If your Doctors don’t suspect something, they won’t detect anything!

If your Doctors don’t suspect something, they won’t detect anything!

Awareness, Patient Advocacy
Opinion:One of the most discussed and debated Cancer issues is late diagnosis. Cyberspace is full of disturbing stories and many different cancers are involved. Some cancers are notoriously difficult to diagnose, meaning that awareness and education needs to extend from the general population to healthcare professionals at all levels. The latter is a challenge as first-line physicians battle to deal with thousands of different conditions, many of which have similar presentations. Neuroendocrine Neoplasms have a record of being difficult to diagnose which often leads to late diagnosis. Moreover, due to their often-silent nature, a late diagnosis is often a default scenario as no intervention was possible without a symptomatic patient.Neuroendocrine Neoplasms - Under-diagnosed or Under-reported?Like many other Cancers, Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NEN) is one of a number of 'difficult to diagnose'…
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Met an old friend today; his name is Gym

General
I think I first met Gym at school in the sixties - we normally met on a weekly basis. We were reacquainted when I joined the army and hooked up more frequently! It was there I met some of Gym's friends, known as PTIs (Physical Training Instructors). Their opening line was normally "Ten times round my large bronze chest...... GO! " and then we would proceed with the 'beasting'.  I suspect I might now be prodded by the PTIs on my facebook page - there are one or two out there :-) I've always been a fairly fit guy but over time my fitness had faded.  I'm to blame entirely for this but I suppose it hasn't been helped by a diagnosis of metastatic Neuroendocrine Cancer.  However, I'm now turning this negative…
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Am I at fighting weight?

General
I recently blogged about my boxing experience in post: http://wp.me/p4AplF-r7  In those days I was just a wee skinny 16 year old guy! I think I was in the Bantamweight category, somewhere between 8 and 9 stone (50 - 57 kg). Although I gained some weight after years of service in the military, I didn't really 'bulk out' in the wrong places until I left the military aged 45. Even then it wasn't what you would call overweight or obese. I joined a gym, determined to maintain some form of fitness.  I sacked it due to pressures of work but then joined a few years later for another go. However, work and associated commuting took over again and I withdrew once more. In those days, I didn't really weigh myself and…
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Glass half full or half empty?

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer
Most people have probably heard of the saying "is your glass half empty or half full".  If you said 'half empty', you have more of a pessimistic view on life; if you said 'half full', you tend to have more of an optimistic or positive outlook. I don't think a positive outlook actually means you permanently wear 'rose tinted glasses' and act like everything is fine. I think it just means you approach potentially negative situations in a more positive and productive way.  I agree that sometimes it’s hard not to veer into negative thoughts or actions from time to time. I'm only human and I've been in some dark places in the last 5 years since diagnosis. However, I believe to continuously be in 'half empty mode' can have a…
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“You’re from Dundee – you must like fighting”

General
Apparently all Scotsmen wear kilts, have ginger hair, eat nothing but deep fried Mars Bars and they like a good fight! Stereotyping is frequently used to wind people up and can on occasion be used in an irrational or insulting manner.  However, I believe one of those attributes is accurate.  I was once 'volunteered' for boxing because my home town was Dundee!   Read on... Dundee was put on the boxing map in the late fifties and in the early sixties due to the legendary Dick McTaggart who won a Gold and Bronze medal in two separate Olympic Games (for Great Britain). Many new boxing clubs sprang up in Dundee over this period and you can see the evidence of his legacy today.  It's also timely for this blog that Dundee…
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