A wedding DJ who struggled to swallow food after “life-changing” surgery and radiotherapy treatment for jaw cancer which left him feeling “embarrassed” to eat in public has set himself a goal of eating Christmas dinner this year.

Chris Dye, 47, was diagnosed with jaw cancer in May 2022 and underwent a major operation a month later which saw part of his lower jaw removed – and replaced with the fibula bone in his calf – in order to extract the cancerous tumour after the disease had started to travel to the lymph nodes in his neck.

The radiotherapy treatment Chris then received to ensure no cancer cells remained left him with “pain and sensitivity” when swallowing food and “burnt all the tissue” in his mouth, meaning dry food such as meat or crackers, or food with a strong taste, such as spice or mature cheese, was difficult to eat.

Chris, who lives in County Durham with his wife Jill and his 23-year-old son Kieran, also feared choking on food after small pieces would get stuck in his throat and need to be washed down with water.

Chris is hoping to be able to eat prawn cocktail, and Christmas dinner with all the trimmings (Pictured: left, Kieran, and, right, Chris) (Collect/PA Real Life)

The father-of-one was assisted by a speech and language therapist who “encouraged” him to challenge himself and gave him jaw and mouth exercises to complete, such as swallowing with his tongue in different places, to strengthen his muscles for eating.

Coupled with his own “determination” to recover, he is now looking forward to eating Christmas dinner this year after setting himself the goal prior to his operation.

Chris said he first suffered with toothache in February 2022, which resulted in his tooth being extracted, but he “passed out within 10 seconds” because of the pain.

“I got my tooth taken out because it was infected and normally my teeth are really, really hard to get out but this time, the tooth just slid out, no problem at all,” Chris, who has been a wedding DJ for 16 years, told PA Real Life.

Chris was diagnosed with jaw cancer in 2022 (Collect/PA Real Life)

“I thought at the time, that’s gone out too easy. All of a sudden, within about 10 seconds, I passed out with the pain.”

Chris said he returned to the dentist the following week to get some antibiotics but felt as though “something was wrong”.

Three months later in May, he received an X-ray on his jaw and was told he had cancer and a tumour was “eating away” at his jaw.

“I felt relief more than anything because I had this feeling it was cancer,” he said.

Chris’s radiotherapy treatment made it difficult for him to eat dry foods (Collect/PA Real Life)

“It felt so bad, I couldn’t eat anything at the time, I couldn’t touch it.”

Chris was told he would have to undergo a “life-changing and horrific procedure” in order for the tumour to be removed.

“The first words I can remember the doctor saying were ‘it is a horrific procedure’ and ‘it is going to be life-changing’,” he said.

The operation meant Chris had to have the right side of his lower jaw taken off and the fibula bone in his calf was removed to replace his jaw.

The surgery also required skin to be taken from his thigh in order to replace the nerve endings in his jaw.

After surgery, Chris found food with a strong taste hard to eat (Pictured: Chris, left and Kieran, right) (Collect/PA Real Life)

He said the run-up to the surgery was full of “ups and downs” and he had to show his son Kieran his life insurance documents “because you just don’t know the outcome”.

“You’ve got to be positive to get through it as well,” Chris said.

“Normally I wouldn’t be like this but I was just unbelievably determined.”

Following the operation, Chris was told he would be able to leave the hospital within three or four weeks, but said: “I was out in a fortnight.

“I was supposed to go home with a Zimmer frame but I didn’t, I actually walked out of the hospital.

Chris felt embarrassed to eat in public after his surgery (Kieran, left, and Chris, right) (Collect/PA Real Life)

“I’m not a superhero or anything but there was a determination to put everything to the back of your mind and plough on.”

Chris, who is now cancer-free, said his recovery process from the operation “hasn’t finished” and he is still having to set himself targets when going out for long walks due to the surgery on his leg.

The problems with eating and swallowing food also persisted and Chris found himself “embarrassed” and “conscious” about eating in public.

“I’ve got a new mouth and my tongue doesn’t know its way around my mouth,” he said.

“The radiotherapy burnt away all the tissue and you literally can’t eat.

Chris is now cancer-free but his recovery is still ongoing (Pictured: left, Kieran, and right, Chris) (Collect/PA Real Life)

“It’s like having a sore throat multiplied by 50.”

Chris started with eating soft food and liquids such as milkshakes and jellies, but said “eating jelly was like eating sandpaper”.

“It was pain more than anything, pain and sensitivity,” he said.

“It wasn’t until September (2023) where I can say that I can now eat most foods.”

He added that he has started to go out to restaurants to eat but he said he “gets a little bit embarrassed” about eating in public.

Chris’s goal is to eat Christmas dinner this year (Collect/PA Real Life)

“I’ve got to have gravy with food quite a lot and I’ll spill some down my chin,” he said.

“I’ve always been a messy eater but now I feel more conscious about it and I can’t feel it because my jaw is still numb.”

Chris said he has been assisted by speech and language therapist Beth Halliday, at South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust, who taught him how to eat again and gave him tongue and jaw movement exercises.

These included swallowing with his tongue placed on the back of his teeth, swallowing with his tongue between his teeth and swallowing with his tongue between his lips to strengthen his muscles.

“I had to try a lot of different things as it’s not a one-size-fits-all process but it was Beth’s encouragement more than anything,” Chris said.

“I used to panic that I couldn’t swallow and felt like I was choking on everything.

Chris has worked with a speech and language therapist to help improve his jaw movements (Pictured: Left, Chris, and right, Kieran)(Collect/PA Real Life)

“Beth arranged to have a camera put down my throat so I could see what was happening which gave me the confidence to think that I’m not going to choke.

“The biggest thing was the mental side of things and she gave me a confidence boost,” he added.

“I felt she had faith in me and she knew what I was capable of.”

Chris is now looking ahead to eating Christmas dinner this year after setting himself the goal to do so prior to his operation.

“Someone asked me what my long-term goals were once I was through the surgery and I don’t know where it came from, but I just said I want to sit down and have Christmas dinner,” he said.

“This year I’m able to plan it better, I know what I can and what I can’t have.”

Chris said he will be looking forward to “vegetables with all the trimmings and prawn cocktail to start”.

He explained: “I can’t eat turkey because it’s too dry and this year I’m having what I can eat and what I enjoy.

“I enjoy having vegetables, the stuffing, pigs in blankets and I’m having prawn cocktail to start.”