Sue, please do not be so hard on yourself. Your mother should know better than to point the blame finger your way. Anything you have done and suggested she try was to help her. There is no way that aloe vera juice caused your mother's recurrence. It is just something unfortunate that happened. Do not let this get to you!

I have seen many people go thru radiation only to have another round of oral cancer a few months later. It happened to me also. All it takes is for one teeny tiny cell to have hidden from the radiation to cause a recurrence. There is nothing you or your mother did to change this from happening.

Some people focus on what caused their cancer and never stop looking for an answer as to why they got sick. For many patients, there is no known cause for oral cancer. Some patients will try to figure out what went wrong in their body to cause their illness. Sometimes its just a person is predisposed to become a cancer patient and possibly their weak spot was in their throat. Thats just my way of looking at things.

I know you are very upset about the recurrence. Just going thru treatments once is enough to make all of us oral cancer patients fearful of getting it again. Try to stay positive, we are here to help support both you and your mother. I know being a caregiver is a very difficult job! Patients can show their emotions while a caregiver must cheerfully try to help even when the patient gets stubborn and moody. I think caregivers are very special people, they are angels!!! At least with a recurrence you already know the medical jargon, have the doctors lined up and know roughly what to expect with testing, medications, etc. Dont forget we are here for you, its ok to lean on us.

Best wishes!