Quality of LIfe (QoL) - Ronny Allan - Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

03Jan 2023 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

RonnyAllan.NET – a review of 2022

Awareness, Clinical Trials, Diet and Nutrition, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Newsletters, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Travel with Ronny, Treatment

ReviewIn 2022, my pet project (my blog) hit 2 million views in early November – that was a major boost. It takes 3-4 years to get a million hits based on current performance. To be honest, I’m still flabbergasted by reaching one million in 2018. It just kinda happened! I am grateful for every single view. 2022 was a challenging year, mainly because the pandemic had some latent impact on my social media activity and also in terms of growth. 2020 and 2021 were slower than normal but 2022 has seen some pickup. Some of it is due to less writing but much is due to a change in Facebook algorithms which affected many ‘pages’ reducing their scope (the more cynical might say it was done to drive advertising revenue but …….). 2022…

18Nov 2022 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment

Neuroendocrine Cancer: Those who know, know!

Awareness, Patient Advocacy

Over the years of my advocating, I've tried to explain Neuroendocrine Cancer to many people outside the community. Some 'get it' but many don't. Most understand 'Cancer', but they have real difficulty understanding 'Neuroendocrine'. Despite how hard I try, I can see that some of them just don't get it! I told someone I had a primary in the small intestine once, they said "oh you have bowel cancer then?" - NO! One of the challenges of explaining Neuroendocrine Cancer is the sheer complexity and spectrum of types. It's a heterogeneous grouping of cancers ranging from some quite indolent versions to very aggressive versions similar to many dangerous adenocarcinomas. Unlike many of the more understood cancers, Neuroendocrine Cancer can literally appear anywhere in the body, adding to an already complex…

09Nov 2022 by Ronny Allan 6 Comments

Piss off Cancer, it’s been 12 years since my “big surgery”

Awareness, Inspiration

I'm still here I was 54 years and 9 months old at diagnosis on 26th July 2010. For the first few months, I had no idea what the outcome would be. What I did know at the time, given the final staging, grading, and other damage that was accumulated via various tests, checks, and scans; is that my body had been slowly dying. Without intervention I may not be here now to tell you this tale and who knows what would be listed on my death certificate. It’s amazing to think something that would eventually kill me without intervention, didn’t have a much grander announcement than the one presented to me in 2010 (or had I been paying more attention, in 2008 or 2009). I will never know if a much…

03Oct 2022 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer: Glossary of Terms

Awareness, Clinical Trials, Diet and Nutrition, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Treatment

Welcome to my Neuroendocrine Cancer Glossary of Terms list providing a source of meanings for acronyms and medical terms, all sourced from top Neuroendocrine Cancer and general cancer sites. How to use this list: 1. If your term begins with an A, click on A to find all terms beginning with A. Select your term from the list. 2. For numerical terms, please click on the hashtag (#) symbol in the A-to-Z strip. 3. The term definition including acronym or abbreviation will be given in full along with any of my published articles containing that term as long as I have tagged it on my website to display in the list. Please note I'm constantly working on the repository to clean up all definitions, adding and removing links where necessary,…

19Sep 2022 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer: When you get years added to your life, it’s important to get life added to your years

Inspiration, Patient Advocacy

Self Pity or Self Help? I'm not one for wallowing in self-pity or accepting invites to pity parties. It's not my style. Things happen in life, and some are impossible to undo so I want to get on with my life in the best way possible. To some of you, that may sound harsh and insensitive, but I don't lack empathy for others (my advocacy work is a testament to that) and I'm constantly sympathising with others in my quest to help them via my blog, Facebook pages, and private Facebook group (see green box below) which is the biggest in the world because I'm known for helping. I admit that some people are beyond my type of help, but I always suggest they should speak to specialists in the area…

05Sep 2022 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

Eat that doughnut!

