Dear Larry, Patients, Friends and family,
As his father who he mentions in his true story and as one of his teachers at NYU Dental School, we all know what kind of a man he is!!! His mother and I are so proud of him. That he is cancer-free we thank God as we thank him for the courage that he used to get through this horror. From Big Doc, his Dad, Dr. M. Hamburg
SPONSORED BY:
- 1
- 2
The Dangers of Denial
Email To A Friend
Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.
SPONSORED BY
Like Lou Gehrig, I consider myself to be the luckiest man on the face of the earth. Or, at least, the luckiest person coming out of the 10th floor at Beth Israel's Head and Neck Cancer ward. Unlike others there I kept my tongue and vocal cords. Outside of a lengthy scar on my neck (I tell people it's from protecting my wife in a bar fight), the loss of my taste buds and salivary gland function (which doctors hope, but can't guarantee, will return in a few months), and some numbness in my fingers and toes from chemo and radiation treatments, I'm fine. I've suffered through six chemo treatments and 33 radiation sessions. I survived a week in the hospital, including surgery and radiation implant therapy, where I was in isolation for 48 hours, except for occasional 15-minute visits from my parents, my sister and my wife, who also have been so brave and inspiring.
Recently I returned from a trip to the Yankee Dental Conference in Boston, Mass., where I had the honor of lecturing to more than 350 dentists about cosmetic dentistry, and included the necessity of oral cancer screening, and the use of a new device called a VELscope to help detect oral cancer sooner. My mentor and friend, Dr. Gerard Kugel, told our mutual students that "if you don't do oral cancer screening you don't deserve to be a dentist." I couldn't agree more.
I believe I know why God didn't let me lose my ability to speak. I'm on a mission. I'm here to spread the word about oral cancer (which has increased in incidence by 11 percent in the last year). Next month my office will have an open house oral cancer screening day. Perhaps I will be able to get other dentists to do the same.
Today, at 51, I'm a better dentist. I'm a better husband, a better dad, probably a better man. And I appreciate every minute of this fragile life so much more.
Hamburg lives in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
If you'd like to submit your own story of a health triumph, click here .
© 2008
- 1
- 2
Discuss