Dear Brian, Gary, Jerry, and everybody else. There is an article in this week's issue of Newsweek (Dec.18, featuring the Nativity on the cover) that is written by a young woman who had a parotid tumor that she feared might be cancer. She feared losing her smile because of the necessary surgery. It turns out that she did not have cancer, and that the benign tumor was able to be removed with little adverse effect.

It is interesting that I have been so moved by my own experience....by my losses, my possible losses, and my recovery, both of health and of my various neurological insults, ....that I had even thought of writing a similar article.....to Newsweek. It was going to be called "By the Skin of My Teeth," since I have had a maxillectomy because my dentist overlooked a lesion on my gum.

My point in writing now is to suggest that this current Newsweek article, though it is a little shallow, opens a door for some valuable exposure of the issue of oral cancer, the importance of early detection, and the responsibility of dental care professionals to be vigilant in both their training and their practice of examination for oral cancer in all its forms.

Brian, I think that, if you have the time, as the leader of the OCF, it would be great if you could write a letter to the editor. In fact, there is NO reason that a large number of us shouldn't write, saying whatever you are moved to say.

The instructions, as printed in the magazine are as follows:
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must include name, address, and daytime phone number. They should be e-mailed to [email protected] , mailed to P.O. Box 2120, Radio City Station, New York, NY 10101-2120, or faxed to 212-445-4120. Letters may be edited for space and clarity and may appear in electronic versions of Newsweek.

So....what do you guys think? Is this a place where we should/could make an impression on a large number of people about the reality of oral cancer, the importance of not using tobacco, and the necessity for early detection??

I'll write if some others do.....or, Brian, would it be better and more appropriate for you to represent the rest of us by writing in the name of the Foundation?