1. google

2. Not much, but lately using the forum for venting and learning lots from all the fabulous OC survivors and caregivers who share.

3. No meet groups - hubs is adverse to "support" groups.
Bonnie

Just to add something to my original reply to this research, before I found OCF, and right after the H&N surgeon told us my son had "Squamous Cell Cancer", I went to some of the Med Info sites, but the info I read scared me so badly that I was afraid to even get online to find out more. It was not until about the 2nd week of my son's Rad Tx that I found OCF. When I went to OCF's site I found not only the best information available, but also the invaluable support and compassion to go along with the information. it is definitely the latter that made it possible for me to accept and digest the information I received and give my son the the support he needed. The two - info + support must go together IMO.

OK, in regard to question #3, are there any members in NW Ohio, specifically Ottawa, Sandusky or Wood County who would be interested in a survivors' support group for oral cancer?

1. General Internet Search after getting the first pathology report

2. The site was priceless more times than I can count. As I move away from it all, this Month being 1 year since I returned to work full time, it find that there is more and more time between visits. I do love to post my all clear results.

3. This was the only group I found. I think Oral Cancer is a very lonely place to be. Thank God I found it.

1. How - Google search.
2. I get the OCF news feed on my (Google) home page & only occasionally use the OCF main website, usually to answer a technical question.
3. Yes, this is a virtual support group & I have no in the real world support group.

Marlene

1. I probably googled it, but don't remember exactly.

2. I only visit the forums here, a few times a month.

3. OCF forums has definitely been fantastic support. I don't have a "meat world" group (had to laugh.....did NOT get the reference). Now that I'm in the UK I have found an attempt at a similar e-vironment done my MacMillan Cancer Support, but I find it horrid and terribly depressing! I suspect that if I was still living in Vancouver I would be volunteering at the BC Cancer Agency, but somehow here it's just not on. When I was first researching oral SCC I found loads of out-of-date and terribly scary stuff on the internet, and nearly gave up, but finding OCF was fantastic and a fantastic stroke of luck for me. I suspect that since each of us has such a unique experience with OC, any "meat world" group would have to be pretty general and would amount mostly to moral support rather than practical support......but it seems if one could be matched with people in similar situations (as works at OCF) then face-to-face could be quite good? But I just don't see that happening.

The day I was told I had Oral Cancer, I typed the words into the search and started searching. It wasn't long and I became the pain in the ass in the forums. I think it was within an hour and I started using this site and have loved every minute of it. The people here have given me much help and a lot of good advice. Geez, that seems so long ago.

1. google search
2. occasionaly,
3. this is it. OCF is my only support group.

1. Internet search, probably Google, 4 months after last treatment

2. Multiple times a day initially, but now, 7 years later, infrequently. Many updates through Facebook page and RSS news feed.

3. No other support group

1. I know I was searching for everything I could find on oral cancer when I was diagnosed. Probably google.
2. Multiple times at first, and especially anytime I had another scare, which seemed to come often in the first 2-3 years. Now that I am 5years out - infrequent checks (maybe once a month) to see how folks are doing, etc.
3. No other support group... thought about joining one here in Atlanta, but never did.
I couldn't remember when I officially registered, so I had to look back at my posts - and I then remembered that I was a "lurker" on the site for @4 months before I finally got up the nerve to register and post something. Not sure why, except I had never been one to join internet forums at the time, but I would strongly urge anyone new who is also lurking to "just do it" and become a member of this community! It's a wealth of information and the forum is such a wonderful place to communicate all your fears, questions, and support to everyone else facing the same kinds of issues.