50 years of marriage – in sickness and in health
When I was diagnosed with metastatic Neuroendocrine Cancer in 2010, there's a lot of milestones I doubted I would reach. One is today and I can now tick off another and be thankful for reaching it. I have been married to a kind and beautiful lady for 50 years today - 29th March 2025. I've written a lot about so called 'cancerversaries' but real life anniversaries are so much more meaningful. The former is really about survival but also inspires hope. The latter is also about survival in this modern age but it is also about love and thankfulness. I'm…
Ronny Allan’s weekly round-up for 17 – 23rd March 2025
New or Republished Blog Posts this week https://ronnyallan.net/2025/03/23/living-with-cancer-dont-cross-the-bridge-until-you-arrive-at-it/ https://ronnyallan.net/2025/03/22/neuroendocrine-cancer-functional-vs-non-functional/ https://ronnyallan.net/2025/03/18/ronnys-weekly-round-up-for-10-16th-march-2025/ Page Neuroendocrine CancerThis is my biggest and oldest page, mostly generating blog posts for reading and sharing. Click on the icon above to browse this page. Click below to read a popular recent post. This one resonated - click the graphic to read and share the post Page Ronny AllanThis is a personal themed page but also posts blogs. Follow this page for my blogs and my travel plus personal NET related updates. I also use this page to admin and moderate inside my private Facebook group This one got…
Living with Cancer: Don’t cross the bridge until you get to it
It's normal to be worried when you read something online including a scan report which has words that frighten you, when you notice a slightly high blood test. Or if read something bad about one type of NET or what has happened to someone with a different type of NET as you; and you think this might also apply to you. But too much worrying about something which is more likely to not be a problem or will almost certainly not happen to you; is not a good place to be. Don't cross the bridge until you come to it,…
Neuroendocrine Cancer: Functional vs Non-functional
The terms functional and non-functional come up a lot in documents describing Neuroendocrine Cancer. They also feature highly in patient groups. But what do these terms actually mean? Functional / Non-FunctionalNeuroendocrine Tumours are treatable for most but the difficult part can be arriving at a diagnosis. Moreover, some Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) can be silently growing and as they grow slowly, the 'silence' can go on for some years. Even with a syndrome, the root cause can remain disguised as the symptoms are similar to many day-to-day illnesses. There can be the odd exception but in general terms, NETs are either functional (with…
Ronny’s weekly round-up for 10 – 16th March 2025
New or Republished Blog Posts this week https://ronnyallan.net/2025/03/15/neuroendocrine-cancer-and-pancreatic-enzyme-replacement-therapy-pert-the-digested-version-nutrition-series-article-5/ https://ronnyallan.net/2025/03/14/letter-from-america/ https://ronnyallan.net/2025/03/13/histotripsy-the-case-for-use-in-uk/ https://ronnyallan.net/2025/03/11/early-diagnosis-of-late-stage-cancer/ Page Neuroendocrine Cancer This is my biggest and oldest page, mostly generating blog posts for reading and sharing. Click on the icon above to browse this page. Click below to read a popular recent post. Click the graphic to read and share the post Page Ronny Allan This is a personal themed page but also posts blogs. Follow this page for my blogs and my travel plus personal NET related updates. I also use this page to admin and moderate inside my private Facebook group a special post box…
Neuroendocrine Cancer: 10 posts not to miss
I'm constantly fighting algorithms! Facebook is the worst, apparently only 10% of followers will get a notification of a new post on my pages. 10% !!! Because I am a blogger for a health condition and have a public profile, they put me amongst businesses. Clearly they want advertising revenue from business, I get that, Facebook has huge overheads. But I'm here helping people and not reaching my community (unless I pay of course). However, if you are following my Facebook pages, add them to your favourites and you will help beat the algorithms. Liking every post and sharing, also…
Neuroendocrine Cancer and Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy (PERT) – the Digested Version (Nutrition Series Article 5)
After years of avoiding pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) since a 2010 diagnosis, I finally asked for some on a trial basis at the end of 2017. To be honest, for some time, I thought they were really only needed in the NET world for those with pancreatic issues (pNETs). I've always known I've had some digestive issues related to malabsorption. However, I'm wasn't losing weight - this has been stable for some years (but see below). Plus, my key vitamin levels (B12 and D) were in range. However, I had been struggling with a lot of bloating issues, thus…
Letter from America
