Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Ronny Allan

05Dec 2014 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer – not an exact Science

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy

I've been interested in science since my school days and seem to remember it being separated into Biology, Physics and Chemistry for study and examination purposes. Biology wasn't on my radar and as I found Chemistry boring, I focused on Physics which seemed to be more 'modern' and exciting. Curiously, at the beginning of my Open University degree course some 25 years later, I found the Biology and Chemistry modules of my foundation year the most enjoyable part of the whole 6 year study. Different teaching methods? different teachers? Perhaps, but I suspect some maturity was involved plus a hunger for new knowledge. I seem to have caught the learning bug again since being diagnosed with Neuroendocrine Cancer (NET Cancer). Like many other NET Cancer patients, I feel I need to know a lot more than the average cancer patient. For me, this can be attributed to a number of…

10Nov 2014 by Ronny Allan 10 Comments

I woke up on World NET Day

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship, Treatment

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email 1 year after 2 x surgery Macmillan Cancer Support featured this post CKN featured this post It was 10th November 2010 just after midnight. I gradually woke up after a marathon 9-hour surgery - the first of what was to be several visits to an operating theatre. The last thing I remembered before going 'under' was the voices of the surgical staff. When I woke up, I remember it being dark and I appeared to be constrained and pinned down by the dozen or so tubes going in and out of my weak and battered body. I can still remember the feeling today; it was like I was pinned to…

30Sep 2014 by Ronny Allan 14 Comments

Living with an incurable cancer – does mind over matter help?

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

When I started blogging in 2014, it was relatively easy - all I needed to do was to talk about my experience to help raise awareness of Neuroendocrine Cancer; then talk about my hike along Hadrian's Wall for a local Charity. The blog was only ever intended to be a temporary supporting tool for the walk and its build up; but I was persuaded by good reviews and viewing numbers to keep it going. That suddenly made it more difficult! In my early blogs, there were several 'no go areas' which were either too complex or potentially controversial. I didn't really have much time to think them through properly at that point in time. However, I've since dabbled in some of these areas to test the waters. I'm not a healthcare…

14Aug 2014 by Ronny Allan 16 Comments

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…

12Jun 2014 by Ronny Allan No Comments

My stomach sometimes cramps my style

Awareness, Diet and Nutrition, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship

[caption id="attachment_13469" align="alignnone" width="720"] Seriously![/caption] When planning to walk Hadrian's Wall in the north of England in 2014, I carried out a number of risk assessments (as all good Project Managers do!). In true 'Donald Rumsfeld style', I considered all the 'known unknowns' and the 'unknown unknowns' :-) Anybody who doesn't is either reckless or supremely confident (the latter can sometimes be the same as the former......). As a Cancer patient, there were some issues I had to consider which might not have made the list for most walkers covering this sort of distance and this type of terrain. One of the issues I occasionally experience is stomach cramps, not that frequent but problematic and quite painful when they occur. If you've had abdominal surgery, you might be having to deal…

31May 2014 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

Hadrian’s Wall Day 6 – Mission Complete!

Awareness, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

[caption id="attachment_1144" align="alignnone" width="2560"] Sunset over the Solway Firth (Scotland in the distance)[/caption] The final leg of the walk took us from beautiful Carlisle to the remote coast of North Cumbria at Bowness-on-Solway. We are staying there tonight before beginning our journey home tomorrow (via Newcastle). Amazingly our digs have a wicked view of the Scottish coastline and the setting sun - see picture above which was taken from our room. It was pretty surreal to have finished 6 days of torturous walking but also to be able to look at such a wonderful view of the country in which I was born. Some people say final leg of the walk is pretty boring but Chris and I disagree. Yes it's flat but the first half is a wonderful…

24May 2014 by Ronny Allan 6 Comments

My right-hand woman – Chris

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email There's been a lot in my blog about cancer, the cancer patient and the medical teams. However, we sometimes forget to mention the close family and friends who are also a piece of the cancer jigsaw. Without these people, it's possible the patient would potentially have a much poorer quality of life.I've had tremendous support from my immediate family and many of my friends. Some of my closest friends have almost been functioning as counsellors. I'm in a much better place than I was nearly in 2010 but I have a lot of people to thank for some excellent progress. My son & daughter's families have all been there for…

20May 2014 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment

Diagnostic Challenges

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Treatment

I was checking my statistics this morning and found the most viewed post to date was published on the day Stephen Sutton passed away. I didn't really want to jump onto the Stephen Sutton bandwagon but when I found on the day of his passing that it had taken 6 months to diagnose his bowel cancer, I knew this would be relevant to Neuroendocrine Cancer awareness, particularly important as it's one of the primary aims of my blog. I'm thinking the top viewing score to date is not because it mentioned Stephen Sutton (sad as that event was) but because the issues he faced are well known to Neuroendocrine Cancer patients, many of whom are readers. In the past week, the newspapers have published several follow up articles on…

13May 2014 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments

North of the wall is a dangerous place – you must never go there!

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

There was a 60 minute silence last night as another episode of Game of Thrones was aired. Not a Facebook post or tweet in sight. This has to be 'up there' in a list of the best TV series ever? Don't know about you but I'm sometimes confused about who is who and how they are related and/or connected! (see useful chart at the bottom of this post) Chris and I love the introduction bit. She likes the music, I like the geography. There are some obvious correlations there, e.g. 'The Wall' is meant to relate to Hadrian's Wall with those horrible barbarian Scots to the north :-) Thank God Hadrian's Wall and the climate in particular, isn't as bad as portrayed on GOT! I did contemplate using 'trousers' as…

11May 2014 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

My treatment is a pain in the butt!

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Treatment

This header is a bit 'tongue in cheek' (....did you see what I did there?) I'm very happy to have this treatment every 4 weeks - I can think of far worse scenarios. When I was first diagnosed, the dreaded word 'Chemo' was discussed. Actually, Chemo isn't particularly effective in treating Neuroendocrine Cancer, although I've heard of cases where it has made a difference. Today's letter is 'L' and there are a few. Lanreotide This is currently my mainstay treatment and I look forward to it once every 4 weeks. It is injected 'deep subcutaneous' in the upper outer quadrant of the buttock. Prior to my diagnosis, I was a tad squeamish when it came to injections, even the smallest would make me cringe and I couldn't bear to watch…

29Apr 2014 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

From Blagging to Blogging

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship

[caption id="attachment_12740" align="aligncenter" width="500"] 84 mile walk along a 2000 year old structure[/caption] Well I've been blagging it for years so now decided to 'blog' my blags. This is a new skill so bear with me please! The aim of this blog is to post a running commentary of a walk of Hadrian's Wall with my wife Chris. The walk commences 26 May 14 at Wallsend in East Newcastle and completes on the evening of 31 May 14 at Bowness-on-Solway. The walk is for two purposes: 1. To raise awareness of Neuroendocrine Cancer 2. To promote and fundraise for PLANETS Charity (Pancreatic, Liver And Neuroendocrine Tumours). As a lead up to the actual walk itself, I'll be blogging daily with an A to Z of my life changing experience together…