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy

I was recently reminded of a post I wrote called "The Other 5 Es". I later changed the name to "The 6 Es". The reason I wrote that post was due to the blanket use of something called "The 5 Es of Carcinoid Syndrome" in my private group. Taking this out of context can lead to unnecessary worry and constraints for many.I laughed out loud when I saw the reminder from my Facebook where I introduced this new blog post and it simply read "Eat that doughnut". What I didn't confirm was that I was using a metaphor. I was inferring that we shouldn't unnecessary restrict our lives when something is low risk, particularly when something we are told is a 'no no' has been said out of context and…

11Sep 2021 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Neuroendocrine Tumors: Targeted Therapies – Update from NET Specialist Diane Reidy-Lagunes, MD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center – August 2021

Clinical Trials, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Treatment

Background. For those who want a quick run through of Neuroendocrine Tumors from diagnosis to selection of treatment, about the treatments themselves plus what is the Future Directions in the Management of Neuroendocrine Tumors. There are 8 episodes, and each is around 3-5 minutes long. I personally found them very useful and in a language understandable to patients. Great job by OncLive and Dr Reidy-Lagunes! Episode 1 - Understanding the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Neuroendocrine Tumors Diane Reidy-Lagunes, MD, provides an overview of neuroendocrine tumors, along with specific considerations for optimal diagnosis and prognostication. Understanding the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Neuroendocrine Tumors (onclive.com) Episode 2 - Neuroendocrine Tumor Pathogenesis and Molecular Testing Expert insight on the pathogenesis of neuroendocrine tumors and the best use of molecular testing to inform treatment decisions.Neuroendocrine Tumor Pathogenesis…

30Aug 2021 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Small Intestine Neuroendocrine Tumours (SI NETs): To cut or not to cut?

Treatment

Small Intestine Neuroendocrine Tumours (SI NET) are one of the most common types of Neuroendocrine Cancer, and also one of the most challenging to diagnose and then treat. Patients can have a very good outlook even when presenting with metastatic disease. However, it's true to say that some NET centres of excellence (CoE) or multi-disciplinary team (MDT) see a lot of SI NET patients have built up considerable experience in treating them, including the use of surgery. The surgical challenges are such that a surgeon not experienced in treating these cases may shy away or think they are inoperable, whereas MDTs or CoEs potentially have the experience available to operate or to make sound judgements based on their own experience. At the very least, they can offer a second opinion. …

08Aug 2021 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) – Neuroendocrine Cancer

Diet and Nutrition, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

In my patient support group of 8000+, fatigue is very commonly discussed, and it certainly gets bags of empathy from the readers. I remember being really tired in the first few years after my diagnosis and in the years preceding it. As I was very focused on my work in those days, I was putting it down to the rigours of my working practices, commuting, overnighting, and working far too many hours in a day. In 2010, my diagnosis was triggered by symptoms of iron deficiency anaemia which was almost certainly connected to my cancer and feelings of fatigue for quite a while leading up to the diagnosis. That said, I gradually got back into old ways after diagnosis and pretty much continued to put my tiredness down to the same…

04Aug 2021 by Ronny Allan 8 Comments

Let’s Talk About NETs (#LetsTalkAboutNETs)

Awareness, Diet and Nutrition, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Caption: Talking to Ipsen 2016 I do a lot of writing about NETs but I guess I've also done some talking too. Some of these talks to patient groups and healthcare professionals were recorded and I have access to those recordings. Others were not recorded but where possible and I am authorised to do so, I will attach the presentation slides. Please note videos, presentation slides, and any Podcasts are in English. I'll list some of them below for your perusal. I will keep adding them so they're all in one place. Published talks Ann Edgar Trust - 31st August 2022 I was invited by Gordon Mackay who runs patient meetings for the Scottish NET organisation known as the Ann Edgar Trust. As usual, I was only too happy to help. …

13Jul 2021 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Every picture tells a story (point, click, read)

Awareness, Clinical Trials, Diet and Nutrition, Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Newsletters, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Treatment

I always try to use graphics for a number of pictures, I admit mainly to catch people's attention but also because sometimes a picture on its own tells a story or at least provides a great introduction to one. If the picture catches your eye, clicking on will take you to the text. This post will auto update as new blogs are published. thanks for reading and sharing! Scroll, point, click, read, share! Click here and answer all questions to join my private Facebook group Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email Thanks for reading. Ronny I’m also active on Facebook. Like my page for even more news. Help me build up my new site here –…

12Jul 2021 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments

A person with Neuroendocrine Cancer fell into a hole and couldn’t get out……….

