Hi, Jon -

There seems to be no link.

I don't fit the parameters, either: I'm female, haven't smoked since 1979 and have an occasional drink a couple times a month. I've been what I call a semi-vegetarian since the 70s - red meat fewer than a dozen times a year.

A link? Well, you & I and others can't point to the known culprits - smoking & drinking & HPV, for example. That leaves us with those burning questions: why and are we missing something.
An oncologist from Yale said that only a total plant-based diet - along with eliminating dairy, most fats, carbs & refined or processed foods - has shown any effect on preventing cancer. So, did I have one drink or hamburger too many? Did I drink too much milk or eat too much cheese? Did you? Is it our family history? Is it because we both enjoy our work? Is that what we have in common? What factor or combination of factors, if any, triggered the mutations in our mouths? I wish I had the answer, and I don't know if science will be able to decipher the entire cancer mystery in my lifetime.

If we knew what caused our cancer and it fit a statistical profile, we might have something to sink whatever teeth we have left in our mouth into. But for some of us, we're it. There's nothing else. My cancer was not typical OC, so maybe I'm the odd one. Who knows?

I teach memoir writing and tell my students that they may have a 600,000-to-one chance of being hit by lightning, but if you're the one that's hit, it becomes 100 percent.

So it is with some of us. Unless someone comes up with an answer.

In the meantime, enjoy a speedy and uneventful recovery.

Peace,
Marlene