Merkel, Jerkel, Ferkel, Snerkel,

Merkel-Sounds like a funny last name...
Merkel hum..... maybe a type of bird......
Merkel , it must be some kind of fish in the sea....

No unfortunately it is not any of those.

Merkel is not a word that I am happy to have been introduced into my vocabulary just a few days ago.

Merkel Cell Cancer: Rare, but Deadly

On the opposite end of the skin cancer spectrum from basal-cell carcinoma is Merkel cell cancer. While basal-cell is the most common type of skin cancer, Merkel cell is extremely rare. Basal-cell tumors grow slowly and hardly ever metastasize, while Merkel cell is more aggressive than melanoma and has a higher mortality rate.  “Merkel cell was always the orphan disease,” “It’s so rare that no one sees enough patients to develop expertise in how to treat it. Many physicians see just one or two patients with Merkel cell cancer in their entire careers.” Because the disease is so rare and no one specialty treats patients with this type of skin cancer, treatment is inconsistent. “It has no characteristic features, so the patient thinks it’s just a little red bump and it’s not growing or hurting. When they eventually see a physician, the doctor says it looks like a little cyst or basal-cell cancer. Eventually, it gets biopsied, but there’s often a delay. That’s a problem, because Merkel cell carcinoma is an aggressive disease that spreads from skin to lymph nodes. If you can catch it in a lymph node before it goes anywhere else, you have a chance of containing it.”

This not so funny named alien has invaded my wonderful Father-in-Laws body and its tearing my heart in two.  Yes he is 87, yes, he has lead a full happy, and fairly healthy life, yes, he is grateful for all the wonders he has experienced.

But NO!  We are not ready to let him go. I AM not ready to let him go. Is that selfish?  Probably.  

Of course I would never want him to suffer, and I am not sure how I would handle it if and when he does.  His smile is just contagious and his warmth and love always shows in his countenance.  I guess I am in the denial stage because I hope and pray the radiation he is set to undergo will remove this foreign alien from his body and leave him with us for at least a few more years.  At least until....he reaches his well announced goal of 90 years old. 

And that is all I have to say for now.