Mark, I definitely agree with you that as cancer survivors, we must be extremely careful when trying to give advice, especially to those desperate people. For a few times, I responded to some posts but on second thoughts, I did not forward them fearing that the content might bring negative impact. I have more confidence when sharing my own story and experience. With my very limited knowledge about cancer and as a person from another part of the world with a very different culture, I often hesitate to give any medical advice. What applies to me doesn't necessarily apply to the others. Take the feeding tube problem as an example, I can't really see any need of getting one at the beginning of treatment because in Hong Kong only less than 25% patients have one but in the US, it is another story. So sometimes I have to tell myself to remain silent over some issues. When it comes to statistics and prognosis, we have to be even more cautious because patients and caregivers tend to be very sensitive and conscious about figures. We are here to offer support and lend our ears to those who vent.I always remind myself not to sound like a medical professional. At the same time, when we seek advice here, we must learn to be sensible, grateful and open-minded. People respond out of good intention and no one is paid to do the job. We are all in the same boat aiming at one goal: to defeat cancer!

Karen stage 4 tonsil cancer diagnosed in 9/01.