I was diagnosed with squamous cell cancer in my mouth on the upper right side of my gums. I went to an oral surgeon, who did the biopsy, and he called me on the phone and said I had cancer. I was shocked he'd say something like that over the phone. I was also displeased. So when I went to see him I had very little trust in him.

He explained how they were planning to remove it and it sounded horrible. I guess with my concern for the way he practiced medicine by calling me with that type of news, I didn't trust what he said. I was afraid of going through what he said and so I started praying and asking for a miracle.

I do believe in miracles, however I learned that we have to do our part. I didn't change my eating habits, exercise, or do anything to naturally to help me fight the cancer, and so it grew. Finally it seemed to spread and I wanted to go back to the doctor, but my insurance had changed and oral surgeons were not covered.

I went one year or so without seeing a doctor and when I finally did get new insurance, the entire roof of my mouth had a tumor. In addition I was told that my kidneys suffered from Chronic Kidney Disease, and I had to be put on dialysis. Because of the dialysis, I couldn't do chemo, I could only do radiation. I have had over 26 radiation treatments, but I've been very blessed. I haven't experienced any of the pains the doctor warned me about.

I do have dry mouth and sore lips. My teeth were not pulled before radiation causing them to decay and therefore making eating solid foods impossible. I lost around 15-20 lbs since September 06. Miraculously my kidneys recovered and my rad Dr. said I should get some lite doses of chemo to help the rad. I'm approaching the finally few rad sessions before my Dr. considers me to have a "full dose of rad". Now all of a sudden my throat is sore, I have headaches, and I vomitted yesterday. I'm ready to call off the rest of the rad sessions, seeing as I only have four more to go. But I'm not sure?

Does anyone have any comments?