Chewing tobacco addiction forever changed life and looks of teenager

borr@wyomingnews.com

CHEYENNE — Gruen von Behrens stood before nearly 900 students Friday afternoon at Cheyenne's East High.

"Take a good, long, hard look at my face," he said. "Think of me when you take a cigarette or chew."

His ravaged face is caused by the effects of chewing tobacco, he said.

Behrens had 34 surgeries on his face and neck to battle oral cancer. Doctors removed half of his tongue muscles and his jaw. They also took out half of his neck muscles.

Doctors took sections of healthy skin from his legs and grafted them to his face and neck during painful surgeries.

Behrens has talked to 2 million students in 36 states about the dangers of spit tobacco. He is a spokesman for Oral Health America's National Spit Tobacco program. Laramie County Tobacco Prevention sponsored his visit here.

Katie Grzemski, 15, was among students at the assembly. His message had an impact on her, she said. Students "hear about tobacco being bad all the time, but they don't get to see the effects of it."

Von Behrens apologized because his speech is slurred. But doctors had to remove much of his tongue to fight the cancer.

Despite the huge crowd, the only sound during the assembly was von Behrens' voice. Students listened closely to him. No one chatted.

Von Behrens started to chew tobacco when he was 13 and on a camping trip with friends. He was addicted by age 17.

At that time, he said, he thought about "baseball, booze and women, in that order."

A talented baseball player, he had offers from many colleges. But the oral cancer killed that dream.

At 16, he noticed a small white spot on his mouth where he held the chew. The spot grew so large that it split his tongue, he said.

He wanted to keep it from his mother. His cancer hurt his mom too. "I never saw my mom cry like that" when she found out, he said.

There was a 75 percent chance that the cancer would kill him.

His first surgery took 13 hours. Von Behrens endured many painful hours of treatment and radiation afterward.

Doctors kept him in the hospital more than a month after his first surgery. He "ate" liquids from a tube in his stomach and endured hundreds of treatments.

Radiation treatment burned his face and forced him to have all his teeth pulled. At 19, he wore dentures.

"I had gone from the person the people looked up to to the person people look at," he said.

He saw how cruel people can be. People stare at him now, he said.

But his suffering has taught him not to judge a book by its cover.

His friends and his mother kept him going. He is married now and has a family.

Because of his ordeal, he encourages others to appreciate what they have. "We take so much for granted every day."