Well I must respectively disagree with the statement "what difference does it make" because to me it made a difference. I avoided tobacco my entire adult life; I drank only casually; I always ate whatever "people" said I should and I avoided what they said not to eat and I exercised and tried to maintain a very healthy lifestyle. So this was my choice and I didn't want to hear that I had cancer caused by tobacco and alcohol and I hated when my doctors including Moffitt said "what difference does it make, you have the cancer and we're going to treat you the same way."

So I underwent my Tx and then searched and searched and finally found a link to HPV and then had to persuade Moffitt to send my slides to Johns Hopkins where they tested positive for HPV. Since then I have been on a mission, as all of you painfully know, to elevate the knowledge of HPV in this world.

My quest worked for me so if there are people out there just like me then you don't have to be satisfied with "what difference does it make." If it does make a difference to you then maybe you can make a difference. Looking back I have gotten articles written about me and my HPV; appeared on TV; appeared on radio; testified at the Florida House; testified before the CDC; talk to 100's of OC patients and caregivers every year; teach a yearly class at Moffitt; responsible for Moffitt now testing all HPV likely patients and perhaps influencing my RO to start his HPV study. Look at Brian, he was so touched by OC that he gave up his other life and started a foundation that is second to none in our cancer and that most other foundations could learn a lot from.

OK off my box.