Inspiration, Patient Advocacy

A person with Neuroendocrine Cancer fell into a hole and couldn’t get out. As a colleague walked by, the person called out for help, but the colleague yelled back, "Suck it up, dig deep and get on with it" then threw the person a shovel. The person accepted that advice and dug that hole deeper.A manager went by, and the person called out for help again. The manager shouted down "Use the tools your colleague has given you", but then threw down a bucket adding to the tools available. The person used the tools to dig the hole deeper still and filled the bucket.A healthcare professional walked by. The person called, “Help! I can’t get out!” so the healthcare professional gave the person some drugs and said, "Take this it…

17Jun 2021 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment

The 6 E’s

Diet and Nutrition, Inspiration, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

An opinion postWhen I first heard of something called "The 5 Es", it struck me that I was aware of these issues and their potential effects; and I’m certain there is science to substantiate most of the content. These 5 E’s are apparently the most common ‘triggers’ for (so called) Carcinoid Syndrome. Clearly, they are not going to have the same effect on every patient e.g. I have the occasional drink of ‘Ethanol’ and I always enjoy it, I go for long exhausting walks as ‘Exercise’ and I always feel great after. I had dental treatment using ‘Epinephrine’ without any precautions before and after I was aware of the risks …….. nothing happened! Before I was treated, stressful meetings (‘Emotions’) at work would make me flush though! As for ‘Eating’ – well that’s another couple of blog’s worth! Worth…

15Nov 2020 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

If it’s not raining, it’s not training! (part 2)

Inspiration, Survivorship

As someone who was born and raised in the Scotland, and lived most of my life in the UK, I'm no stranger to inclement weather. In my 29 years years in the military, the weather was no excuse to do nothing, whether it was training or the real thing. They gave us wet weather clothing after all! There is a saying in the UK army and it goes like this "If it's not raining, it's not training". In classic British pragmatism, it decodes to "raining is normal so get on with it". In fact, one of my oldest army friends cannot wait for the torrential rain, he much prefers it to the sun! Read his blog here. We've been caught out over the years, for example back in 2016, a…

04Sep 2019 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

The Other 5 E’s

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Those who know about the 5 E's of (so called) carcinoid syndrome will get the meaning of this story straight away. For those unaware of those 5 E's, read about them here.I sometimes need motivating and it's really easy to put off doing 'hard things', instead opting for your comfort zone of staying at home. It's often easier to say "I can't" than it is to say "I can". And yet, each time I hesitate about saying "I can", I always end up refreshed, enthused, and happy I didn't say "I can't". So this is the story of the my daytrip at the end of summer (and pretty much many days out). [caption id="attachment_14267" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Motivation is often difficult[/caption]ExerciseEverywhere you look, there are experts telling us that exercise is good…

18Jul 2019 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours – to cut or not to cut

Treatment

Background I've written before about pancreatic NETs (pNETs), much of which has been on the awareness side of my advocacy work, particularly emphasising the differences with core Pancreatic Cancer (adenocarcinoma).Pancreatic NETs are quite difficult to diagnose and treat, some of that difficulty is due to the location of the pancreas and accessibility for surgeons and radiographers. It's not helped by the fact that most pNETs are non-functional, making diagnosis more difficult as there is little clinical suspicion to scan, but also results in more late diagnoses.Although biopsies are possible, mainly via endoscopic ultrasound or laparoscopy, they can still be difficult to reach. In some cases, biopsies are not done until after the surgical removal of tumours. The latter scenario plus surgery after a positive biopsy result does present an increased risk…

