Denise Neil's medical journey

To know Denise Neil is to love her. While the greater Wichita area knows her as Dining with Denise, Wichita's most beloved foodie is also a mother, wife, daughter, sister, author and friend to all. And now she's added cancer patient to her long list of titles. Though this is one designation we know she'd rather not have.

Here's her story shared in her own words on her Dining with Denise Facebook page:

"I have debated for awhile how much I should share about what's going on with me, but it looks like I'm going to be out of work for a couple more months, and I decided an update was warranted.

Back in October, I was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, aka tongue cancer. It started as a painful little bump on the right side of my tongue that never went away. I'd been trying to get to the bottom of it for months, and both my dentist and oral surgeon thought it was something else but definitely not cancer. Finally, in October, I got a biopsy, and it was in fact cancer, though we caught it fairly early, at Stage 2. (NOTE: If you ever get such a painful bump that doesn't heal within a couple of weeks, DEMAND A BIOPSY!) This is the kind of cancer that usually affects only older people who have smoked and drank heavily throughout life. But there is an uptick in younger people who have never smoked and don't drink heavily. The cancer community is trying to find out why.

I had surgery at KU Medical Center in Kansas City the week before Thanksgiving to remove the cancer from my tongue, and although the surgery went well and the cancer had not spread to my lymph nodes, there was one marker in my surgical pathology that made the doctors feel I should get radiation treatment to make sure we wiped out any rogue cancer cells they might not be able to see. This is my best chance of getting this cancer knocked out for good.

Sadly, radiation in the mouth is brutal and comes with many unpleasant short term and long term side effects. My treatment starts next week and runs through Feb. 10. It usually takes a few weeks after treatment for people in my situation to feel human again. I'm hoping to be back at work late February or early March.

This has been a scary time for me and for my family and friends, who have all treated me with such care and concern, especially my husband, Eagle photographer Travis Heying. I can't wait to get back to my normal life and return to focusing on restaurants and chefs rather than on surgeons and brutal X-ray beams.

A restaurant writer/foodie with tongue cancer... Seriously. The universe has an interesting sense of humor.

Thanks for listening, and I'll see you soon."

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She has navigated this journey with courage, having spent quite a bit of time away from work, friends and family. Her radiation treatment will necessitate travel and accommodations for her and many members of her support network over the next six to eight weeks. We, her friends and family, would be ever grateful if you could ensure Denise only focus on her health. I start to think about the countless fundraisers for which she has assisted as a celebrity judge and my head spins. Now it's our turn to support her. Any assistance you could provide to Denise, Travis, Alexis and Helen is appreciated.