Tomorrow (Saturday) is the day of the OCF Awareness Walk in New York, and our own Jerry W. is walking for all of us. Thanks, Jerry!! You are doing great good. Early Discovery, Diagnosis, and Treatment are important parts of the victory over oral cancer, but without AWARENESS, the others can't happen in a timely fashion. This is where the fight has to begin.....Awareness. Thanks for doing your part, Jerry!

Best wishes and thank you very much, Jerry!

Good Luck Jerry

And Thanks !!! I wish I could have been there with you and have met you !! Maybe next year !! I will feel more up to it ! Lets hope this NY weather holds out for ya !!! Again Thanks for all you do !

Shar

While I am sorry for the reason that jerry came to us, I cannot say enough about the value that Jerry brings to these boards. Not just his personal journey through the ordeal, but the many many years of training that allow him to post in an informed manner about everything from dentures, to common dental ailments. We are very lucky to have Jerry with us as part of our family. We now also have a new maxillofacial prosthodontist, Dr. Phan posting with us and accepting PM's and emails from all of our posters as well. With this kind of assistance we can ensure that people coming here will get the most informed answers to their questions. But it takes people with a big heart, willing to extend their service to others out into a world of strangers like us in their own free time to make this possible. We owe them a lot.

The weather was great, the sun was shining and as I sit here typing the first signs of the noreaster are tapping on my windows. Must have been someone up there watching out for the walkers today.

You are all too kind. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I have no idea how much money was raised in total, but I was able to surpass my last year's fund raising by over 50%. With the generosity of my family, friends and my OCF family, I handed in $3,310 today. Add to a matching company donation and those made on the website, as of today, the total is $3,515. Barbara Boland added about $5,000 more and I have no idea what else was collected. I'm sure Brian will update us when the numbers are in.

Besides Barbara and me, the OCF was represented by Joanne and Jack from Priceton, NJ. (screen name JoAnne1981). We got to know each other a little today and I was overwhelmed with Jack's progress. Just 8 months after the completion of his treatment, he is doing extremely well. I had trouble keeping up with him at one point, but he is younger.

I was honored to address the group before the walk began and although a little nervous, as public speaking is not my forte, I was able to read my charge to the dental and hygiene students. My theme was that "Early Detection Can Save Lives". My message was that they continue to educate the public and that they must also educate the dental community, as far too many of our members had their cancers missed by their dentists and hygienists.

I was preceded by a 4 year survivor who I spoke to before the formal part of the event began. His name is Le Roy Saxon and he fits the profile of the segment of the population that this screening was trying to reach. He is a black male, late 30's to early 40's, former smoker and drinker. He had 50% of his tongue removed, a major neck dissection and radiation. He is a drummer and his band performed for the group and showed their support for someone that they obviously love. His message was punctuated by the emotion that he showed while speaking of how happy he was to be alive.

It was great also sharing this event with my wife Marilyn, 2 children and one of my grandchildren, my partner Jeff (also a cancer survivor with multiple myeloma) and friends whose mother is an oral cancer survivior. She is 95 years old. Our granddaughter, Julia, made sure we were the last ones in from the walk as she kept changing her mode of transportation from feet, to carriage, to my shoulders.

I'm not sure how many people were screened, but I did run into a man who had brought his wife to the walk because she had "something" on her tongue. This year, in addition to the outdoor screenings, NYU had a moblie dental van which allowed the use of the VELscope, which requires a darkened room.

Between Jeff and my wife and me, we have some pictures which I will get to Brian to post on the site. These pictures will also be going to a writer for the American Dental Association News which I hope will go through with their promise to me to do a story about the event and the OCF. Last year, they had only a captioned photo with no mention of the fund raising being done for us. I have been on their case about this since then.

Even with a 1.5 hour nap upon getting home, I'm exhausted, so I'm off to bed.

Again, thanks for your kind words.

Jerry

Dear Brian and Jerry.
Both of your posts were warm and heartfelt. Your dedication and actions are exemplary. Thank You !

Jerry, thank you thank you! Way to go!!! God Bless, I am so proud of you! Carol

Thank you Barbara, Joanne and others too, I really am honored to be associated with this group of people!!!!!!!!!Carol

Thank you folks for all you do for each and every one of us and those to follow in our footsteps. Thank you Brian for giving us all a place to hang out and share life together in so many ways!

Ed

I want to let everyone know how great Jerry's speech really was. He is being entirely modest, he didn't sound nervous at all. I think it was good for the dental students to see a survivor in action and put a face on this disease.

It was wonderful to meet Jerry at last, as well as Barb Boland. They are raising awareness and setting great examples for the rest of us. As for Jack he is doing well and being part of the walk was very encouraging to him. I think he's seeing how positive sharing our experiences with each other can be.

We plan to be back next year and will start our fundraising efforts earlier now that we know what it's all about. Jerry, Jack said to tell you thanks for the compliment and next year he'll give you a head start. If it makes you feel better he did go to bed early after we got home.

Congratulations to Jerry for letting everyone know about the walk for OCF and to Barb and Jerry for their fundraising skills.

Regards JoAnne