The Power of Positivity
- “Top Chef” alum Shirley Chung is looking forward to getting back into “full force” in 2025, after celebrating her 48th birthday and finishing up treatment battling stage four tongue cancer, a type of oral cancer that is also referred to as a head and neck cancer.
- A mouth sore may be painful and inflamed from the start but heal within two or three weeks. On the other hand, a cancerous lump may not be painful in the early stages and it won’t get better over time.
- This disease doesn’t always show signs, but symptoms can include: a lump on the side of the tongue that touches the teeth, pain, a sense of fullness in the throat, difficulty swallowing, the feeling of a lump in the neck or throat, voice changes and ear pain.
- Dealing with a new diagnosis is often a stressful and scary time. SurvivorNet experts encourage cancer patients and others going through health struggles to alleviate some of that stress by leaning on their support systems. A support system can include loved ones like family and friends, those dealing with similar struggles in a support group, mental health professionals, and more.
- Focusing on positivity, hope, and faith through cancer can positively impact your experience, and its wonderful to see Chung spending time with loved ones and keeping an optimistic outlook for the future.
Chung, who celebrated turning 48 on December 21 while surrounded by loved ones, took to social media during the holiday season to share some sweet moments from her birthday festivities.
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She captioned the post, “Thank you for all the birthday wishes. I am back home and spent my birthday with family and friends. Thank you @shotlandlisa for hosting Soup + Custard party for Shirley 1.8.
“I had my first bite of solid food since my treatments, Uni and Caviar. Can’t wait till next year when I am back full force!! Cheers to 2.0.”
Chung concluded her caption with the following hashtags, “#chefshirleychung #dumplingmafiaqueen #f–kcancer #cancerwarrior #happybirthday #unicorn #dumplingmafia.”
Her friend, Caryl Chinn, who works in culinary consulting, also took to social media to share a recap of the “Top Chef” alum’s birthday gathering.
Chinn wrote, “Saturday we celebrated a birthday, but perhaps more importantly we welcomed the Dumpling Queen herself, aka @chfshirleychung back to LA after 4 intense months of treatment in Chicago.
“It was a heartwarming evening with lots of hugs and smiles, and although I’m sure it was exhausting for her, it meant the world to be able to spend time with her and you better believe I still recognized that spark inside of her.”
She continued, “On the menu were all comforting (and soft) foods like matzoh ball soup, congee, and @astrea_caviar and uni because well, it’s still us after all and you know @andywangnyla was gonna come correct. I made almond jello, @chefsherryyard made hot chocolate and @cheffalkner made a gorgeous ube cheesecake.”
“Happy birthday Shirley! We [love] you!”
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Chung, who owns a Chinese restaurant called Ms. Chi Cafe with her husband Jimmy Lee, commented on her loved one’s post, “Thank you my Mafia, so good to be home!!”
Shirley Chung’s Tongue Cancer Journey
Chung, who made the difficult decision to close her L.A. restaurant while she focuses on her recovery, first announced her diagnosis in July.
“I have some personal news to share with you. Since last year December, I had a series of dental issues, I bit my tongue severely; I fractured my tooth and had to extract it and get an implant… we thought it was because I am a heavy teeth grinder,” she said in an Instagram post.
“And I was too busy to see a EMT specialist. The end of May, ulcers erupted in my mouth and my oral surgeon discovered a hidden tumor under my tongue. A few days later, I was diagnosed, stage 4 tongue cancer, as cancer cells also spread into my lymph nodes.”
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While receiving her diagnosis, all Chung said she heard was “‘option 1, surgery, 100% removal of your tongue’ … Jimmy was holding it together for both of us, asking if we have any option that I can keep my tongue and the survival rates.”
Thankfully, Chung and her husband’s curiosity and determination to find another treatment option led her doctor to tell them about a special case that took place at the University of Chicago. It was there they were told about how another person battling tongue cancer was cured through chemotherapy and radiation in Chicago, something she described as a “unicorn case.”
