Sandy,

I've thought long and hard about replying to your post. On one hand, I want to tell you that it is a terrible shame that you are wasting the second chance you have been given. I lost my 29 year old daughter last year and I really want to rant at you and tell you how lucky you are to still be alive and also tell you how stupid you are to be smoking and drinking again. My entire family would give anything to have Heather back, especially her husband and her 7 year old daughter.

On the other hand, even though I watched my daughter go through this hell, I still can't imagine how I would feel if I was the victim instead of the caregiver. I don't know how I would deal with the issues you have to deal with daily. Many, many people have to deal with the dry mouth, but it must be terribly hard to have no bottom teeth, especially if there is little hope that you can get dentures or implants. With all the advances that have been made in medicine, though, there is always hope that you will be able to get something in the future.

I guess what I want to do is yell at you to wake up and be grateful you are still alive and, at the same time, express my sympathy that you have had such a hard time dealing with this terrible disease.

If your finances are in poor shape, maybe you can't, but I think it would do you a world of good to attend the OCF gathering in Las Vegas. I think that meeting other people that have some of the same problems would be therapeutic for you. Hope to see you there.


Rainbows & hugs, wink
Rosie

Was primary caregiver to my daughter Heather who had stage IV base of tongue SCC w/ primary recurrence. Original diagnosis August 21st, 2002. Primary recurrence March 18th, 2003. Died October 6th, 2003.