MSI Press Blog

  Carl, whose experience launched this blog and the MSI Press's Carl's Cancer Compendium (CCC) died after a very short 5 months post-diagnosis of occult cancer, or, as the official term goes, Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP).  Carl fell February 23 and went to the local hospital where staff found advanced stage 4 metastatic cancer in five organs and subsequently transferred him to Stanford University Hospital, stating he would not likely return him. He did return home, for a brief four months--and he died at home on hospice almost a month later, having spent only 10 days in that capacity.  Stanford spent almost a month trying to determine the original cancer that had spread to these five organs (none of these organs was the original.) That is the problem with CUP. Finding the original seems out of reach and a guessing game. The doctor made his best guess, based on the spread pattern, but the cocktail he came up with for chemotherapy while doing no harm also did no good. The pro

  March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Being aware of the dangers of colon cancer, how widespread it is, and how fairly easily it can be identified and treated at early states is important to everyone's long-term health because colorectal cancer can attack anyone. Here is a guide that can help: Guide to Colorectal Cancer Carl Leaver for whom the CCC is named and maintained died of cancer of unknown primary. How oncologist believed (no evidence when it comes to CUP) that the cancer started in the colon.  I, his wife and MSI Press LLC managing editor, was found cancerous polyps through a home colon cancer test, ordered because of an observed change in bowel behavior, that led to a much-earlier-than-planned follow-up colonoscopy (5 years instead of 7-10 years after the first colonoscopy that had yielded no concerns). That led to several siblings revealing the same state and that they were on short-term follow-up colonoscopy schedules. Carl blew off his scheduled colono

  This tweet: Erika on Twitter: "What don’t we (cancer peeps) ever talk about how much cancer effects our feet? Or am I the only one? My nails suck. So many cracks. My toes even look different, I swear." / Twitter brought up the question of the relationship between cancer and the feet. Some signs of cancer that get ignored until too late are edema, cracks in the skin of the feet, and neuropathy -- likely because they are also signs of other things as well, and nearly know thinks of cancer first. Cancer is the disease that creeps up on you very quietly, then taps, says "boo," and your whole life changes on the spot. But there is also foot skin cancer -- melanoma and other kinds. Check it out HERE. 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 t

  Who would have thunk? There appears to be a link between skin cancer and acne. Well, every bit of forewarning helps -- especially in reminding all of us, not just those who suffer from acne, to wear sunscreen and not to lie around for hours tanning in the sun. If we weren't born with brown skin, well, that's life. Browning it in youth and risking skin cancer later is so not worth it! Take a look at the research HERE . It's not just the obvious skin cancer that acne might predict, it is also other kinds of cancers, like breast cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, and some lymphomas.  And to muddy the waters, it could be that the propensity for skin cancer could be the reason for the acne. Shades of Schroedinger's cat -- or the old dilemma:: chicken or egg? 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

Carl frequently complained of being cold during the last two months of living/dying with cancer. Even with the heat at, for me an uncomfortable, 72 degrees (when we typically maintain it at a comfortable 66 degrees). Even when wearing a sweater or even something heavier and smothered in blankets. He was always complaining about being cold, and only after he died did I find out why -- and that he really was very cold because body temperature drops when someone is dying. We were constantly struggling over how to compromise on temperature. My son and I were extremely uncomfortable with the amount of heat Carl would set the thermostat for, as well as having concerns with the cost of the amount of gas needed to keep the house so hot (dying can create immense financial stress -- a topic Cancer Diary will address in the future).  In general, cold registered for me, having grown up in Maine and having spent a few winters in Siberia, pictured above, on a very different scale from the perceptio

  The final conversation had with Carl's oncologist was what we needed in our first conversation but did not get. Not quite two weeks before Carl died, at which time he was in a subacute facility, having fallen the week before, been admitted to the hospital, then shifted to the care facility, the oncologist called us with the results of the latest scans. "Not good at all," he said, and he gave us three options: let nature take its course -- Carl could move to in-hospital hospice or in-home hospice (we chose the latter, and while we had a very bad experience with the initial hospice , it was still the best choice) try out another chemical compound - He told us he had given us the most appropriate and strongest ("the best") that he had, but if we wanted to try another mixture, he would look at other options take part in a clinical trial - He did not of any for Cancer of Unknown Primary and would have to do some research; there might not be any, and there might no

  A bit of a detour from the usual Cancer Diary posts, this week we are posting reviews about a well-liked but not widely known book about living with cancer (spoiler: it has a religious appeal): Surviving Cancer, Healing People: One Cat's Story by Sula, Parish Cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautista. #1 Synopsis: Sula is a cat with a divine mission who has an uncanny ability to sense which parishioners at the California's San Juan Bautista Old Mission need her attention at any given Mass. But is it really uncanny, or does St. Francis give Sula tasks during her daily conversations with him? Or is she led by God? Sula has developed a special bond with cancer survivors like herself. The bond between her and the Old Mission parishioners saw her through two bouts of cancer, flooding her with gifts: money for surgery, a home for recovery, prayers, and love. In the pages of "Surviving Cancer, Healing People: One Cat's Story" is comprised of truly charming, heartwarming,

  Cancer needs money -- for research, for support of patients, for training, for informational materials. There are many ways to give to cancer funds. Here are some: Team Beans: child brain cancer; click HERE for information about the CNN reporter's family story behind the fund The Jimmy Fund (connected to Team Beans): click HERE for information about Run for Dana-Farber Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP) Foundation -- an important one for me personally St. Jude , the children's hospital founded by Danny Thomas that provides free care to children can always use funds American Cancer Society , of course There are MANY more funds and foundations in need of donations. Just do a search for the kind of cancer or the kind of support you wish to make and the word, donate. You will find many opportunities. And know what? Even $1 helps because 1000 people giving $1 is already $1K. If you are a loved one are struggling with cancer, you may not have much to give, but consider $1. And if a l

Carl, so proud in his new, smaller, fully fitting Scott vest   Indeed, several months before Carl was diagnosed with advanced metastatic cancer (stage 4), he lost quite a bit of weight. Nearly 50 pounds overnight. Now, he was big, very big. Any weight loss, in our thinking at the time, was to be applauded. And so, he ordered s smaller Scott vest and showed off his new slimmer self. (Not slim, mind you, but slimmer -- he was still nearly 300 pounds when he died.) What we did not realize -- and I certainly wish we had is that such a weight loss is not to be celebrated. It is a sign of dying, or at least, of advanced cancer. Instead of showing off his success ("achieved" -- more accurately, "experienced" -- though he was not on a particularly regimented diet), he should have been rushing to his doctor and asking, "What is wrong with this picture?" Perhaps, hopefully, the doctor would have figured out the cancer diagnosis early enough to do something about it,