“Higher survival rate, or keep my tongue? I chose to keep my tongue, I am a fighter, I am a chef, I can be that unicorn too,” Chung said at the time.
Then, about six months after her diagnosis, in December, Chun commemorated finishing up treatment on Instagram, writing, “Heyyy loves, it’s been a while since my last update.I have completed a few milestones in my cancer fighting journey in the last 2 months.
“I finished my 10 weeks radiation and chemo in patient treatments at @uchicago,and ring the victory bells with my treatment team and friends + family by my side! And as I thought the toughest part of cancer has passed…I experienced the hardest / worst days of my life during recovery. ”
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She then explained how just 2 weeks after undergoing treatment, she suffered major discomfort as a side effect from radiation and chemotherapy all across her body.
Chung explained, “My neck, lips and jawline were covered with blisters from the radiation, my tongue and throat were peeling & bleeding all the time. I couldn’t sleep through the night, was waking up every 2 hours coughing up blood and mucus.
“My days were filled with clean and rinse my mouth, clean and change dressing on my neck, self inject pain meds every 3 hours, tube feed nutritional shakes and water. My pain finally got better 3 weeks ago. The first sip of water was glorious, it was still super painful, but after 3 months of not being able to swallow anything, it was a small win!”
After noting her taste buds are slowly returning to normal, she added, “I can taste 50% of sweet and savory and all the warm spices.”
Chung also recounted having emergency surgery to replace her “G tube,” otherwise known as a gastrostomy tube, which is surgically placed in one’s body through the abdomen to the stomach to bring in nutrition, fluids, and medicine.
She concluded, “Since I have been feeling better, I got to enjoyed Chicago a little bit, trips to museums and a play. I even played in the snow with Baxter. As I am getting ready to go back home for the holidays, I can’t thank my team @uchicago , Dr Vokes and Dr Juloori enough for treating and taking great care of me.
“My friends and family who visited and texted and checked on me. Everyone’s prayer, donations,gifts and love, warmed my soul, pushed me forward on this tough road of cancer recovery. I appreciate YOU. Next step, come back to Chicago in January for my final checkup. I GOT this.”
Tongue Cancer: Understanding the Cause of Head & Neck Cancers
According to Cedars-Sinai, several types of cancer develop in the tongue, with the most common being squamous cell carcinoma. The two types of tongue cancer are:
- Cancer of the oral tongue, which consists of the front two-thirds of the tongue that you can stick.
- Cancer of the base of the tongue, the area which is the back one-third of the tongue that extends down the throat.
Although some people may be diagnosed with tongue cancer and have no risk factors, Cedars-Sinai says this type of cancer is most commonly found in adults 40 years old and up. Men are also twice as likely to be diagnosed with tongue cancer.
Other risk factors, as per Cedars-Sinai include:
- Smoking and drinking alcohol [smokers are 5x more likely to develop tongue cancer than nonsmokers]
- Human papillomavirus (HPV)
- African-American men have a greater risk than caucasians
It’s unclear what led to Shirley Chung’s diagnosis, but it’s important to understand that symptoms of tongue cancer can include:
- An unusual lump on the side of the tongue
- An ulcer-like lump, of a grayish-pink to red color
- A lump that bleeds easily when touched
Tongue cancer may be hard to spot in its early stages, however, when the cancer develops, patients may experience trouble with swallowing, voice changes, pain in the ear, pain in the throat, or a feeling of fullness in the throat.
HPV and Cancer Risk: The Basics
As for how throat cancer is diagnosed, it’s usually done through X-rays, CT scans, and PET scans. A diagnosis often requires a biopsy.
For tongue cancer treatment, surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are usually done.
It’s much more common to know someone who has a head or neck cancer, like tongue cancer, now-a-days than it was several decades ago. And that’s because of its strong connection to the human papillomavirus, also known as HPV, which is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States.
