Jenn,

Everyone handles their situation in a way that they are most comfortable. Unfortunately, some people lack the common sense to not ask inappropriate questions. My personal approach is to tell anyone I can about my experience with oral cancer. Amazingly, I have not had anyone ask me a will or anything like that. Most ask me if I smoke or drink as they seem to know that these are major risk factors. When I tell them that I haven't smoked in 42 years and drink very rarely, I take the opportunity to tell them, "If it can happen to me, it can happen to you".

It's interesting that Glenn mentioned an "Oral Cancer Awareness" project as this is what I decided to do. I am of course, in a unique situation, being a dentist.

All of us in our office, from my receptionists to my chairside assistants, hygienists and partners have been using my experience with tongue cancer as a means of promoting "Early Detection" to our patients and community. We perform a comprehensive oral cancer screening exam on all patients every 6 months and encourage them to have a ViziLite exam, too. I had an article written about me in our local newspaper and have done an interview with the American Dental Association. I am hoping that they will use this interview and start up a new push for the importance of "Early Detection".

It's great that you are working on your shyness as the more people you tell, the more people there will be demanding a good cancer screening from their dentists. This is certainly something that needs to be done as I read about more and nore people that had their cancers missed in the dental office.

Good luck and be strong.

Jerry