24Nov 2015 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment
Neuroendocrine Cancer Surgery – Small Intestine NET, my own experience (part 2)

Neuroendocrine Cancer Surgery – Small Intestine NET, my own experience (part 2)

Treatment
The surgery on 9 Nov 2010 had lasted 9 hours but according to my surgeon Mr Neil Pearce (on the left on the picture below), I tolerated it well.  My first week was quite tough and I outlined how this went in my blog 'patient experience' part 1.  If you've not read it yet, please click on this link before reading any further. By this stage of my stay, I'm now minus most of the temporary tubes attached to my body, a good sign of recovery. The one which seemed to offer me the greatest freedom when removed was the urine catheter. It doubled my speed down the hospital corridor during my daily exercises.  It was also so much easier to get to the toilet, a much-frequented area at the time…
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17Nov 2015 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments
Neuroendocrine Cancer Surgery – Small Intestine NET, my own experience (part 1)

Neuroendocrine Cancer Surgery – Small Intestine NET, my own experience (part 1)

Survivorship, Treatment
This is a personal story but a more technical description of Small Intestine surgery for a NET can be found by clicking here.  This is not normal bowel surgery. Often the decision to cut or not to cut is a tough one. My own experience 8th - 26th November 2010Memories of my 18 day stay in hospital from 8 - 26 Nov 2010, are not only reminding me of how important that particular treatment was to be, but also how surreal it felt at the time. Some of it is still a blur, particularly the early days where the morphine was in control.  For many NET patients, surgery can be a mainstay treatment, even for those with metastatic disease.  In fact, I now know from my own research that NETs is…
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16Nov 2015 by Ronny Allan 7 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer – the devil is in the detail

General
Nick Robinson, well-known and ex-BBC Political Editor starts his new job today (16 Nov 15) on BBC Radio 4. He was until earlier this year, the most recognised political reporter face on UK TV, frequently stood outside 10 Downing St reporting on anything politics and at any time of the day.Like a lot of people, Nick's life changed when he was diagnosed with Cancer in Feb 2015. A self-confessed workaholic, he is now hoping to live a more balanced life after surviving lung cancer according to an article in the Sunday Times this weekend.He assumes the post vacated by James Naughtie, an extremely hard act to follow - a man who would frequently sink his teeth into a politician's leg and not let go until he got an answer - or at…
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06Nov 2015 by Ronny Allan 8 Comments
Neuroendocrine Cancer – a difficult jigsaw

Neuroendocrine Cancer – a difficult jigsaw

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship
A couple of years ago, I received a request from a reader asking if I would write an article about all the symptoms experienced by a Neuroendocrine Cancer patient and how to sort out what is and what isn't associated with NETs.Although I chuckled and raised eyebrows at the request, inside I was genuinely humbled that someone thought I was capable of achieving this herculean task.  I actually gave it quite a bit of thought to the point of compiling a matrix of types of NET, main symptoms, cross-referenced with the symptoms of the most common reported comorbidities. After it started to look like it might be bigger than the Empire State Building, I came to the conclusion that it's an almost impossible task for a wee Scottish guy with…
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