MSI Press Blog

  Today's book excerpt comes from  Widow: A Survival Guide for the First Year by Joanna Romer. Two Rules for Survival   There is married, and there is married. Most of my friends, influenced by the women’s empowerment movement of the 1970s, worked at jobs they liked, even if they had children. They had careers, meaning their job wasn’t just something to do for money---it was meaningful work that fulfilled a part of their being. These women weren’t married in the same way their mothers were married. No matter how much they loved their husbands, from the very beginning of their adult lives they sought satisfaction through paths in addition to marriage. If you were one of these women, be grateful. Be grateful that you learned early on that your whole meaning in life does not rest solely with a man. If you were not one of these women, be grateful too, because you’re going to learn this valuable truth now. And these are just two of the many blessings you should be grateful for.

  San Juan Books is the hybrid division of MSI Press LLC. It allows first-time writers to become published in a traditional way through the reduction of risk by sharing publication costs. All other publishing features are traditional in nature, and most SJB authors go on to be offered traditional contracts for their subsequent books. SJB publications are available as paperback, hard cover, and e-book versions. SJB authors' books very much hold their own against their contemporaries in the traditional publishing division. Indeed, a number of them have outsold their traditional compatriots. Today, San Juan Books presents author Bertha Cooper.  Bertha earned a BSN degree in nursing (University of Washington) and entered the profession the same year as Medicare, a coincidence destined to define her career in non-traditional ways. She began her career in public health and moved into a management position early in her career - the beginning of a long career in management and administrati

  If only he had caught it earlier... If only he had done due diligence with screening options (he had the insurance; there was no excuse)... If only he had taken the colonoscopy seriously and not blown it off, thinking he was robust and cancer would never catch him... If only he had noticed the drop in his activity level... If only he had noticed his drop in interest in the daily tidbits of life... If only had a good doctor who knew how to read cancer indications in a blood test and not relied on lack of pain meaning lack of illness ... If only he had taken fitness training seriously and started losing weight... If only he had done fitness training homework so he could start losing weight... If only he accepted mortality sooner so he could get family and financial planning in hand, powers of attorney, last wishes, burial information--rather than leaving family scrambling and guessing... If only he had considered end of life possibilities so he could have been ready for outreach to res

  Anger, in its narrow form, is one of the stages of dying that Elizabeth Kubler-Ross identified quite some time ago in her book, On Death and Dying . People go through various stages, according to Kubler Ross (though her stages have been disputed ), the second of which in her model is anger (though she herself later stated that the stages are not necessarily sequential).  While anger of the patient was the focus of Kubler Ross and of most books and posts about cancer (and other dying) patients, my recent experience is that anger comes also within and from the caregiver, who had not planned on this life-changing (and time-changing) activity and likely is not prepared for it, whether it be lack of skills, lack of knowledge, lack of medical communication or options, lack of time to accomplish all that is necessary and thereby creating considerable stress, or lack of temperament/patience, causing anger to well up as a reaction to inability to control the environment and limited to no time

  Author of Harnessing the Power of Grief , J ulie Potter is a certified social worker with experience in health care including home care, hospice, nursing home and hospital settings.  For 20 years, she coordinated a spousal bereavement program and a hospital based wellness program for people 60 and over. To read more posts about Julie and her book, click HERE .

  I have raised two children who were not supposed to live because of the type of birth defects they have. Today, both are in their 40s. I know how to care for someone whom I honestly believe will -- and who does have a hope to -- get better. There was always the struggle of making sure they got the meds they needed, that they did the kinds of activities they needed to do, that their father, Carl, and I researched everything that was going on in medical research about their defects and brought it up to their doctors, and that we interacted actively with all specialists working with them, asking for clarification for us at time and for them at times, ensuring that they knew as much or more than we did. It was purposeful care that had an expected point of diminishing need, with the reins turned over to the children as time passed. Time, then, was a positive. It allowed us to build a brighter future than an initial diagnosis proposed. Things got better over time. The kids gained skills an