Rick Bender can't lick his own lips.

"Doctors are amazed I can even speak at all," said the 36-year-old cancer survivor.

A nationally known speaker, Bender talked to an overflowing crowd Thursday night about what smokeless tobacco did to him.

"I hate the word 'smokeless,'" he told the crowd of more than 200 at Modesto Junior College. "It kind of sounds nice and neat and harmless. But I can tell you for a fact, it is not harmless."

Bender lost half his jaw, one-third of his tongue and partial use of his right arm from oral cancer. He started using chewing tobacco at age 12 and was diagnosed with cancer by 26.

The first of his four surgeries took place in 1989. It took more than 12 hours as doctors chased the cancer through his tongue, mouth, jaw and neck. Afterward, they told his family he probably wouldn't live more than two years.

But he survived and since 1990 has been traveling the country talking about the dangers of what he calls "spit tobacco."

"I want to let people know what happened to me," he said. "Hopefully they can sit there and say "Man, he made some mistakes. I'm not going to make those mistakes.' "

He started using spit tobacco partly because of peer pressure, partly because of television advertising and partly to emulate his baseball heros. At the time, it seemed like the safer alternative.

"My parents taught me cigarettes gave you cancer and emphysema. So I don't want anything to do with that," he said. "But the ads said, "Take a pinch instead of a puff.' "

By the time he was 26, he was using a can a day. He ignored the white sores that formed in his mouth until one on his tongue wouldn't go away.

"If you get a sore in your mouth -- any sore -- and it doesn't heal up and go away in a maximum of 10 days, go to a dentist or doctor right away," he said. "I had no clue. I want you to know."

Chewing tobacco contains at least 28 cancer-causing chemicals. Besides oral cancer, it can cause cancer in the throat, stomach and urinary tract. Chewing-tobacco users also can suffer from heart disease, high blood pressure and gum and tooth decay.

Bender's message hit close to home for many in the audience. Modesto's Ken Oliveira came with his three children. Oliveira chews tobacco and his kids are constantly on him to stop. His 11-year-old daughter, Kahlen, said they often hide or dump out his chew.

"You don't realize all the things in (tobacco). The different kinds of cancer you can get," Oliveira said. "It gives you a lot to think about."

Reprinted by permission of Modesto Bee