MSI Press Blog

  One of the most famous people I have ever met -- and a very lovely person at that -- is Shirley Temple Black, who passed in 2014 after making the world better in several areas of using her talents at acting, diplomacy, and just good people skills. She genuinely liked people. I remember her taking time from a busy schedule to spend a break period from language studies to talk to my 10-year-old, a conversation he obviously will never forget, about our planned move to Monterey and about how she loved Monterey so much that she got married there. I bring her up in the Cancer Diary post because her birthday would be this coming Saturday (April 23, 1928), and, more important, because she was a breast cancer survivor. Her openness about cancer may have saved millions of lives. The more survivors, the more doctors learn. The more survivors, the more hope for others with breast cancer. And the more survivors, the more we realize that breast cancer does not take sides or pick victims -- every w

  Recently on Twitter, a cancer victim complained that friends kept elatedly sending her information about a potential cure for rectal cancer. She suffers from breast cancer! Sort of like rubbing salt in a wound, but the confusion is understandable for those who know little about cancer. Our vet (oncology expert) suggested that we ask Carl's oncologists to consider immunotherapy for Carl. We clung to that possibility initially since immunotherapy had thrown our little Snyezhka into full remission after having been given a maximum of four months to live. Nearly two years later, she is still with us and is healthy.  Carl was given just days to live when he was diagnosed with advanced metastatic cancer involving five organs. We clung to the hope that Stanford University Cancer Center might recommend immunotherapy; that was one of the possibilities the oncologist mentioned. Yes! However, immunotherapy is highly targeted -- against the source cancer. Test after test ruled out each of th

  Thanks to Ritta Blens, Carl's Cancer Consortium just received a lode of links to resources, gathered by Elly Hancock, for breast cancer that can be of great value to breast cancer patients. Here is a link to the list: Global Breast Cancer Resources for  Patients, Survivors, and Their Loved Ones Happy time parsing through it! It has also been added to the CCC. Blog editor's note: As a memorial to Carl, and simply because it is truly needed, MSI Press is now hosting a web page,  Carl's Cancer Compendium , as a one-stop starting point for all things cancer, to make it easier for those with cancer to find answers to questions that can otherwise take hours to track down on the Internet and/or from professionals. The web page is in its infancy but expected to expand into robustness. To that end, it is expanded and updated weekly. As part of this effort, each week, on Monday, this blog will carry an informative, cancer-related story -- and be open to guest posts:  Cancer Diary .

  This interview of Nanette Hucknall, author of  How to Live from Your Heart  and co-author of  The Rose and the Sword ,  who survived breast cancer, is not entirely recent, but for anyone staring a breast cancer diagnosis in the face and trying to look beyond the medical issues to the life issues, it is worth listening to. Listen here:  XETV-TV San Diego Living, How To Live From the Heart (youtube.com)                                    How to Live from Your Heart  has won the following awards: Book of the Year finalist Best Books Award finalist Book Excellence Award Pinnacle Book Achievement Award Readers' Favorites Book Award finalist Kops-Fetherling International Books Legacy Award: Self/Help For other Cancer Diary posts, click  HERE . Blog editor's note: As a memorial to Carl, and simply because it is truly needed, MSI Press is now hosting a web page,  Carl's Cancer Compendium , as a one-stop starting point for all things cancer, to make it easier for those with cancer

  This past week, Olivia Newton-John, who has staved off breast cancer for 30 years, succumbed to the struggle at the age of 73. She has been a champion for women with breast cancer. May she rest in well earned peace. Information HERE . For more posts on breast cancer, click HERE. Read more posts from Cancer Diary Blog editor's note: As a memorial to  Carl Don Leaver , co-founder of MSI Press LLC, and simply because it is truly needed, MSI Press is now hosting a web page,  Carl's Cancer Compendium , as a one-stop starting point for all things cancer, to make it easier for those with cancer to find answers to questions that can otherwise take hours to track down on the Internet and/or from professionals. The web page is in its infancy but expected to expand into robustness. To that end, it is expanded and updated weekly. As part of this effort, each week, on Monday, this blog will carry an informative, cancer-related story -- and be open to guest posts:  Cancer Diary .          

  This article may be of interesting to those at risk for breast cancer:  New breast cancer screening technique more accurate and cost-effective. For other Cancer Diary posts, click  HERE . Blog editor's note: As a memorial to Carl, and simply because it is truly needed, MSI Press is now hosting a web page,  Carl's Cancer Compendium , as a one-stop starting point for all things cancer, to make it easier for those with cancer to find answers to questions that can otherwise take hours to track down on the Internet and/or from professionals. The CCC is expanded and updated weekly. As part of this effort, each week, on Monday, this blog will carry an informative, cancer-related story -- and be open to guest posts:  Cancer Diary .   Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow  MSI Press  on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with  MSI Press LLC ? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Planning on self-publishing and don't know w