05Feb 2019 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment

Proton Pump Inhibitors (…..and H2 Blockers) the NET Effect

Treatment

What are Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs)?Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are among the most commonly used medications in the world. They reduce the production of acid by blocking the enzyme in the wall of the stomach that produces acid. Acid is necessary for the formation of most ulcers in the oesophagus, stomach, and duodenum, and the reduction of acid with PPIs prevents ulcers and allows any ulcers that exist in the oesophagus, stomach, and duodenum to heal. PPIs are prescribed to treat acid-related conditions such as:Esophageal, duodenal and stomach ulcersNSAID-associated ulcerUlcersGastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome - ZES (note this is a syndrome associated with a functioning duodenal or pancreatic NET known as a Gastrinoma)They also are used in combination with antibiotics for eradicating Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that together with acid…

18Feb 2018 by Ronny Allan 14 Comments

Things to do today

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship

When you live with any illness, getting through the day can be tough. Trying to get a diagnosis, dealing with a diagnosis, undergoing treatment and then learning to recover and adapt.I've been living with my condition since 2010 and I'm a big advocate of keeping busy, keeping active and keeping my mind occupied. Despite this, there are times with a chronic disease, an invisible disease, an incurable and long-term disease including cancer, occasionally just doing nothing can be very productive in the long term!Of course, sometimes you have little choice if you're ill from your condition or something routine.So now and then, I just breathe in and breathe out (then repeat). It's very enjoyable!Take a break if you need one. Click here and answer all questions to join my private…

12Feb 2018 by Ronny Allan 9 Comments

Don’t be underactive with your Thyroid surveillance

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Treatment

From other posts, you'll be aware of the thyroid lesion (approx. 17 x 19mm) which I've been tracking since 2013. The surveillance included routine thyroid blood tests, mainly TSH, T3 and 4. I was out of range in TSH (elevated) but the T4 was at the lower end of the normal range. On 20 March 2018, following an Endocrine appointment, I was put on a trial dose of 50mcg of Levothyroxine to counter the downwards trend in results indicating hypothyroidism, possibly due to the lesion. Levothyroxine is a thyroid hormone (thyroxine) replacement. One month after taking these drugs, my thyroid blood levels are now normal for the first time in 4 years (since there are records of test results - it might be longer).[caption id="attachment_16877" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Click on the…

03Feb 2018 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer Clinical Trial: Advanced Oncology Formula enterade®

Diet and Nutrition, Treatment

Diarrhea is a huge subject for NET patients, whether it's caused by the tumour itself (i.e. a syndrome), due to treatment, knock on effects of treatment, or some other reason, it can dramatically limit qualify of life. Working out the root cause can be problematic even for medical teams. I wrote about these issues before in my article Neuroendocrine Cancer - the diarrhea jigsaw. So when I saw the data from a trial of something called enterade®, I was immediately drawn to investigate. I don't normally write articles on over the counter commercial products but this one is an exception given that it has been classed as a medical food since 2012 and is also used to rehydrate patients undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy for cancer (so not just for NETs).What…

30Jan 2018 by Ronny Allan 1 Comment

I now take food with my medicine!

Diet and Nutrition, 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 If you want to strike up a friendly conversion with a Brit, ask him or her about the weather - we're really famous for our weather conversations and they normally focus on rain or clouds! However, despite the famous British 'reserve' and 'stiff upper lip', they also frequently talk about being 'under the weather', a phrase meaning slightly unwell or in low spirits.I find myself smiling at some of the conversations I hear in medical establishment waiting rooms, particularly the potentially long wait for blood tests. Here, conversations bypass the weather and focus on being under the weather! I thought I was a regular when I started to recognise people…

11Jan 2018 by Ronny Allan 29 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer and Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy (PERT) – the Digested Version (Nutrition Series Article 5)

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

After 7 years of avoiding pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT), 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 not losing weight - this has been stable for some years (but see below). Plus my key vitamin levels (B12 and D) are in range. However, I had been struggling with a lot of bloating issues, thus the trial. You know me, I like to research and analyse such things! I've actually written about a lot of these issues in my Nutrition series ..... so this is now 'Article Number…

20Dec 2017 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer – surveillance and follow up

