Hello all,

I'm visiting this site not as a cancer patient or survivor, but more in an effort to learn from you all and hopefully avoid the situations that many of you have had to face. Let me tell you all a little bit about myself... I'm 25 yrs old, and I have dipped (past tense) for about seven of those years (probably 5 at a can or so a day). Like many of us, I used to maintain the notion that I was impervious to cancer and that it would never happen to me. Well, a little bit of age and information certainly changes all of that.

I have always read and been told that oral cancers are extremely rare, even among those who use tobacco (this was part of my justification for continuing the habbit). However, there seems to be far too much information and far too many cases for this to be entirely true. I have become increasingly more concerned with my health as of late, and I want to be able to confidently abandon that fear and get on with life.

Last July found me at the 6.5 year mark for dipping, and I was feeling some discomfort in my jaw, some soreness in my gums, and an overall fear of developing cancer. I decided to quit the habbit. The emotional stress at that point was quite intense, and I finally broke down and made an emergency trip to my dentist so that he could look at a peculiar looking patch on my tounge. I had not seen him in about 3 years, so I was fearing the worst. He checked me out, and told me that he felt it was only an irritation from chewing too much gum during my quit attempt (my tounge rubs against my back molars when I chew). (Also, I still need to have my wisdom teeth extracted, and the lower left one is impacted... not causing any real pain, but it is situated down in the bone, pushing on my other teeth. This is basically where the irritation has presented iteself.) He said that overall, my mouth appeared healthy and that he wanted me back in 2 weeks for a follow up & cleaning... I went back, the irritation had pretty much resolved itself, and I went away happy.

4.5 months later (during the holidays), I had a couple of dips since my mouth was feeling good. This of course led to the eventual re-start of the habbit. I have been away from the dip AGAIN for about 8 days, and the irritation seems to have re-appeared. Again, I have been under an incredibly high stress load (working full time, taking a full course load at the local university, moving into a new house, it just goes on & on...). My tounge is somewhat less irritated than it was a few days ago, and there are no visible white patches, red patches, lumps or other "typical" signs. The patch that feels irritated looks kind of like the small papillae have been rubbed away, but there are no changes in color or anything. This is the same as it was before.

Well, to make a long story short, I am again worried, and just about due for another dentist appointment. I know that I need to have my wisdom teeth extracted, but I cannot afford it right now. I feel some pressure from the impacted tooth, and that could again be part of the problem. I am here reading your posts, gaining not only knowledge from this site but insight from your stories. Please do not take offense, but I certainly do not want to experience the things that you all have had to endure. I wish I had never taken that first dip, but you can't change the past. All I can hope is that I have not permanantly set my course for cancer. Reading your stories and absorbing the information here is strengthening my resolve by the second to stay away from that stuff for good.

I do not know if there are many ex-tobacco dippers posting on this site, but any stories, insights, or motivation would be appreciated.

By the way, I have been a member of another online forum dedicated only to spit tobacco users trying to quit. The site is www.quitsmokeless.org and your stories could really help motivate many of us on the forum. I don't know if you feel like being "online public speakers," but if you happened to drop in and offer a story, I know it would be taken to heart in a big way.

Good luck to all... And Brian, if you happen to have a chance to offer me some hopefully preventive tips and opinions, I am all ears. Thank you. - - - - Great site.