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46<br />
So many people have responded to this blog, e-mailed me, and called me, I feel very<br />
gratified by the outpouring of good wishes, prayers, support, and offers of assistance that<br />
I have received during this journey.<br />
I plan to add some of my favorite songs, poems and limericks that I've written over my<br />
lifetime to my blog from time to time. Here is the first.<br />
There Is No "C" in Shuster<br />
A "C" belongs in candle In "cap" or "cape" or "coat" If you put a "C" in Shuster, You will<br />
really get my goat.<br />
You can schove a "C " in schingle, In schop or schip or sche But there is no "C" in<br />
Shuster As you can plainly see.<br />
I rarely lose my temper I'm a level-headed man But if you put a "C" in Shuster The schit<br />
will hit the fan.<br />
BTW, my word processor thinks Shuster is misspelled.<br />
Posted by docshu at 11:26AM (-08:00)<br />
Thirteen. What Does it Mean?<br />
Sunday, December 19, 2010<br />
Last Friday, at about five o'clock, I received a telephone call from Dr. Nghiem. He<br />
reported to me that the circulating <strong>Merkel</strong> cell count measured in the blood that I had<br />
drawn on December 7 revealed 13 <strong>Merkel</strong> cells in 10 mL of blood. After my surgery and<br />
before commencement of radiation treatment for my initial tumor, the circulating <strong>Merkel</strong><br />
cell count was zero. So is this bad news? Obviously it is worse than if the count was zero.<br />
However I expected there to be some circulating <strong>Merkel</strong> cells as I have developed a<br />
distant lesion. Dr. Nghiem did not seem to be disappointed or unhappy. In fact, he<br />
seemed to be almost elated, as this will provide him <strong>with</strong> a measurement of the<br />
effectiveness of the unconventional treatment that I have had. He has made<br />
arrangements for me to have a follow-up <strong>Merkel</strong> cell count done. The blood will be drawn<br />
next Monday, a week from tomorrow. That will be 19 days after my single dose of<br />
radiation which was intended to unmask the antigens in the tumor and to allow my<br />
immune system to react to the tumor as foreign material. I think that will be the crucial<br />
count. If it has returned to zero, it will suggest that the treatment is working. If it has gone<br />
up, that will not be good news. However I will allow the treatment more time to work<br />
before I do anything else.<br />
We have signed up and paid for another cruise. This one will go to Mexico from Los<br />
Angeles, leaving on January 5 and returning on January 16. As long as I continue to be<br />
asymptomatic, I plan to take that cruise. In some ways, I feel like Charlie Brown, trying to<br />
kick the football. The football is the cruise. We already missed our two week cruise to<br />
Hawaii, and I'm not even sure if we will get any money back. However Princess cruises<br />
said that we will at least receive credit for the money paid. We still had to pay for this<br />
cruise as they have not had time to assess whether my medical excuse is valid or<br />
represents a pre-existing condition.<br />
In the meantime, it is life as usual. I will work two days next week, and two full days and<br />
two half days the week between Christmas and New Year's. If I remain asymptomatic,<br />
following the cruise, I plan to work three afternoons a week.<br />
Sometime later in January, I'm looking forward to visits from my brother Jon, and his wife<br />
<strong>My</strong> <strong>Battle</strong> <strong>with</strong> <strong>Merkel</strong> <strong>Cell</strong> <strong>Cancer</strong>
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