Liz.....after being such a loving caretaker to Rob you know that you must "love" yourself a little more now and follow all good and loving advice to take care of YOU.

I have emailed you about my feelings about your case, but for others....I, (and many of you) am also the victim of an ill-trained dentist, who, even when presented with full-blown SCC that had spread from the outside of my gums, to the inside, and then to the palate, NEVER even considered that it was malignant, cauterized it, and when challenged the next day, said that it must be periodontal disease!

I considered filing a lawsuit, and in some wave of false "honor," felt that it was a negative thing to do, when I needed to focus positively on my own recovery. By the time I saw clearly that this individual was guilty of a "failure to diagnose," the statute of limitations had passed (one year.) I am very disappointed that I delayed taking this action, because the more I read here, the more I realize that this is an epidemic! There are many, many wonderful, well-trained, motivated dentists (ie. Jerry and Mike!) but we are seeing that oral cancer doesn't seem to be one of the areas in which dentists are adequately trained.

Would we do better to focus our energies on the dental schools?? or to mount a two-pronged attack: both the schools AND the individuals.

One of the best ways to reach the individuals, it seems to me, is through the local dental societies. Each of us can offer to speak at their regular meeting.....take some OCF brochures.....and answer questions about the impact of oral cancer on our lives, and how it might have been different with a properly trained dental professional.

This same approach should be applied to the assistants....the hygeinists...since they are often the first, and sometimes the only, ones to see a patient.

Liz, you are in my prayers. I can see that you wanted to succeed in this to somehow find justice for Rob. YOU DID! You can't help it if a small group sees it a different way. They, at least, did admit that the dentist was ill-trained in this area. I hope that somehow the publicity will hurt him in his pocketbook. Bad publicity is the kiss of death for a medical or dental professional, and word of mouth is as powerful as the press.

I haven't intended to ruin my dentist's life, but if someone asks me sincerely who my dentist was, I will tell them. I haven't written to the newspaper with his name or anything like that, but I have written an article (which I never sent for publication, since so many people here would know exactly whom I was writing about) about the importance of training for the dental professionals, and the importance of individual awareness of the signs of oral cancer and the importance of being certain that you are getting an expert oral cancer screening.

Since so many of these cancers go un-diagnosed for so long, it is vital, of course, that the public become aware of the warning signs, as well as of the importance of choosing their dentist well!

You can publicize all of these things. And if you are so moved, you can offer to share the name of Rob's dentist if a person wants to call you. (You might be sued for libel if you publish it in the paper!)

Even now that cancer is getting quite a lot of attention, it is a crime how little publicity this terrible form of the disease is getting.

Blahblah........I am not saying anything that the rest of you don't already know. I get on a roll and then I begin to RANT! Arghhhhhhhhh!!! It makes me so mad! and then for Liz to be so misunderstood just adds fuel to my fire!

Liz.......you are a champ in all our books! and you did bring the issue into the public eye. That is a great service, and you never know just how it might affect others.

You are in our hearts. You KNOW that, don't you?? I hope so.

XO