] proceeded to file the tooth down on multiple visits, sticking with the theory that it was my tooth causing the painful sore.”
After the former Bravolebrity’s third visit to that dentist, she was finally referred to an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor, but she told us she “couldn’t afford” the almost-$3,000 biopsy because the office didn’t accept her insurance.
So she “declined” but told herself she’d find an in-network ENT after her then-upcoming trip to Florida to visit her son Shane Keough and her daughter, Kara Bosworth. (Jeana’s youngest child, son Colton Keough, lives near her in Southern California.)
While on the trip, Jeana said she made an innocent comment about not wanting to eat spicy food because it would hurt her tongue, which prompted a “strong” reaction from Bosworth.
“My daughter immediately inquired about the pain and asked how long the spot had been there. I replied that I’d had the tooth filed down multiple times, but it was still causing pain,” Jeana recalled of the February conversation, noting that a skeptical Bosworth argued that the tooth in question had been there “all her life.”
The 37-year-old made her mom promise she’d schedule a biopsy “immediately upon arriving home” the following week — and she did.
“That doctor took one look in my mouth and said, ‘That’s cancer.’ A biopsy was done, and when I got the results back, it was confirmed,” Jeana lamented to us, adding that she then “called every doctor [she] knew to get their opinion.”
One of those doctors, she revealed, is her now-boyfriend, Thomas, with whom she was on her second date.
“Thomas has stuck with me through this cancer journey, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have him come into my life when I needed him most,” she gushed, going on to praise his sister, who is also a dentist.
“She took me under her wing and demanded the right and proper care for me after what she felt was a huge mistake by my dentist.”
Jeana underwent a tongue dissection right away, explaining, “We were all hopeful that the cancer was contained to the spot and just planned the oral surgery to remove the spot, leaving my lymph nodes alone.
“But after consulting with my [oncologist] and his team, it was decided that I would have a second surgery to remove about 30 to 40 nodes in a neck dissection because there was a small ‘glimmer’ on my scans near my neck — a glimmer that could have been attributed to inflammation but could also indicate a spread of the cancer.”
Since then, the real estate agent’s treatment plan has included radiation five days a week, chemotherapy once a week and some immunotherapy, though she “can see the finish line” now that she has only a few more days of radiation to go and just completed her last round of chemo.
“My whole neck and mouth and head light up in heat, pain and soreness, and the resulting inflammation of my throat and tongue makes talking, swallowing or breathing through my mouth incredibly painful,” she shared of her symptoms of both the cancer and the treatment.
“I can no longer swallow without gagging and then vomiting, which hurts like hell with a raw and inflamed throat and tongue.”
Due to both the location of her cancer and the intensity of her treatment, Jeana recently found herself in the hospital for malnourishment and dehydration. During that stay, she had a feeding tube placed directly into her stomach, which will likely stay put for “two to six months.”
“It’s upsetting to know that even after all this treatment, I still only have a 40 to 60 percent cure rate within the next five years,” she explained. “We’re just praying that I’m on the good side of that coin flip.”
As for what she wants people to know about oral cancer and listening to their bodies, Jeana stated sternly, “Get a good dentist, and if something doesn’t feel right, demand answers.”
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