Jeana Keough’s battle with tongue cancer has taken another heartbreaking turn, with her family revealing the former Real Housewives of Orange County star is now unable to speak as treatment takes an immense toll on her body.
Days after announcing that Jeana, 70, was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, her daughter Kara Keough offered another emotional update, saying the pain has become overwhelming.
“The tongue and throat pain, paired with the mucus from radiation on the area, is just brutal,” Kara wrote on Instagram Stories. “Poor mama has to spit into tissues all day.”
Jeana has already undergone two surgeries after the cancer spread to her lymph nodes and has been receiving chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy.
As per Kara, the treatment has left her “exhausted, struggling to stay awake, and becoming malnourished because the pain in her tongue and throat makes swallowing even the smallest bites or sips incredibly difficult.”
The family had hoped to improve her nutrition with a feeding tube after she reportedly went two weeks without eating a meal. Those plans were delayed after doctors discovered a deep vein thrombosis and an infection in her leg.
“The feeding tube can’t be put directly into her stomach until there’s clarity on the infection,” Kara explained.
For now, Jeana’s cancer treatment remains on hold as the family focuses on clearing the infection.
“Prayer needs: that this infection clears quickly, that she can get the G-tube surgery imminently so that hangry Jeana doesn’t murder someone, and that we can quickly resume treatment so that this torment can be put in the rear view mirror.”
