Hello there,

My name is Leigh Greenwood and I am the press officer at the British Dental Health Foundation.

As you may know, we co-ordinate the annual Mouth Cancer Awareness Week campaign which this year will run from Nov 7-13.

One of the most frequent requests we get from journalists is for mouth cancer sufferers past or present who are willing to discuss their experience of the condition in order to help raise awareness.

If there is anyone who might be interested in helping the campaign in this way it would be much appreciated. The BDHF press office can be contacted on 0870 770 4014 or pr@dentalhealth.org.uk

Best Wishes,
Leigh

Leigh, I would give anything if I could be there. Is this nation wide. Is this also in AMERICA? I would love to help in ANY way I could to get the word out there...Thank you for coming on here and letting us know about this...It is wonderful. I want to hear all about it when it is over and done. Who all is going from RDOC???? I would love to see a head count. I am so excited about this! Always Vicki Lynn

Hi Vicki,
Thanks for your response.
Yes it is a national campaign in Britain.
I have a feeling that Oral Health America do something similar. It might also be worth contacting the ADA as they will most likely know of any initiatives...
This is only our second year of co-ordinating MCAW but we are looking to expand it considerably next year and have recently launched a fundraising appeal. This will allow everything to be done on a much larger scale, and we hope will also fund iniatives such as training GP's and health professionals, a mobile clinic and free mouth cancer screenings.
Thanks for your interest in the campaign.

PS - The case study e-mails I have already received are much appreciated, thankyou for your help.
Regards,
Leigh

Leigh, Thank you for being so kind in your answer and also kind to me. I wish I could say I got the same kindness when I talked to the US chapter. Yes it is also here in the US. What I do not get, why is everything different. It should be the same time all over the world. I was told by the US that Uk is so different, even the colors, I was at a loss for words. I was very upset by the response that I did get. I wrote back by telling them that I should not have to appologize, I HAVE THE DISEASE THAT YOU ONLY TALK ABOUT! I HAVE FRIENDS THAT DO NOT LIVE IN THESE UNITED STATES THAT HAVE THIS DISEASE! Why does it make a difference where one lives? Why should there be a complete different time, date, color. Well I will belong to both, tho they should all be in the same room, I think. Putting the money all in one pot would get more done than a little bit here and a little bit there,,,I am really shocked by this......Vicki Lynn

Hello Vicki Just to let you know that I have been in touch with Leigh by email, as I'm sure many others on this site have also. Anything we can do to raise the profile of our situation then I'm all for it. Maybe your outlet is through your own consultant who has already said he wants your pretty face to front his campaign - how wonderful is that! You are a determined lady and someone is going to wake up soon and listen to you in America.

I am busy trying to organise an event at home for the MCA week as well as designing a Christmas card for oral cancer awareness (left it a bit late I know!) But every little helps. I have been given another date for my debulking op which, thankfully, is the week after MCA week.

Wow! I have just this minute heard on our national news of a man in Germany who has had oral cancer and had the same op as us with a replacement from his leg, but now the doctors have grown an actual bone on his back in the shape of his jaw and he has had it fitted into his mouth - a perfect fit! Are we up for this???? x

You are kidding me, oh my LORD! I am telling you in 10 years they will have a better way to do this. It will be too late for us, but it will be wonderful for those who will never have to go thru all of this, wouldn't it. I say YAHOO!!!!!!! Of course they will never really know the pain involved with this, but if they read these posts they will get some idea. This is why I am honest with my feelings. I say things the way they are. Because I don't want someone to come on here and read and not know the pain that is involved. We are here to teach, to inform, to listen, to learn. Not to bubble gum things so that do one knows what to think or to expect...Do you agree? I wish you the very best with your blue ribbons......I am still going to do something...I am like you, I just feel I HAVE to, that I NEED to and I WANT too. Always Vicki Lynn