Lying in a hospital bed in his living room, fighting through the haze of painkillers, Mike O’Roark still hangs on to his sense of humor as cancer tears through his body.

“I’d be healthy as hell if I didn’t have this cancer,” he said. “Melanoma will kill you dead. It’s an evil aggressive cancer.”

Mike, a bluegrass and country musician, is struggling to survive melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. It first popped up in 2004, in the form of some moles on his back. They were removed and he shrugged it off.

But, in April of 2007, it came back with a vengeance.

Cancer was found in his lymph system and after radiation treatment, doctors discovered the melanoma had spread to eight different parts of his body, including his brain and his spine.

His doctors said he had about four months to live, but he and his wife, Martha, disagreed.

“It was the same old, same old; they said he’d be done by July or August,” she said. “So we got in a plane and flew around until we found someone who said he wouldn’t die in July or August.”

After some experimental procedures and drug trials, doctors were able to get rid of all of his cancer, except the tumors compressing his spine. The pain caused by the tumors, Marsha said, is the biggest problem, because it keeps him form staying active and doing therapy.

“His tumors are causing him pain you and I can’t imagine,” she said.

For Mike, every day is a struggle between pain and consciousness.

“I’m torn between the terrible pain and being drugged out,” he said. “I don’t know. There aren’t many days left; I don’t want to spend it like this.”

Pain has also kept Mike from performing music anymore, a passion he cultivated as a small child, teaching himself to play the guitar and the banjo.

“I can’t play no more,” he said. “I suppose I could hit a chord, but…”

Mike’s voice trails off. It’s a sore subject for a man who made his life behind a guitar and a microphone, playing music with legends like Conway Twitty and Jerry Reed. A man who has played the Palomino Club in Las Vegas.

Mike started his first band when he was in the Air Force during Vietnam and just kept going with it, playing bluegrass and country music all over the country, making records and landing hits in the billboard charts.

“You have to love it, because you can’t make money,” he said. “To be in the music business, you have to want it.”

Mike also used to host Kansas City’s longest running open mic night at Dirk’s Bar and Grill, a tradition he kept alive for more than 21 years and before his cancer stopped him, his career was really taking off, with shows booked through January of next year.

Although his music career is on hold while he battles cancer, Marsha said he was lucky to have been able to live his dream.

“He was lucky enough to do what he loved to do and make a living at it,” she said. “He was blessed with a great career. He didn’t have to put bolts in Fords at the plant.”

But his dream isn’t over, yet. Mike plans to keep fighting the cancer and he hopes to participate in more drug trials once he can muster the strength for it.

On Sunday, Aug. 17, Mike’s friends and fellow musicians put together a benefit for him in North Kansas City at Finnegan’s Hall, raising money to help pay for his numerous treatments and medical bills.

Antioch Community Church is also accepting donations on Mike’s behalf. Contact Harry Fookle, pastor, at 453-6088 or at harryf@acckc.org to make a donation.

For more information on Mike and his music, visit his Web site, www.mikeoroark.com.

Staff writer Michael Westblade can be reached at 389-6636 or michaelwestblade@npgco.com.

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