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<p>HANOVER TOWNSHIP &#8212; From &#8220;Oh, My Darlin&#8217; Clementine&#8221; to &#8220;You Are My Sunshine&#8221; to &#8220;House of the Rising Sun,&#8221; Mickey Daniels recently entertained residents of the Hampton House nursing facility with songs they remembered.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s fantastic,&#8221; a 74-year-old resident named Barbara said. &#8220;They can bring him back anytime.&#8221;</p><p>Daniels brought jokes, too, including one about a little boy who shouted a prayer for toys. &#8220;What are you yelling for? God&#8217;s not deaf,&#8221; his brother said. &#8220;I know,&#8221; the boy replied. &#8220;But Grandpa is.&#8221;</p><p>When you hear the upbeat songs and patter Daniels brings to area nursing homes, it&#8217;s hard to believe the former teacher was once too worn out and despondent to leave his house.</p><p>&#8220;That cancer beat the daylights out of me,&#8221; said Daniels, 67, of Scranton, who lost an eye and his nose to squamous cell carcinoma, a collection of tumors he describes &#8220;like fingers spreading up into my head.&#8221;</p><p>The treatments were painful on many levels, but deep down, Daniels wanted to survive.</p><p>&#8220;The surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic told me, &#8216;I don&#8217;t think I can save your eye.&#8217; I said, &#8216;Don&#8217;t worry. Just save me.&#8217; &#8220;</p><p>Daniels &#8212; that&#8217;s his stage name; he was born Milosh Bogdanovich &#8212; lost his left eye during surgery to remove the cancer in 2002. When the cancer came back, he lost his nose during a 2006 operation at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.</p><p>Following the 2006 operation, plus radiation and chemotherapy at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, he&#8217;s been cancer-free for nine years.</p><p>But each day, his body reminds him of his ordeal.</p><p>&#8220;My face is very sensitive to the environment,&#8221; he said. &#8220;To dust and chemicals and humidity and pollen.&#8221;</p><p>He breathes through a prosthetic nose &#8212; his third, because they wear out &#8212; fashioned for him at Temple University Hospital.</p><p>Life is good, he&#8217;ll tell you. But, it hasn&#8217;t been easy.</p><p>&#8220;With a facial cancer it&#8217;s right out there for anyone to see,&#8221; he said, explaining reconstructive surgery has dramatically improved his appearance. &#8220;It almost takes your breath away, how bad I looked before.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been a long road,&#8221; he said. &#8220;After my wife left me I was just going to pack it in. I had two suicide plans, one for summer and one for winter.&#8221;</p><p>Counseling helped, said Daniels. So did art classes.</p><p>&#8220;Those classes were integral,&#8221; said Daniels, who began studying with Georgiana Cray Bart of Wilkes-Barre after he met her at a flea market. &#8220;They helped me focus and gave me peace of mind for two or three days at a time.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Those ladies boosted my ego,&#8221; he said, explaining he was the only man in the class. &#8220;When I was down, they picked me up.&#8221;</p><p>Bart said Daniels returned the favor, offering a listening ear whenever anyone else had a problem. &#8220;He&#8217;s so kind and supportive,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He&#8217;s an angel.&#8221;</p><p>His classmates, whom he considered &#8220;like seven big sisters&#8221; encouraged Daniels as he re-entered the dating world and, after an online meeting, forged a relationship two years ago with retired florist Katie Merkel.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s got remarkable strength and the biggest heart of anybody I ever met,&#8221; Merkel said. &#8220;He&#8217;s got a strong will to live.&#8221;</p><p>When she looks at him, Merkel said, she doesn&#8217;t see any kind of disability. &#8220;I truly don&#8217;t.&#8221;</p><p>Merkel is among the blessings Daniels counts in his life, along with art, a small fishing boat, and his recovered ability to sing.</p><p>He&#8217;d lost his singing voice after his 2002 surgery, when scar tissue prevented him from moving his throat muscles. But after the 2006 surgery that removed his nose, &#8220;whatever was preventing me from singing was gone. I was able to recapture my high notes.&#8221;</p><p>That meant a lot of Daniels, who has sung professionally on and off since his youth. &#8220;It made me very happy.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption"> Singer and guitar player Mickey Daniels performs several times a month at nursing homes around the region. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_TTL062116singer1-2.jpg</photo0><caption0> Singer and guitar player Mickey Daniels performs several times a month at nursing homes around the region. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_TTL062116singer2-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Singer and guitar player Mike Daniels performs songs for the residents of the Hampton House nursing home in Hanover Township. Singer and guitar player Mickey Daniels performs songs for the residents of the Hampton House nursing home in Hanover Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_TTL062116singer2-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Singer and guitar player Mike Daniels performs songs for the residents of the Hampton House nursing home in Hanover Township. Singer and guitar player Mickey Daniels performs songs for the residents of the Hampton House nursing home in Hanover Township. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_TTL062116singer4-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">&#8216;Very nice!&#8217; a Hampton House resident named Allen described Mickey Daniels&#8217; performance, which inspired him to move his hands in time to the music as if he were playing a piano. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_TTL062116singer4-2.jpg</photo2><caption2>&#8216;Very nice!&#8217; a Hampton House resident named Allen described Mickey Daniels&#8217; performance, which inspired him to move his hands in time to the music as if he were playing a piano. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_TTL062116singer3-2.jpg">
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<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Cancer survivor spreads joy through music</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Cancer survivor Mickey Daniels spreads joy through music