ASK RON: I heard you were headed to the hospital after Thanksgiving for 3-4 weeks. What’s up?

Twenty years ago, if a friend told me they were going to the hospital for 3-4 weeks, it usually meant that they were headed to the “drunk tank” to dry out. While I was pretty wild twenty and thirty years ago, I managed to steer clear of that particular life experience but I am headed into the hospital on another life adventure.

I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s T-Cell lymphoma early this past summer. Within a short period of time, I found myself in the office of the Clinical Director of the Division of Hematologic Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City. The plan, from day one, was to go through a series of chemo treatments followed by a stem cell transplant.

While the trip to this point was not without its bumps, I currently have a negative PetScan, have donated 5 million stem cells/Kilo body weight (and I am quite a few kilos) and am scheduled for a stem cell transplant next week. The theory behind the transplant is to knock out the original lymphoma for good. As a bonus, there is an outside chance that the transplant will also knock out the MS that I have been running around with since 2003. While I will be out of the physical office for quite some time, I will never be far from a computer… or a phone for that matter.

On the advice of Dana Cole, my longtime friend and business partner, I started a blog at www.ronpramschufer.com. I have 4 stories posted so far with more coming. I’m sure I will figure out a way to tie this whole experience into a few articles on self-publishing. My hospital stay back in 2003 led to a pretty good article comparing hospital procedures to printing trade customs. That particular article is just as relevant today as it was in 2003. You can read it at http://www.publishingbasics.com/2003/07/19/which-trade-customs-do-i-need-to-worry-about-when-i-am-dealing-with-the-printer/.

Please feel free to email me any questions that come to mind about printing, self-publishing, stem cell transplants, MS or fantasy football at ron@rjcom.com. I will have plenty of free time on my hands.

Meanwhile, if you are ready to self-publish a book, nothing has changed. The whole self-publishing group is available to help you (www.selfpublishing.com).

See you next issue.

Thanks,

Ron

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Ron Pramschufer

Ron Pramschufer has been in or around the printing and publishing industry for over 35 years. His experience, including working in the pressroom, bindery, production office and estimating department helped give him a firm foundation to build on when he entered sales and management. He was partners in a small press publishing company in Annapolis, MD in the late seventies and co-invented and marketed two controversial political board games which sold over 100,000 copies in the early eighties. Moving from his home state of Maryland to New York City after his game experience, Ron sold printing services to, primarily, small to mid-sized book publishers for over a decade before founding RJ Communications with an old friend. Ron recognized the potential of the Internet very early as a powerful communications tool. In 1997 he started one of the first printer related websites, www.rjcom.com, which caters to the professional print buyer. This evolved into www.BooksJustBooks.com and more recently www.selfpublishing.com which target the print buying novice, primarily self-publishers. All three sites are still operating successfully and SelfPublishing.com was named as one of Writers Digest’s, 101 Best websites for writers for 2006. Educating the novice print buyer has been a top priority from day one. To help address this issue, Ron co-authored the popular title Publishing Basics- a Guide for the Small Press and Independent Self-Publisher, now in its Third Edition, as well as Publishing Basics for Children’s Books, in its Second Edition. He is the organizer of the monthly Publishing Basics Newsletter where he writes a sometimes controversial Ask Ron column which addresses various aspects of the publishing process. On the same note, he started the Publishing Basics Radio PodCast in 2005 and serves as the show’s host. A wide variety of topics are covered including a very popular series titled, The Truth Behind POD Publishing, where he conducts interviews with a select group of industry insiders. Since its inception, RJ Communications has helped thousands of customers print over 105 million books. Ron is married and has three children. His daughter, Stephanie, teaches second grade and recently self-published her first children’s book in the Oliver the Clownfish series. Matthew, his oldest son, owns a website design business and Erik, the youngest, is enjoying high school.

Comments

Lorena Bowser says:

November 28, 2011 at 2:13 pm

Sorry to have been out of the circuit for a while. I had no idea what you were going through! Please accept my very best wishes for a return to all that is good and healthy in life! I will keep you in my prayers! All the best! Lorena Bowser
Jim Gleason says:

November 28, 2011 at 2:17 pm

Ron, as president of TRIO (Transplanlt Recipients International Organization) and currently a customer in progress with you and your company, we wish you the best as you face your own transplant challenge. While most of our members are organ transplant recipients, we equally offer support for other tissue and bone marrow transplant patients.

When you get your experience blog up or write more about that upcoming experience, let me know and we can see about publishing or linking your writings on our web site to help others with your thoughts/writings.

Our prayers and well wishes go with you. Keep in touch.
Anne Braudy says:

November 28, 2011 at 2:44 pm

Good luck with it, Ron!
Anne
Knight Aldrich, M.D. says:

November 28, 2011 at 3:22 pm

To: Ron Pramshufer:

Are you considering or have you considered or would you consider keeping a diary relating your current experiences with the medical world to your feelings of hope, discouragement, denial, etc., with an eye to publishing an illustrative case history for use by doctors, clergy, hospice personnel, funeral directors, and others who deal with the seriously or mortally ill? As a psychiatrist I have worked in this field for many years and often wished that I had access to such a diary, perhaps co-authored by a professional. (I am not thinking of someone with a mission, like Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, but someone like C. Murray Parkes in London. I am also not thinking of a surgeon or other physician involved in your actual treatment; their need to be cold-bloodedly objective in making medical decisions makes it very difficult for them to get close enough to their patients.)

Good luck at Sloan-Kettering.
Glenn says:

November 28, 2011 at 5:54 pm

I’m a bit at a loss for words. Here’s wishing you all the best.
Stan Dubin says:

November 28, 2011 at 6:22 pm

My prayers, thoughts and strongest of feelings for your complete recovery, Ron! And I agree, working “during” the entire process will be very therapeutic in and of itself.
Eric Hiller says:

November 28, 2011 at 9:32 pm

Ron,
I have enjoyed working with you and your staff very much and am very close to self publishing my first book.

I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re going through, but my prayers are with you for a successful comeback.

Sincerely,
Eric
Esther Griffin says:

November 28, 2011 at 9:38 pm

Ron,
You are in my prayers for a full recovery.
Esther in Binghamton, NY
Tricia says:

November 28, 2011 at 11:32 pm

Ron, I hope your stem cell transplant goes well and accomplishes what it’s intended to accomplish, leaving you cancer and MS free!
JP Leonard says:

November 29, 2011 at 1:36 am

Wishing you get well soon, Ron!
Sincerely
JP
Rich Langellotti says:

November 30, 2011 at 9:50 pm

Get well soon Eric was great in class
Judy Brizendine says:

December 21, 2011 at 1:01 pm

Wishing you the very best, Ron, and a complete recovery from head to toe! Sending hopeful thoughts and prayers your way.
Best regards,
Judy