“From the 1980s to the 2010s, the rate of HPV-related head and neck cancers has gone up by 300 percent,” Dr. Ted Teknos, a head and neck cancer specialist, and president and scientific director of University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center in Cleveland, Ohio, told SurvivorNet during a previous interview.
The vast majority of humans in the United States both men and women will eventually get infected with HPV, according to Dr. Allen Ho, a head and neck surgeon at Cedars-Sinai.
Expert Resources on HPV-Related Cancers
- Majority of Throat Cancer Diagnoses Are Caused by HPV – Here’s What You Need to Know
- Get the Facts: What Do We Know About HPV-Linked Throat Cancer?
- HPV-Related Cancers Are on the Rise And More Than 70 Cancer Centers Call for Urgent Action to Increase Vaccinations; What You Need to Know to Protect Your Child’s Health
- The HPV Vaccine Gardasil Now Approved For Prevention of Head & Neck Cancers– As Cases Rise in Men
- Millions More Americans Now Eligible to be Vaccinated Against HPV-Related Cancers
- Tongue Cancer Survivor Stanley Tucci’s Food-Loving TV Show Returns: How’s He Doing?
“The important thing to know about HPV is that there are many different strains, and only a couple of them tend to be more cancer-inducing,” he told SurvivorNet.
“Probably less than 1 percent of the population who get infected happen to have the cancer-causing virus that somehow their immune system fails to clear, and over 15 to 20 years it develops from a viral infection into a tumor, and a cancer.”
It’s unclear whether HPV alone is enough to trigger the changes in your cells that lead to head and neck cancers, or whether this happens in combination with other risk factors like smoking.
Hope & Faith through Cancer
It’s important to know that focusing on the positives while battling cancer can make the world of a difference.
Related: Stay Positive, It Matters
In an earlier interview, ovarian cancer survivor Beverly Reeves stresses how critical it is to have supportive, loving energy guiding you during your cancer battle. She talks about how her faith community was integral to her journey, too.
Reeves tells SurvivorNet, “If I had one piece of advice for someone who had just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, it would be to get a strong support group together. Get your close friends. If you’re connected to a faith community, get your faith community.”
‘Faith, Family, and Friends’ Helped Beverly Reeves Get Through Ovarian Cancer Treatment
“Get your family,” says Reeves. “Let them know what’s going on and let them help you. And sometimes that’s the most difficult thing to do, but just know that they are there. If they love you, they’re there to help you. And don’t be embarrassed.”
She continues, “Because this is a cancer that not a lot of people want to talk about. But it’s real and we need to talk about it, and we do need that help. So talk to your family and your friends and your faith community, and get that network together so they can support you and be there for you.”
The Power of a Solid Support System
One way SurvivorNet experts encourage cancer patients or anyone dealing with adversity to alleviate the stress of a health issue is by leaning on their support system, like Chung has done and continues to do.
A support system can be made up of loved ones like family and friends. It can also be comprised of strangers who have come together because of a shared cancer experience. Mental health professionals can also be critical parts of a support system.
“Some people don’t need to go outside of their family and friend’s circle. They feel like they have enough support there,” psychiatrist Dr. Lori Plutchik told SurvivorNet. “But for people who feel like they need a little bit more, it’s important to reach out to a mental health professional.”
Dr. Plutchik also stressed how important it is for people supporting cancer warriors to understand their emotions can vary day-to-day. “People can have a range of emotions, they can include fear, anger, and these emotions tend to be fluid. They can recede and return based on where someone is in the process,” she explained.
WATCH: Mental Health: Coping with Emotions
Meanwhile, Dr. Charmain Jackman, a licensed psychologist and founder of InnoPsych, echoes SurvivorNet experts on the benefits of positive mental health while facing a health diagnosis.
Dr. Jackman explained, “In the face of a life-threatening diagnosis, fear, hopelessness, and despair can quickly take space in your mind. However, your mindset is a superpower and can be a potent antidote to illness.
“Practicing gratitude, cultivating joy, and connecting to the community are practical ways to develop a resilient mindset.”
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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