MSI Press Blog

  Recently, a Cancer Diary post addressed what all too often happens when cancer is diagnosed at a late stage, especially at advanced Stage 4. But how do you get that far without a diagnosis? In Carl's case, we missed the early signs, ignored the warning signs, and excused his bad behavior. Early signs The early signs were mostly associated with our expectations of aging. He was getting into his seventh decade. So, we were not surprised when he was no longer up for hiking mountains or spending eight hours a day on the job. In fact, I was always coaxing him to put just a little more time into working since working from the same office, I was quite aware of how much effort I was putting in on a daily and even hourly basis than he was. I chalked it up to his being lazier than usual as he aged. (Work was never where he wanted to concentrate his efforts, anyway. He was an ESTP on the MBTI, someone who loved to play, put things off, and spend time in the outdoors.) But even some of that

  Today would have been the 54th anniversary for Carl  and me. Last year, I spent it in the cemetery with Carl, as I did the year before. This year I cannot because I am in Bandung, Indonesia, but perhaps that is just as well.  On our 51st, he was alive, but not well. Three weeks earlier, he had fallen, been xrayed, and found to be in the advanced stage of cancer of unknown primary , with liver, lungs, bones, and stomach completely riddled with cancer cells, blood clots in his lungs, and his bones throwing off cells to create hypercalcemia, the reason he had fallen. It was a difficult time. We were just coming out of the covid months. We brought our CHARGE Syndrome son CB who had been living in group homes for 20 years home when they were not careful with protection from covid. At the same time, our spina bifida daughter, who lives about 30 miles to the south of us, independently, with a county-provided part-time aide lost her caregiver to surgery and no one wanted to take over, given

  A recent article brought back a raw memory:  Dad died 44 days after his cancer diagnosis. He never received the chemo he was promised (msn.com) . That was pretty much what Carl experienced. He fell February 23, was diagnosed with late stage 4 cancer in five organs, and was set up for testing to determine the primary (never was found, and the diagnosis became cancer of unknown primary ). He had to wait to begin chemo until he could receive the second covid shot (remember back then?). Once all the tests and shots were over, it was the end of June. He received three rounds of chemotherapy before falling again on July 23, at which time, tests showed that chemotherapy was not working. From that point, it was only 23 days until he died. It felt like chasing after water as it was flowing over a waterfall. No way to keep up. Would those original 4-5 months have made a difference had he started receiving chemotherapy earlier? It is impossible to know. Could those early tests have been pushed

  It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic looks at how the concept of, goals for, and conduct of book tours have changed over time. It also looks at whether a book tour is a good idea, based on likely % of return on investment. The essence of the morphing has been from in-person to virtual, part of that in keeping with the Covid experience. In person Most authors think of the pre-covid take-a-trip from town to town for, generally, bookstore signings. That did work once upon a time, but mostly for people with household names. Previously unpublished authors often have romantic notions, completely untied from reality, that publishers will underwrit

  From MSI Press author Fred Craigie --  Permission to Rest: Reflections for International Self-Care Day Frederic Craigie, PhD Frederic.craigie@gmail.com Self-care is vital for a sustainable and meaningful life. Some approaches and perspectives on self-care may feel arduous and unattainable. I have always had plenty of aerobic exercise, but I struggle in my semi-retirement years to get the strength-building exercise that I know I need.  Self-care, though, also has to do with the personal values, priorities, and perspectives that we set for ourselves. My friend and faculty colleague at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, Siri Chand Khalsa, MD, MS, speaks of her journey with Covid. Like many of us, including me, she tested positive for Covid, but as the days and weeks progressed, she realized her symptoms weren’t going away. In the early days of the pandemic, Dr. Khalsa was one of the first people to experience what we now call “long Covid.” She suffered from migra

(graphic by Casey Johnson, She's a Beast) I love the output of "She's a Beast" website and newsletters. Perhaps the best to date is a recent discussion of how to build a home gym. Everything they say about how to build a gym in " How to Set Up a Home Tinygym ," I have found to be right on. I realized early on when I was doing my ninja training that got derailed by covid shutdowns and family tragedy (and discovered reality) that I would need an at-home gym for a number of reasons: No gym was close by so going in several times a day was out of the question, but at home any time I go past the pull up bar, I can make some pullup attempts. When I am listening to the evening news I can grab some weights and work out while watching. On days when I had full work requirements that would not let me off for any amount of time, I had the gym at home where I could work out. (Disclosure: Much of my work is at-home, so I have an advantage there.) When the gym closed for co

(photo by Frank Perez) It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic is about book launches. A book launch, planned and carried out well, is a great opportunity to introduce and market your book to a large number of people. So, what are the ways books can be launched? What is the best way to launch a book? What are the benefits and risks of various kinds of book launches? So, let's take each question separately. What are the ways in which you can launch your book? A typical launch for a high-powered author is a tour of bookstore signings; a typical launch for a low-powered author is a book signings at one, perhaps two, local bookstores.  High-powe