My Battle with Merkel Cell Cancer

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Obituary Saturday, April 21, 2012 The following obituary ran in dad's hometown newspaper: DAVID NORMAN SHUSTER, M.D. Dave Shuster died on April 18, 2012 after fighting a courageous battle with Merkel Cell Carcinoma. He was born on Aug. 18, 1940 in Montreal, and moved to Fresno in 1976. He was a talented diagnostic radiologist well respected within the medical community. Dave met his wife, Judy, more than 50 years ago. He was a loving father to his three children, Gary and his wife Dana, Brian, and Michael and his wife Leanna. He was blessed with 5 grandchildren, Eva, Sara, Sammie, Bel, and Eli. He is also survived by his mother, Isobel and his siblings, Jon, Robert and Ellie. In addition to his professional and family accomplishments, he achieved the rank of gold life master in bridge. He also always had a fun time with his poker buddies. He never missed an opportunity to play with his grandchildren. A memorial service honoring his life is scheduled at Temple Beth Israel for Sunday, April 22 at noon. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to Merkel Cell Carcinoma Research (details at http://donate.shuster.com) or to Temple Beth Israel at 6622 N. Maroa Ave., Fresno 93704. The world is a better place for Dave’s being here. He lives on through his children, grandchildren, and kind deeds. Posted by Gary Shuster at 12:50PM (-07:00) Thank you, MCC Google Group Sunday, April 22, 2012 I wrote an email to the Google Group for MCC (http://groups.google.com/group/merkelcell), which is a private group for those battling Merkel Cell Cancer and for the people fighting alongside them (if you have MCC or are supporting somebody with MCC, you really need to join that group). I realized after writing it that my dad would have wanted me to share my thanks and thoughts for this My Battle with Merkel Cell Cancer 135
136 group more broadly. The email I sent is as follows: Thank you all for your wishes and your kind praise of dad. I've linked the obituary at his blog http://docshumybattlewithmerkelcellcancer.blogspot.com/2012/04/obituary.html His memorial service is today, and while I'm not going to be distracted with technological issues, I do plan to set up a video camera to capture the event. Since you've become his family in the same way that soldiers fighting a battle side by side become family, In a war, there are many battles. Some warriors are felled in battle. Some throw themselves into the path of danger to protect others (as with experimental surgeries). Some mentor other soldiers, preparing them to survive their part in the way (a role my dad took on). Some get lucky and survive, and some powerful warriors are less lucky. But in the end, spending years with a band of brothers and sisters fighting a heartless, inhuman beast turns strangers into family. And so it was for my dad. He implicitly sought a promise that I'd care for my mother, but the only explicit promise he asked of me on his last day was that I update his blog if he didn't make it. This family, forged in a shared, frightening common battle against a heartless beast, this family forged in common support and empathy, this family that met not in person but in heart, this family was on his mind on his last day. As well it should have been. He died with me at his side, with his wife at his side, with his children and grandchildren in his heart, and with your thoughts and presence surrounding him. Thank you for that. I'd like to post the memorial so you can watch it. I'm not going to be babysitting the video camera, so if there is a technical failure to record the video, so be it. But if things go as planned, after a few days I'll be able to put up a link to the video. I see about 3 more posts to the blog. "Eulogy", "Dying", and "The Future" are likely titles. I intend to post the eulogy I wrote for him after I deliver it today. I've been drafting a pretty detailed account of his last day called "dying" (incredibly hard to write, but he found it so important to bluntly share his experiences to help others prepare for what they might face). I then intend to close with a post about the future, although the ideas about that are kind of amorphous so I'm not sure if that post happens or if it happens the way I'm thinking about it today. After the last substantive blog post, I'm considering a fundraising and patient support blog post. This would be links to a PDF version of his blog, a print version, and perhaps a Kindle format version. They would be available at cost (so PDF free, ebook free, if distributed via Amazon the minimum cost, physical book probably expensive even sold at cost). Patients need support, and family, friends and patients would be encouraged to use the book without paying. For those who find value in the book and who are able to afford it, I would include information about how they can pay what they wish, donating to MCC research donate voluntarily in exchange for the book. I'm off to prepare to bury my father. I'm having a hard day, but having just read this thread of comments [a set of emails sent by MCC group members in response to my post that he had died], my day is that much easier. The power of community cannot be overstated, and the power of this community is particularly strong. Thank you for your love. I know my dad was grateful for your support to the end, since he went out of his way to expressly say so. He was fitted with a BiPAP mask much of the day, so he spoke perhaps a thousand words or less on his last day and he reserved some of those for you. I'm glad he did so. You deserve it. Now I ask each of you to honor him by beating your own MCC. Please make my father one of the last to die by this disease. You've described it as a beast and a bully and by all My Battle with Merkel Cell Cancer
