I'm so sad this morning. I got a message from Doug that our friend Liza Ford passed away last night at 8,30pm. I know that a lot of the members here are facebook friends with Liza and got to know that she was an amazing lady so i thought i'll let you guys know. So sad but at least Liza is not in pain any more.

Thank you for passing on the information Minh.
She will be missed by so many and is now with the angels and at peace.
A few of us have been in close contact with one of her friends and nursing colleagues. We know that she was medicated and without pain during these last few days spent with her close family.
My heartfelt condolences to her husband Doug and children Justine, Nikki and Taylor.
I will miss talking, emailing and chatting with her and will never forget my friend Liza.
Some people might like to read about Liza's (RIP) journey so here is the link to her profile...
http://oralcancersupport.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showprofile&User=7709

How terribly sad to hear about our friend, but now she is at peace and has no more pain, which is amazing grace. She will be missed by all because she was loved by so many. God Bless her husband and family.
In sadness,
julieann

So sorry to hear.

Liza was a great person. She was only with us on the forum for about a year. Poor thing had such a long battle. She will be missed by many. May Liza now rest in peace free from all the pain.

Liza was such a beautiful person. She messaged me back on the 11th of Feb 2011 looking for strength and inspiration. She was so supportive of our triumphs over OC and looked to them for inspiration to show her anything was possible. I will miss her greatly. We had many of the same tastes and would often chat. She was an incredibly strong woman who had a quiet beauty about her. Never in your face like other people, always respected everyone's privacy but was a never ending support to her friends. Glad she is free of pain but the world is such a sadder place without her. Rest in peace Liza. I will forever think of you when we get a tropical thunderstorm, when I see a butterfly or when I listen to Pink Floyd xx

How come someone with T1N0M0 with free nodes could die? Can you explain? I�m really afraid right now.

Brazilliangirl - Liza started off T1 N0 - they removed the area (cheek) grafted her, removed 18 nodes all were clear. They thought that was the end of it. I was a T2 N0 to start but within a month after biopsy I had a node involved. my dr had already told me when I was N0 he was removing 40 nodes period.

Liza did not have rads or chemo, after the first operation. She found another node a few months later - waited a bit went to the dr - it was positive for cancer - they removed 20 more nodes - ALL had cancer - at this point they had to wait for her to heal... Before radiation, but the cancer was on the move. It had moved into the skin of her neck they did chemo for 3 mos to stop it then did rads - three months after rads her head and neck were clear but at this point it had moved into the vertebrae of her spine - they did more radiation, but they were chasing it at this point and were giving her chemo to try and stabilize her.

Bottom line - she had a very aggressive cancer, and well - would haves and could haves being what they are, I guess it depends on the dr and the choices he makes and how aggressively you want it treated, and how active you are in your care... Some people just don't want to know. Or trust that their dr will do the best or the most for them. Pushing your drs for answers doesn't make them mad - it should give them an opportunity to share their knowledge and makes them realize they are accountable to you - and frankly a good dr confident in their skills would welcome both a second opinion and questions. Some people stand back and let the drs do their stuff or give off vibes that they want as minimal a disruption as possible to their lives, this effects the treatment you get - ultimately I believe do whatever you can to get it the first time - that way there are no regrets if it comes back.

I'm not sure what went in between the first dr Liza had and her. But I just wish he'd done a little more from the outset... No one knows if that would have changed things some cancers are just super aggressive. Anyway we've all read the stats and from the outset I've never felt comfort in being a T2 - a T1 could die just as easily as a T4 could live - its random, but this is why we always push newcomers to be active in their care, go to the BEST CCC available to them, and throw the book at it the first time out - because you may not get a second chance.

Hugs try not to freak. RIP Liza...

Hi Cheryl, thanks for your answer. In fact YES I�m freaking and getting upset anytime I read someone dies from this! I�m living a huge problem at my home, while I wrote this my father is doing chemo, still from unknown primmary.

I had tongue cancer last december, I�m about 70 days from the 1st surgery and almost 2 months from the neck dissection.

I had 57 nodes removed, all cancer free, no perineural invasion. Should I be less worried?

Really afraid to be on this again, my mother and my sister really needs me for the rest of their lifes.