one free copy of Cecil Murphey's new book

"When Someone You Love Has Cancer: Comfort and Encouragement for Caregivers and Loved Ones" by Cecil Murphey.


Cecil Murphey is a gifted author and generous in his help to other authors. I know this first hand, and am happy today to participate in his book's blog tour. One person who leaves a comment on my blog will receive a free copy of his book, and one commenter on one of the blogs on the tour will receive a wonderful prize (see below).
Here is what Cecil shares with readers about how he came to write this book. "When Shirley walked in from the garage, she didn't have to say a word: I read the diagnosis in her eyes. I grabbed her and held her tightly for several seconds. When I released her, she didn't cry. The unshed tears glistened, but that was all.



I felt emotionally paralyzed and helpless, and I couldn't understand my reaction. After all, I was a professional. As a former pastor and volunteer hospital chaplain I had been around many cancer patients. I'd seen people at their lowest and most vulnerable. As a writing instructor, I helped one woman write her cancer-survival book. Shirley and I had been caregivers for Shirley's older sister for months before she died of colon cancer.



All of that happened before cancer became personal to me--before my wife learned she needed a mastectomy. To make it worse, Shirley was in the high-risk category because most of her blood relatives had died of some form of cancer. Years earlier, she had jokingly said, "In our family we grow things."

In the days after the diagnosis and before her surgery, I went to a local bookstore and to the public library. I found dozens of accounts, usually by women, about their battle and survival. I pushed aside the novels that ended in a person's death. A few books contained medical or technical information. I searched on-line and garnered useful information--but I found nothing that spoke to me on how to cope with the possible loss of the person I loved most in this world.



Our story ends happily: Shirley has started her tenth year as a cancer survivor. Not only am I grateful, but I remember my pain and confusion during those days. That concerns me enough to reach out to others who also feel helpless as they watch a loved one face the serious diagnosis of cancer.



That's why I wrote When Someone You Love Has Cancer. I want to encourage relatives and friends and also to offer practical suggestions as they stay at the side of those they love."

Leave a comment here for the chance to win the free copy of this book. Also, a grand prize gift worth $300 will be given to one person who leaves a blog comment on one of the blogs participating in this tour, July 20-31, 2009.