The official home on the Web of Murray Micklberg

4/23/2010 "After completing my first ever chemotherapy in the week of April 5, 2010; I surprised everyone with how well I tolerated it. I felt no nausea and my hair hasn't started falling out. I had a little heartburn a few times and a doctor recommended, over-the-counter remedy worked fine. There was a powerful cortico-steroid in my pre-meds and along with the chemo itself, my immune system was very suppressed for about one week. Now, my crazy, overly active immune system has come back again with a vengeance. My auto-immune Ulcerative Colitis hasn't recurred but I have a lot of dermatitis that was for a long time also caused by my immune system. This cloud has a silver lining. Merkel Cell Carcinoma is an opportunistic cancer that frequently afflicts people with compromises to their immune systems such as HIV/AIDS, transplant recipients taking anti-rejection meds and auto-immune disease sufferers like myself who use immuno-suppressive agents that essentially are just like anti-rejection agents. (More about MCC at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkel_cell_cancer and http://www.pnlab.org/clinical/MerkelCellCarcinoma.php) My resurgent immune system may prove to be a blessing that will be one of my best weapons against this cancer. I'm only fortunate that I am able to turn it on or off by taking or not taking 6-mercaptopurine, which I took by prescription to control my auto-immune Ulcerative Colitis. While my UC hasn't recurred thus far, I do know my other signs of hyper-immunity in myself.

"My sincere hope is that any welcome outcome I have in the way of a spontaneous regression of MCC that my immune system may cause, will lead to research into enhancing immune system response."(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_remission for more.)

4/6/2010 "I've just begun treatment for Merkel Cell Carcinoma, a very rare cancer. At the same time I'm continuing to pursue rehearsals and gigs with a commercial cover band which gives me continuing energization and purpose. I'll also be resuming my activities in doing my one man show for a continuing care retirement community. I've completed my second day of chemotherapy and if I continue to feel as well and strong as I do now, I'll continue my art and performing endeavors."

8/16/2009 "I've dropped by WARMDADDY'S in Philadelphia two or three times in the past couple of months to give my chops a workout jamming in their mostly blues format on Tuesday nights. The atmosphere and everyone there are the ultimate in friendliness and making you feel welcome. There have been some top notch musicians providing back-up and vocals and soloing. I recommend that musicians and non-musicians alike find their way there on Columbus Boulevard at Reed Street in South Philly. You never know when I might show up there again on a Tuesday night but I'll try to post advance notice here and on my microblog on Twitter (see below link)."

"I'm currently doing my own upgrades to my studio and making time to work on WAILING, GREENSLEEVES and SYMPHONY NO. 40 (Mozart). Some of my earlier works like TRIOSLED and DE LIGHT will hopefully get re-recorded soon."

Murray Micklberg a.k.a. "muddymusic" at http://twitter.com

Leave me a direct message or a post "@muddymusic" and I will reply to you. Some days I log in for hours and at other times a can't get on for two or three days because I'm extremely busy. Thank you for understanding."

	News page of Murray Micklberg and friends. What's Happening with Murray: 4/23/2010 "After completing my first ever chemotherapy in the week of April 5, 2010; I surprised everyone with how well I tolerated it. I felt no nausea and my hair hasn't started falling out. I had a little heartburn a few times and a doctor recommended, over-the-counter remedy worked fine. There was a powerful cortico-steroid in my pre-meds and along with the chemo itself, my immune system was very suppressed for about one week. Now, my crazy, overly active immune system has come back again with a vengeance. My auto-immune Ulcerative Colitis hasn't recurred but I have a lot of dermatitis that was for a long time also caused by my immune system. This cloud has a silver lining. Merkel Cell Carcinoma is an opportunistic cancer that frequently afflicts people with compromises to their immune systems such as HIV/AIDS, transplant recipients taking anti-rejection meds and auto-immune disease sufferers like myself who use immuno-suppressive agents that essentially are just like anti-rejection agents. (More about MCC at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkel_cell_cancer and http://www.pnlab.org/clinical/MerkelCellCarcinoma.php) My resurgent immune system may prove to be a blessing that will be one of my best weapons against this cancer. I'm only fortunate that I am able to turn it on or off by taking or not taking 6-mercaptopurine, which I took by prescription to control my auto-immune Ulcerative Colitis. While my UC hasn't recurred thus far, I do know my other signs of hyper-immunity in myself. "My sincere hope is that any welcome outcome I have in the way of a spontaneous regression of MCC that my immune system may cause, will lead to research into enhancing immune system response."(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_remission for more.) 4/6/2010 "I've just begun treatment for Merkel Cell Carcinoma, a very rare cancer. At the same time I'm continuing to pursue rehearsals and gigs with a commercial cover band which gives me continuing energization and purpose. I'll also be resuming my activities in doing my one man show for a continuing care retirement community. I've completed my second day of chemotherapy and if I continue to feel as well and strong as I do now, I'll continue my art and performing endeavors." 8/16/2009 "I've dropped by WARMDADDY'S in Philadelphia two or three times in the past couple of months to give my chops a workout jamming in their mostly blues format on Tuesday nights. The atmosphere and everyone there are the ultimate in friendliness and making you feel welcome. There have been some top notch musicians providing back-up and vocals and soloing. I recommend that musicians and non-musicians alike find their way there on Columbus Boulevard at Reed Street in South Philly. You never know when I might show up there again on a Tuesday night but I'll try to post advance notice here and on my microblog on Twitter (see below link)." "I'm currently doing my own upgrades to my studio and making time to work on WAILING, GREENSLEEVES and SYMPHONY NO. 40 (Mozart). Some of my earlier works like TRIOSLED and DE LIGHT will hopefully get re-recorded soon." "In the meantime, you can follow my occasional posts on Twitter through the following link: Murray Micklberg a.k.a. "muddymusic" at http://twitter.com Leave me a direct message or a post "@muddymusic" and I will reply to you. Some days I log in for hours and at other times a can't get on for two or three days because I'm extremely busy. Thank you for understanding." . Copyright © 2006-2010 Murray Micklberg. All Rights Reserved.	What's been happening with Murray's friends: 4/23/2010 "The recently formed commercial cover band that I joined earlier this year appears to be thriving with preparations for our debut. We're even including some smooth jazz covers by artists like Gato Barbieri and Grover Washington. Our focus is on music that's appropriate for weddings, corporate affairs and some night clubs. I'll keep you posted on our progress." —Murray Keep up with Murray's contact posts on ( twitter.com/muddymusic )