I've always been one to keep an eye out for the postman (the postie as we say here). Even as a heavy user of computers, I still get excited about receiving 'paper' mail. Other than birthday cards, I personally don't tend to see many handwritten letters nowadays. In today's internet connected world, handwritten letters are always exciting, always special. However, the one I received in the first week of February 2019 was extra special, it was postmarked from North Carolina USA. Now ….. for those around the same age as me, you might have been attracted by the article header…
Histotripsy – the case for use in UK as Histosonics was awarded early market access
Hot off the press - 15 Dec 2025Anecdotal ReportI have heard that The Wellington, a private hospital in London (and the largest private hospital in UK) is deploying Histotripsy. I know it is frequently used by NHS doctors working privately from the Royal Free. I will update this when I have detail, this anecdotal report may be news of the purchase rather than a commissioning of the equipment ready for treatment. Clearly treatment at this hospital will need to be funded by the individual or covered by a private health policy. Hot off the press - 22 Oct 2025Cambridge treats first NHS cancer…
Early diagnosis of late stage cancer
Early diagnosis of late stage cancer What a strange title for a cancer blog post! However, what a strange cancer I have. Let me explain - I was really confused in 2010 as to how I could suddenly become a stage 4 Neuroendocrine Cancer patient even though I didn't feel ill enough to see a doctor. To cut a long story short, you can read about me here. "The cancer has been growing for years" One of the common stories I hear from other patients is they were told their cancer had been growing for some years, up to 10/11/12 in…
Small intestine, large surgery
Edited and reviewed 4th September 2024 My own experience At my diagnostic consultation, the Oncologist told me I had Stage 4 metastatic Small Intestine NET (SI NET). He also told me that surgery would almost definitely be on the cards and would be referring me to an experienced surgeon in a different hospital for assessment. I was assured this surgeon was one of the most experienced in the south of England for NETs. This was before the current multi-disciplinary team was set up, but it did all seem so very organised and I felt comfortable, albeit apprehensive. Worth pointing out…
Neuroendocrine Cancer in England: One every 90 minutes
I've made no secret of the fact that I don't believe Neuroendocrine Cancer is rare and you can read why in some detail in my article Neuroendocrine Cancer - not as rare as you think. Better diagnostic technology, greater awareness and better recording of the correct disease in national cancer registries. The latest figures for Public Health England (covering ~90% of UK), indicate there are now approximately 6000 diagnoses of NETs every year, i.e. more people than ever are being diagnosed, It is calculated from an incidence rate of approximately 9/100,000. This means NEN can now no longer be defined…
Health Union Certified Patient Leader – Ronny Allan, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer
Health Union launches an accreditation program for patient leaders. This was announced in summer 2023 but it took me a while to engage due to my many commitments (including some big personal stuff to sort out) I had a false start, many things took priority for a while but early 2025 I was encouraged to complete it and finally crossed the line in February 2025. Read my Facebook announcement of certification - click here. My formal certificate was recently received, see below! Health Union Acquires WEGO Health - WEGO Health WEGO Health had the largest network of patient leaders in…
A Review of February 2025 from Ronny Allan
Here is the monthly summary of February 2025 on RonnyAllan.NET The headline is my award of accredited Patient Leader with Health Union, who I have had a long association with since the days of WEGO Health who they merged with a few years ago. Not sure how I finally found the time to complete after scratching at the surface of the task for 18 months! Someone gave me a deadline - that made a difference! The selection of top posts this month really shows the breadth of subjects applicable to Neuroendocrine Cancer that need to be considered. Click on the each of the…
Ronny’s weekly update – 24th Feb – 2nd Mar 2025
New or Republished Blog Posts this week https://ronnyallan.net/2021/05/22/clinical-trial-survivin-long-peptide-vaccine-in-treating-patients-with-metastatic-neuroendocrine-tumors/ https://ronnyallan.net/2025/02/17/the-netest-a-chromogranin-a-replacement-and-more/ . https://ronnyallan.net/2025/02/19/the-5-es-of-my-daytrip/ https://ronnyallan.net/2025/02/20/neuroendocrine-cancer-nodes-nodules-lesions/ https://ronnyallan.net/2025/02/20/abseil-for-nets-featuring-heidi-veacock/ Page Neuroendocrine Cancer This is my biggest and oldest page, mostly generating blog posts for reading and sharing. Click on the icon above to browse this page. Click below to read a popular recent post. A BIG THANK YOU! Click the graphic to read and share the post Page Ronny Allan This is a personal themed page but also posts blogs. Follow this page for my blogs and my travel plus personal NET related updates. I also use this page to admin and moderate inside my private…