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My Battle with MCC My Battle with M
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Contents I Discover a Mass in my Fa
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A Brief break, Then 3-5 Months of C
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Esophageal Dilatation: My Experienc
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I Discover a Mass in my Face Friday
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I Have Surgery Saturday, July 24, 2
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Posted by docshu at 10:54AM (-07:00
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In the absence of a tumor mass to i
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Friday, July 2: I plan to work in t
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I plan to add photographs to this b
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deformity and a facial droop on his
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of taste. I have now completed 11 o
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there. They visited from Valencia,
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SARA, age 3, The Kissing Doctor Wha
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Hooray. I passed!!! Friday, August
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survives. Posted by docshu at 08:49
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Below is a photo of our dog, Rocky
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Not Much New Thursday, September 16
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Posted by docshu at 05:09PM (-07:00
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That's Jon on my right and Robert o
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Nghiem in Seattle on November 30. U
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Posted by docshu at 07:20PM (-08:00
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ook last-minute, as I have canceled
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Sandy, and from my sister Ellie, wi
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out. I do not have a definite date
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old. We had a very nice visit with
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I continue to work, although my sch
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Surgery Wednesday 10:00 AM Monday,
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do very much. On the other hand, I
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circumference. What that all means
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Montreal and on my return, have a p
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Here is a photo of Alex and yours t
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The bad news is that the experiment
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This is the best photo I could find
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the symptom gets worse. The generic
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DNA present in ~80% MCC tumors MCPy
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Rocky woke us up this morning with
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=Bingo!=we were the next ones seate
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My colon feels like It wants to blo
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In any event, Dr Flam says I should
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No More Chemo (for now) Tuesday, Ju
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The Plan is Finalized Tuesday, July
Page 86 and 87: Not a Good Day Today, + Real Estate
Page 88 and 89: was down. I had no appetite. No foo
Page 90 and 91: my lower esophagus. An experimental
Page 92 and 93: Here is the rant. My appointment wa
Page 94 and 95: peripheral neuropathy is unchanged.
Page 96 and 97: have stopped the zinc. I am also ha
Page 98 and 99: Axial CT Image Here, we see a large
Page 100 and 101: I'm Back! Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Page 102 and 103: My brother Jon Shuster arrived Thur
Page 104 and 105: sessions, and for the first time si
Page 106 and 107: the skull. When the catheter was in
Page 108 and 109: to a pediatrician, who said that th
Page 110 and 111: PM. I will post again when I get ho
Page 112 and 113: Posted by David Shuster at 09:56AM
Page 114 and 115: obesity and emaciation." One of the
Page 116 and 117: Last night, I had the most sleep I'
Page 118 and 119: done frequently since having the pr
Page 120 and 121: they did help, they didn't help eno
Page 122 and 123: I hope that my dad is well enough t
Page 124 and 125: WBC count 4.5-11.0 K/mcL Platelet 1
Page 126 and 127: It is such great news. There are do
Page 128 and 129: so he can sleep. 2:00 Dana takes Be
Page 130 and 131: Cicero says of the Sword of Damocle
Page 132 and 133: evealed Staph Aureus, but not the a
Page 134 and 135: Fresno Imaging Center Medical Group
Page 138 and 139: manner of other names, as my dad di
Page 140 and 141: Eva had asked that I tell him she l
Page 142 and 143: document the final part of that tra
Page 144 and 145: Subject: docdave back at hospital T
Page 146 and 147: We got word that the ER doctor want
Page 148 and 149: used it), some stuff for my mom, an
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Page 152 and 153: who seemed competent and caring. Th
Page 154 and 155: in a voice I'd never heard her use
Page 156 and 157: In facing death, dad decided to tru
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My Battle with Merkel Cell Cancer

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