David,
I fully understand YOUR need for gathering data on HPV+ cancers. But that is NOT the intention of this message board and certainly not the intentions or goals of this particular thread. This thread is about a 43 year old woman that was just diagnosed with cancer, she has a 3 year old and a 16 month old. THAT is the focus of this thread and, IMO, we all need to keep that in mind when we reply.

I'm going to shoot straight from the hip at you about your comment concerning you avoided smoking while "we" enjoyed sex all our lives yet you still got the same cancer from having sex that "we" got from smoking. This is insinuating that somehow you are less deserving of oral cancer? Someone smoking 2 packs a day for 30 years is no more "deserving" of this cancer than someone that never touched a cigarrette. Because someone didn't smoke doesn't make their cancer anymore tragic or devastating. It will do you NO good David to dwell on the fact that you didn't smoke and have a cancer that CAN be caused by smoking. And right now that is the last thing that is worrying this new poster. We need to be sensitive to HER needs, not ours.

Love ya David but shooting one liners like that at a new patient is a no-no!

Minnie

SCC Left Mandible. Jaw replaced with bone from leg. Neck disection, 37 radiation treatments. Recurrence 8-28-07, stage 2, tongue. One third of tongue removed 10-4-07. 5-23-08 chemo started for tumor behind swallowing passage, Our good friend and much loved OCF member Minnie has been lost to the disease (RIP 10-29-08). We will all miss her greatly.