There is no scientific explanation for why Mary Osheskie got tongue cancer. The 32-year-old Maple Valley resident does not drink or smoke.

Yet, when she went to see Dr. Prewitt in Tacoma in June 2009, that’s exactly what she was told.

“He sat me down in my chair, looked in my mouth, and said ‘You have tongue cancer,’” Osheskie said.

By then, Osheskie had spent several months, starting in the fall of 2008, trying to get rid of a sore on her tongue. Initially, she was prescribed anti-biotics, which failed to yield any results. Gradually, the sore grew worse and got bigger.

“It hurt a lot,” she said. “I couldn’t swallow.”

Eventually, it reached the point where she was not only unable to eat, but she was sent to both urgent care and emergency care. Then, she was referred to Dr. Prewitt, who diagnosed her as soon as he looked at her tongue, though a biopsy was performed which later confirmed his diagnosis.

“They were shocked,” Osheskie said. “They said, ‘We’ve never seen anything like this.”

According to seer.cancer.gov, 1.8 per 100,000 of white women are diagnosed with throat cancer.

However, according to Science Daily article, between 1975 and 2007 there was an 111 percent increase of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma for white females ages 18 to 44.

Still, the overall chance of getting tongue cancer is still rare among nonsmokers and nondrinkers, which might explain why no one suspected Osheskie had cancer for months. Due to that, however, the cancer by then had reached stage 3B, which is defined as a tumor of any size that has spread to distant lymph nodes or has invaded other structures in the chest, such as the heart or esophagus. It was found the cancer had spread to her lymphoids.

Osheskie was no stranger to dealing with cancer. Prior to being diagnosed, she had spent seven years tending to her mother, who had ovarian cancer.

Nevertheless, she said she was frustrated by the news.

“I really wanted to say this isn’t fair,” she said. “Most of the time people (who get tongue cancer) smoke or do tobacco. But it’s not right to say this isn’t fair because it isn’t fair for anybody. It’s indiscriminate.”

Her experience with her mother’s cancer also gave her a pragmatic attitude.

“When I got cancer, I said, ‘What do I have to do to get rid of it?’”

In July 2009, Osheskie had to undergo a 13 hour surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. Surgeons removed half of her tongue, which had been infected with the cancer, and replaced it with skin grafts from her left arm. The skin on her left arm was then replaced with skin from her left leg.

After the surgery, Osheskie was forced to use a trachea to breathe and had to communicate with everyone via a whiteboard. Her son, who is now 15, spent his 13th birthday in the hospital with her as she recovered.

“He just kind of goes along with what needs to be done,” Osheskie said.

Although it seemed like the cancer had been fully removed, her struggles weren’t over. Despite going through chemotherapy every 3 weeks at the Cancer Care Alliance in Seattle, and therapy every day for six weeks at Valley Medical Center in Renton, lumps were found in the back of her neck in December 2009.

This necessitated a second round of surgery. All the nerve tissues on the right side of her neck were removed, which prevents her from raising her right arm above a certain angle.

Currently, Osheskie is in remission since March.

Despite this, Osheskie is now struggling with a new problem: her teeth.

The radiation which killed the cancer also wrecked her salivary glands. With no saliva produced, her teeth will go bad in a year and need to be removed. After going toothless for four months she will be given dentures to replace them. She has to spend four hours a day in a hyperbaric chamber at the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle before she can have her teeth removed.

A hyperbaric chamber is a specially pressured compartment where the occupant is given pure oxygen to breathe.

The price tag for such services, though, is steep. In total, it will cost her $7,000 to have her teeth removed and new dentures put in, in addition to several visits.

Unable to work, she has had a difficult time paying for her medical expenses. Her insurance is able to cover the teeth removal, but the dentures and sedation she has to cover herself.

To help pay for these expenses, Osheskie, with help from Nikki Mackey, a fellow cancer survivor, is holding a fundraiser until Sept. 1. So far, they have raised $5,200, 74 percent of their goal.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Osheskie says she has tried to remain cheerful.

“Something I’ve noticed is people (who have cancer) have a really good sense of humor,” she said. “Some are dark. Some can be cynical. But there’s a ‘can-do’ attitude. They’re also not shy. Everyone’s got a horror story.”

Her web site can be found at http://www.giveforward.com/marysnewteeth