I think it takes a special kind of person to be here posting several years after successful treatments (we all know why the less than successful ones are not posting any more). The cancer experience changes people profoundly. Some of it is actually for the positive, but for some the negative outweighs that. The fear involved in it all, the uncertain which is unsettling, the pain. All that they would like to forget about, and the idea of it coming back can be over powering for some. So they decide to stay away from the thoughts and memories of it as much as possible. That also means stay away from these boards and the bad news they too often hold.

I don't think this is abnormal in people. I wish that it were not so, since they are a wealth of knowledge to share with others, especially the many newbies that come. Many old posters tire of offering up the same answers over and over again. Gary told me that was why he had been absent after many years of posting, and I understand. I quit teaching basic flying for this very reason.

Posters are also the life blood of OCF's financial ability to even exist. 70% of all funds that come into OCF, come from people directly associated with the disease or their families. They are the foundation's core donors. When they get the "I want this so far behind me that it's not even in my rear view mirror" perspective, besides not being here to write, they are also not around for the foundation as donors, not even once a year at Xmas. We really have no major corporate sponsors that we can count on. Sure, we get donations of sponsorship of $500 or $1000 from J&J and a couple others at a walk event once in awhile, but not the 6 figure sums that they give to the big charities.

Bottom line we don't like to dwell on things negative. Life goes on, hopefully richly - people thrive again and do not need the help these boards offer. But you can also look here and see the friends made that stay in touch, sometimes not through the boards, and those that stay with the foundation that saw them through the questions and uncertainty. People here will show up for walk events to meet with each other. For many posters with original post dates that go back years, this is a place of family.

I don't say it enough but to all those that continue to support others long after their trials are over, that offer up the sage advice to help make good decisions, that listen to the fear and lend their words of courage, all of you are the "soul" of OCF. Without out you, much of what OCF is - becomes nothing more than web pages and software, and a couple of challengers out in the field tilting at windmills in Washington DC, and lecturing at universities so the next generation of dentists and doctors will not miss the opportunities they have to catch things early or head this off completely.....