  Carl did not like to walk. That was not the only thing that did him in, but it was one of the things that might have helped him. The benefits of walking can be immense: Walking increases muscular strength , especially lean muscle mass and functional strength. Walking a mile a day has been found to lower the risk of dying from breast cancer and prostate cancer . In addition, walking and  aerobic exercise diminishes the side effects of cancer and cancer treatment , such as fatigue, anxiety and depression. See also  Walking for Exercise | Cancer Today (cancertodaymag.org) . Walking can improve mental health , thanks to releasing endorphins. Walking can decrease the likelihood of diabetes . Walking can decrease bad cholesterol . Walking can decrease high blood pressure . Walking can reduce cardiovascular risk by 14%. Finally, walking a mile a day can cut risk of dying from prostate or breast cancer by 40% says one study .  For another MSI Press blog post on walking, take a look at: 

(Bethany @ A Fish Who Likes Flowers)   As National Breast Cancer Month comes to an end, I wonder how many readers know about the following? Actual pink-colored pumpkins grown for breast cancer awareness. Check out this Huff Post article about farmers who grow these pink pumpkins. A company that sells pink pumpkin shirts. There are several styles. Check them out HERE . Finally, read an inspiring article about "The Power of Pink" at the blog, A Fish Who Likes Flowers, written by Bethany, who also designed the pumpkin in the image above. Seriously, worth a read -- and a good blog to follow. Blog editor's note: As a memorial to Carl, and simply because it is truly needed, MSI Press is now hosting a web page,  Carl's Cancer Compendium , as a one-stop starting point for all things cancer, to make it easier for those with cancer to find answers to questions that can otherwise take hours to track down on the Internet and/or from professionals. The web page is in its infancy

  This is not the first time we have written about cat cancer in a Caturday post. We learn more about it over time, and it seems that more in general is learned about it over time.  Blind Cat rescued share the following interesting and information post about cat cancer:  Feline Carcinoma (blindcatrescue.blogspot.com) . Cat cancer not only occurs, but at least in our household has become common as our cats have aged. Among our cats, three have died of it, and two are living with it. The breed does not seem to matter; it appears that cancer is blind to breed. Intrepid was the first to be diagnosed with cancer and the first to die with it. In his cancer, it was small cell lymphoma. He lived only a few months after diagnosis. His vet missed the cancer -- that happens with people, too. After describing Intrepid's late night howling to a friend who works at the SPCA, he gave us the name of a vet with excellent diagnostic skills. She immediately intuited the problem, scoped Intrepid, fou

  image from www.cancercenter.com When Carl was diagnosed with cancer, our vet-oncologist, who was successfully treating several of our cats who have various forms of cancer -- skin cancer, lymphoma, breast cancer, lung cancer -- with immunotherapy and encouraged us to ask for immunotherapy for Carl. If only... As it turned out, immunotherapy has to be targeted as the primary cancer organ, and that organ could not be found for Carl, who was eventually (but quickly) diagnosed with cancer of unknown primary (a very rare and deadly form of cancer, but we have heard of a couple of other folks in our social circles who experienced it -- and died as quickly as he did). Fortunately, for most of the organs, there are now immunotherapies (and research is finding/creating more). So, most people now have a choice between chemotherapy and immunotherapy -- and maybe some other treatments. For an updated list from the Cancer Research Institute on the latest immunotherapies, check here . This page a

  Carl and I lived in Jordan for a few years. One thing we especially liked about Jordan were the figs. Figs were round, unlike the more pear-shaped ones in the US, and they were, in our opinion, considerably sweeter. Regardless, they were an important of everyone's daily diet, including ours, and they were oh, so sweet! So, why are figs good for preventing cancer? Figs provide polyphenols and carotenoids, which are two phytonutrients, found to help detoxify  carcinogens  that can lead to cancer. These two phytonutrients help repair DNA and other tissue damage. And how do figs treat cancer ? First, if you have cancer, ask your doctor about eating figs. If s/he says yes (there seems to be no negatives to figs), then here are the benefits: Colon cancer: a source of needed fiber Breast cancer (post-menopausal): provide a layer of protection for hormonal imbalance, fight free radicals Brain cancer: restrain cancer cell growth Liver cancer: restrain cell growth; speed up the cure Any ca

  Personal experience from the editor: When three of our six cats were diagnosed with cancer, it was at a late stage. (The number is normal; 50% of cats over the age of 10 end up with cancer.) Even talented feline oncologists cannot turn the clock back. They can try to stop the clock, but sometimes the damage is too great.  We lost Intrepid to cancer three years ago (and wrote a book about him). He survived only a month of chemotherapy; he was diagnosed too late, and several important organs were in the process of failure: kidneys, pancreas, stomach. His older "brother" (not biological) who came from Jordan as well was diagnosed at the same time.  Murjan  managed to survive three years on chemotherapy, but by the time he died last Sunday, he was on seven medicines, periodic hydration, and down to 5 pounds (from 16). He fought valiantly, but ultimately the cancer won. Likewise, our young Lynx Siamese cat, Snyezhka, has breast cancer, diagnosed at stage 4, treated with surgery,