Sheila, welcome to OCF! Glad to have another survivor here. You are right, we are all together in this and really do understand each other very well. Im sure your friends and family do care but they probably have a difficult time understanding what you are dealing with. Now you have found OCF, you are no longer alone with this.

I hope you will one day get to this point where you have the confidence to go out in public without being ashamed. Everyone is their own worst critic, dont be so hard on yourself. You are still the same person inside as you were before you changed on the outside. Go out and hold your head up high you are a valuable person who Im sure has much to offer others.


Since you have problems with depression I would suggest you visit a therapist to help with this. Oral cancer and its after effects have a way of making an existing depression problem even worse. You need to help yourself get past this instead of feeling sorry for yourself. If you dont take meds it might be another option to help you. I really hope one day you will not think badly about yourself. You are a survivor and should be very proud of that.

I am one of the positive members of OCF. I also dont have teeth. You know what? It could be MUCH, MUCH worse!!!! I have other after effects as well, I am also very disfigured from having cancer the last time in my jaw. It was removed and the operation was not successful and had to be redone. Everywhere I go, people stare at me and I get the smiles of pity too. That is not my issue, its theirs. I cant sit in the house and hide from life. I even give speeches about what Ive gone thru and I help spread awareness about oral cancer. I also lost my teeth from radiation damage and I will never get teeth due to other medical issues. I am alive which is the most important thing! Before I got sick, I was a very pretty woman. After the 3rd round of oral cancer I was a hideously disfigured shell compared to what I looked like before. I was always a strong, independent person or I dont think I could have dealt with the changes. It wasnt easy but I said to myself that Im still the same person no matter what the outside looks like and I went out and ignored the stares. If I can do it you can too!!!!