Hi - What a wonderful site - It's is truly a great place to read other peoples experiences. Here's mine. My father was diagnosed in December '01 with stage 4 squamus cell carcinoma in his jaw (left side). He had chemo and rad. therapy, and a 10 hour surgery to remove the tumor, and replace his jaw with a titanium pin from his chin to his left ear. He had a couple of surgeries to reconstruct his face, but the treatment has left him disfigured. I'm writing here today because I think our whole family is a bit frustrated with him. It's been over 2 years since his surgery (they got the cancer 100%!) He's so different now, that we're at a loss. He used to be very active, worked construction for 30+ years, and now we can't get him to do anything anymore. He won't come to his grandson's baseball games, he won't go to family gatherings unless forced to by my mom, and he sits at home all day long reading/watching tv. He won't even clean or pick up around the house. We try to by considerate, he's been through a terrible ordeal, he's tired, he can't eat solid foods, he has absolutely no saliva left, and his neck is so sore that he sleeps in a recliner. Our attitude is, you beat it! Start living! and he just won't DO anything. Help! Is this going to get better? What do we do to help?
Don't get me wrong - I love my dad and I support him 100%, I just wish he would try to enjoy the 2nd chance he was given.

Kim