May 2016 - Ronny Allan - Living with Neuroendocrine Neoplasms

28May 2016 by Ronny Allan 8 Comments

Living with Cancer – Turning points

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

[caption id="attachment_5953" align="alignnone" width="480"] Day 4 of 6 - entering Cumbria from Northumbria[/caption] In 2014, Chris and I completed the 84-mile route of 2000 year old World Heritage site of 'Hadrian's Wall' in Northern England. Some people saw this is a charity walk and a chance to make some money for a good cause. It was. However, it was MUCH MORE than that. Much much more. A few months before this trek, I had come to a crossroads and I was unsure which direction to go. That anguish and a thousand other things were contributing to a degradation of my overall health, it felt threatening. I was not that long out of the main treatments for my metastatic Neuroendocrine Cancer and it was still a delicate period as I waited…

25May 2016 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

The 5 E’s (of Carcinoid Syndrome)

Awareness, Diet and Nutrition, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Technical NETs, Treatment

Since my diagnosis, I seem to have been in a perpetual learning phase! What not to do, what not to eat, what not to read! However, early on in my experience, I came across a list of 'E' words (5 of them) which is a handy reminder for Carcinoid Syndrome patients, particularly those whose symptoms are not under control. When I say "carcinoid syndrome" in this article, I only mean the syndrome that is caused by what was once called "Carcinoid Tumors", i.e. mainly serotonin secreting types but include tumours which are well differentiated found in the small intestine, appendiceal, rectal, lung, and one or two other less common places. There are many variations of this list but this is my take! I suspect some of this also applies to…

20May 2016 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

PRRT and Chemo combination therapy – on trial

Awareness, Technical NETs, Treatment

I recently posted an 'Onc Live' video series about Neuroendocrine Tumour (NET) treatments and the final episode talked about combination treatments i.e. where more than one treatment is administered simultaneously. An interesting and exciting area to watch for the treatment of NET patients. Thought you'd be interested in a potential new treatment being developed in Australia. The use of PRRT and chemo (in particular CAPTEM) or 'PRCRT'. The attached video is a presentation by Dr Michael Hofman who I see regularly on twitter posting some very interesting stuff. He's a great advocate for NET patients. The video will explain in some detail how the treatment is thought to work together. Additionally, it also provides excellent PRRT information. Dr Hofman has some really interesting things to say. 20 minutes -…

19May 2016 by Ronny Allan 9 Comments

Don’t worry, I really am OK!

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy

[caption id="attachment_6843" align="aligncenter" width="377"] I really am OK![/caption] I read an interesting article in the BBC entitled "Why people keep quiet about their battle with cancer". The usual range of reactions and fears can be found in this story and it made me think about my own experience. I think there are two key themes involved here: Talking about Cancer Managing your illness Firstly as I have an international audience, I thought I'd introduce what might not be a well-known British trait - the 'stiff upper lip'. For the uninitiated, I'm defining this as "One who displays fortitude in the face of adversity and within that, exercises great self-restraint in the expression of emotion, rarely asks for help and just suffers in silence." That perfectly explains the accompanying graphic! That definition also covers the two key themes above, talking about it…

09May 2016 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

I Can

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Opinion. Most people with an incurable Cancer will go through both good and bad periods. I quite liked a quote by a fellow patient who described that as the 'ebb and flow' of living with cancer and said the flow would always return at some point. I also liked a quote from a fellow blogger whose blog catchphrase is "Having a bad day shouldn't mean having a bad life". When I wrote my blog "Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer - it takes guts", that wasn't me being one of those trendy bloggers saying the sort of things people want to hear. Nor was my article "Neuroendocrine Cancer – is normally slow growing BUT ….." an attempt to invoke some sort of 'pity party'. Neither of those things are my style. Despite the metaphoric angle to the post…