Marcel Haller tries not to think about the cancer that he’s been battling for the past four years.

“I don’t want to think about it, just live day-to-day and enjoy family,” he said, wiping away tears from his eyes with the toque he wears as radiation treatment has caused his hair to fall out.

His wife Donelda whispers to him some words of reassurance, telling him it’s alright.

Marcel has stage four melanoma, an incurable form of cancer that can be suppressed and contained with treatment.

Over the last few years, Marcel’s had cancer in his head, neck and lungs, and had to quit his job.

Sometimes his illness creeps into his mind, but Marcel says he tries to ignore those thoughts and just enjoy his life.

His family and friends give him the strength to keep going on, he said.

As he lives day-to-day, Marcel spends a lot of time with Donelda. They’ll visit with family, go for drives from time to time or watch funny movies.

The 64-year-old Merrittonian discovered he had cancer in 2011.

Donelda found a brown spot on the side of Marcel’s head while cutting his hair.

He went to a local doctor who took a sample that was sent away for testing. The test came back malignant.

Marcel Haller, his wife Donelda and their daughter Angie dished out plenty of spaghetti with all the fixings at their March 21 fundraiser. Michael Potestio/Herald

Marcel Haller, his wife Donelda and their daughter Angie dished out plenty of spaghetti with all the fixings at their March 21 fundraiser. Michael Potestio/Herald

Over the course of about two months, the cancerous spot grew from the size of a nickel to the size of a loonie by the time it was removed from his scalp by a plastic surgeon, Donelda said.

Marcel was given a CT scan and cleared of cancer, but about five months later, he found lumps on his neck.

He went to Vancouver for a PET scan — an imaging test that uses a radioactive tracer to look for disease in the body.

After that, doctors in Kelowna called, confirming Marcel had cancer. He had his neck operated on to remove the lumps and received radiation treatment.

Yet another scan determined he was free of cancer again, but soon afterwards, Marcel found a lump in his throat. Numerous tumours would subsequently be found in his lungs as well.

He was supposed to receive chemotherapy treatment, but started feeling dizzy and sick before the treatment began.

Donelda feared he was going to die.

“I couldn’t figure out why he was so, so, so sick,” she said.

She brought him to their doctor and Marcel was sent to Kamloops for another scan that discovered a seven millimetre tumour in his brain leading to another bout of radiation treatment.

Over the years, the Hallers have tried not to tell many people of Marcel’s situation in an effort to go about living their lives as normally as possible.

“We don’t want it to engulf our lives,” Donelda said.

Dealing with the cancer, however, has also taken a toll on them financially.

The cost of travelling to other cities for appointments, treatments and medications has been withering away the couple’s savings.

“We were not prepared for such a heavy cost,” Donelda said.

Donelda still works, but is certain that at some point she’ll have to take time off to care for Marcel.

Luckily, their friends and family members are always willing to lend a hand, and their support has allowed Donelda to continue working.

Facing high costs to continue treatments out of town, the Hallers took their first shot at hosting a fundraiser Saturday, March 21.

The result was an overwhelming show of support as nearly 300 people came through the doors of the Lower Nicola Band School for a spaghetti dinner, games and prizes.

The family reached their goal of raising $5,000 to help with the financial burden of battling cancer.

As much as the fundraiser was meant to raise money, it was also a family reunion of sorts.

Marcel and Donelda had about 75 family members from around B.C. and Alberta travel to Merritt that weekend.

The Hallers said they had about 15 people at their house at any given time that weekend.

Allan Grunsky had only met his first cousin Marcel a handful of times, but travelled from Edmonton to see him.

“Our family’s like that. We really like to keep in touch,” Grunsky said.

The Hallers have received a lot of support from the community.

“We just can’t believe the generosity and the support that we’ve received, and we even have people we don’t know — we have never met — that are wishing us well and praying for us,” Donelda said.