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Since 2010 I've had a lot of surveillance and testing. More than people can imagine. I can see from various comments on my public pages and posts within my private group, that some people get a lot more than me and I get more than others. It's not true to say we all get the same, there are many factors including stage, grade, type of Neuroendocrine Neoplasm, healthcare system/guidelines, miscellaneous problems, therapy, and even age.In the first year or two after diagnosis, I seemed to be in a continuous testing phase but that was mainly due to seeing so many different doctors for so many different issues. In reality, I was seeing and being assessed by my Oncologist around 3-month intervals, eventually moving to four. After that, I moved to…

12Dec 2017 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments

Update: Management of Neuroendocrine Tumors

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Treatment

This is an excellent and positive video based overview of where we are with the Management of NETs. This is a presentation from a NET Specialist (who some of you may know) presenting to a "GI Malignancies" conference. This is therefore not only awareness of NETs, it's also some good education for non NET GI experts who may only know the very basics. Useful for patients too! I met Dr Strosberg in Barcelona (ENETS 2017) and thanked him for his presentational and scientific paper output which I often use in my articles. The classification picture is good as it explains the different facets of NETs and how NETs are classified and categorised in a general way - not seen it done this way before. Slightly out of date as…

20Nov 2017 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer – the 7 Year Itch

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

Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on pinterest Pinterest Share on whatsapp WhatsApp Share on email Email I quite like the Facebook memory thing. This morning I got a reminder of a post I made from 7 years ago whilst I was in hospital recovering from my 9 Nov surgery. It had taken 12 days for me to feel strong enough to venture onto social media with a simple message "I'm feeling perkier". For those not familiar with English localisms, it just means lively, spirited, bright, sunny, cheerful, animated, upbeat, buoyant, bubbly, cheery, bouncy, genial, jaunty, chirpy, sprightly, vivacious, in fine fettle, full of beans, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I guess I met some of these descriptors most of the time! I had gotten through the worst and…

30Oct 2017 by Ronny Allan 35 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer – normally slow but always sneaky

Awareness

An awareness post from Ronny Allan There are a lot of scary diseases in this world but some of them are particularly spooky. One such spooky disease is the lesser-known type of cancer that infiltrated my body - Neuroendocrine Cancer. Not only is it scary and spooky, but it's also cunning, devious, misleading, and double-crossing. It likes nothing better than to play tricks on you. It will grow in your body without you knowing. It finds places to hide, mainly the small intestine, appendix, lungs, stomach, pancreas, rectum, and a host of other places. It can be fiendishly small to avoid being seen. Once it's established in the primary location (....or locations), it will try to break out via your blood and lymphatic systems. It wants to establish other bases…

24Oct 2017 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

Round up of NANETS 2017 – Let’s talk about NETs #NANETS2017

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Treatment

NANETS (North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society) is one of the biggest NET conferences, bringing together NET Specialists from around the world to discuss state-of-the-art treatment modalities, new therapies, and ongoing controversies in the field of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (Tumors and Carcinomas). This is fairly complex stuff but much of it will be familiar to many. I’ve filtered out several outputs from the conference which I think are both relevant and topical to patients. The list is below allowing you to easily peruse and read further via linkages if you need to read more. Remember, some of these are extracts so do not contain all the details of the research or study – although some of the linkages will take you to in-depth information if that’s your bag. Where applicable, I’ve also linked…

16Oct 2017 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

Opinion: Neuroendocrine Cancer – Can it be cured?

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Treatment

OPINION:"Cured" - In cancer, this word can evoke a number of emotions. Interestingly, not all these emotions will be as positive as you might think. If you want to spark a heated debate on a Neuroendocrine Cancer patient forum, just mention that you've been cured. I'm not taking any sides by using this statement, just stating what actually happens and the deeply held views that persist in community groups. One important factor in some of this thinking is that many people still remember the days where most diagnoses were late and many followed years of misdiagnoses for other conditions. But the latest statistics (and even these can be said to be quite old) indicate things are changing. The massive increase in incidence rates indicates earlier diagnoses and it's true for…

