First Day Blog on Merkel Cell Carcinoma

I’m beginning this blog on a sunny Sunday morning in the heart of the bayou country in south Louisiana. My reason, after having been diagnosed with MCC (Merkel Cell Carcinoma), I went on a search for all the information I could find about this cancer. There is information available on the medical websites that describes this cancer but much of it is repetitious from one site to the next. To quote Wikipedia, “Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare and highly aggressive skin cancer, which, in most cases, is caused by the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) discovered by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh in 2008.^[1] It is also known as cutaneous APUDoma, primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin, primary small cell carcinoma of the skin, and trabecular carcinoma of the skin” end quote. You can read about the particulars of the disease on various websites. My purpose here is not scientific. I searched for patient stories, blogs or life experiences of people contending with this  cancer. I hoped to gain some insights into how others were or are coping with this cancer. Well, patient personal stories are rare to non existent. So, in an effort to make others not feel totally isolated with this disease and to inform my family and friends, I will document my life with MCC for as long as I can.