Hello,
I just joined the group and rather than lurk about I thought it best to
go ahead and say hello and
thus also get the Merkel on record. It is an extremely rare, nasty,skin
cancer and I must admit that I
do not have a storehouse of information about it, especially since so
little is actually known. My onset ,
diagnosis and treatment was very swift and it has been a year since I
completed 35 radiation sessions.I am
alive,
thus my prognosis has reached about 70 percent chance of making it for 5
years. The Merkel appeared
suddenly on my left arm and had all of the characteristics of a
developing boil..which is to say that it
was a lump a bit bigger than a quarter and was fairly "solid" I
immediatly saw our local dermatologist
and she did a biopsy which was sent to Seattle. The phone call came a
few days later and the impact
was devestating for my dear wife and I.( She is a cancer survivor and I
had just gotten oven a six way
bypass, a gall blader removal, glaucoma surgery, etc. We thought our
lives were back on track). She
removed the entire mass plus a safety margin area. The thing I remember
most about the surgery was
that my wife who is a retired RN helped and the derma, who also raises
dogs, had let me "play" with
a new puppy with my other hand while she hacked away at me. ( We are
very informal up here in the great
NW..! ..lol ) Chemo will do little against a Merkel so we had
radiation only and a ton of it.
The only really relevant point of my story is that had we piddled around
wondering if it might be cancer,
or decided to wait even a few more weeks etc I would not be here
writing this posting. After reading many of the group postings I am
amazed at how many people hesitate to seek medical help...pronto!
Better you own a new mole and
are out 100 bucks than pushing up the daisys.
About six monthsor so after my radiation series was completed I was
diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease so I guess
we are breaking some sort of record! I guess I should add that I am
72, a retired psychologist who spent about 40 years
making documentary films in the biobehavioral sciences and mental health
area. I will be happy to chat with
anyone in the group on any related topic
Cheers, Barnett