09Oct 2017 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

Weight – the NET Effect

Diet and Nutrition, Survivorship

Firstly, let me say that I have no intention of advising you how to lose or gain weight! Rather, I'd like to discuss what factors might be involved and why people with NETs might lose or gain weight either at diagnosis or after treatment. Clearly, I can talk freely about my own experience and associated weight issues. If nothing else, it might help some in thinking about what is causing their own weight issues.I once wrote a patient story for an organisation and the headline was "Did you mean to lose weight". Those were actually the words a nurse said to me after I nonchalantly told her I thought I'd lost some weight (....about half a stone). I answered the question with "no" and this response triggered a sequence of…

08Oct 2017 by Ronny Allan 7 Comments

The shock effect never wears off

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

Patient stories are key to any awareness campaign. Nothing like a human being standing up and letting you know about their experience. Many are positive examples of how they are overcoming their trials and tribulations, others tell stories of a struggle. They all have different styles, some are the 'kick ass' type stories, some are just thankful, some are reflective - all of them are perfectly acceptable. I normally like to place myself somewhere in the middle with phrases like "I'm still here", although I can veer left and right when the mood takes me! Because of my social media footprint, I get a lot of private messages from people across the globe. Many are from people who have no wish to go public and that's fine. Many are from…

02Oct 2017 by Ronny Allan 10 Comments

Genetics and Neuroendocrine Tumors

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship

In my article 'Ever wonder what caused your NET', I concluded that currently, the only known scientifically explained causes for NETs were hereditary/genetic in nature. This is mostly associated with those who have MEN syndromes (yes, they are a syndrome not a type of tumour)[caption id="attachment_13063" align="aligncenter" width="530"] Click to read my MEN article[/caption]There also strong connections with and a few other less common types of NET including Pheochomocytoma/Paraganglioma (Pheo/Para) and Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma (MTC) (the familial version of MTC is often referred to as FMTC). However, please note this does not mean that all those diagnosed with pancreatic, parathyroid, pituarity, Pheo/Para and MTC tumours, will have any hereditary or genetic conditions, many will simply be sporadic tumors.[caption id="attachment_16075" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Click to read my article on Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma[/caption]In recent…

02Oct 2017 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments

Cancer Isn’t All About Me

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

[caption id="attachment_11078" align="alignleft" width="150"] As featured by Cure Magazine[/caption][caption id="attachment_4318" align="aligncenter" width="500"] It's about others too[/caption]Since my diagnosis of incurable and metastatic neuroendocrine cancer in 2010, it's really all been about me. I didn’t see the trauma coming, and my family has supported me throughout every single step. I really don’t want to be the focus of attention as that mantle was normally evenly distributed. However, there’s nothing like a cancer diagnosis to put you into the spotlight.Facing an uncertain future with regular scans, injections, treatment, pills, examinations and blood tests has made me the center of attention, whether I like it or not. The focus is on me because these things are necessary to keep me alive for as long as possible and also because I live with the…

08Jun 2017 by Ronny Allan 20 Comments

8 tips for conquering fear – Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

Opinion:Before I was diagnosed with cancer, my health was in reasonable condition. I had minor irritants that seemed to come back now and then, nothing that was going to kill me. So I just put up with most of it and time was frequently a good healer. Occasionally, I would use medicine to speed up the healing or ask a doctor for advice. Even leading up to my diagnosis, this was my strategy despite some strange things going on. Luckily for me, the 'system' picked up something suspicious and I am where I am today. It's amazing to think a cancer can grow inside you for years causing a lot of damage but without a grand announcement.That's not to say I didn't have any fear about what was going to…

19May 2017 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

ASCO 2017 – Let’s talk about NETs #ASCO17

Clinical Trials

ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) is one of the biggest cancer conferences in the world normally bringing together more than 30,000 oncology professionals from around the world to discuss state-of-the-art treatment modalities, new therapies, and ongoing controversies in the field. As Neuroendorine Tumors is on a roll in terms of new treatments and continued research, we appear to be well represented with over 20 'extracts' submitted for review and display. This is fairly complex stuff but much of it will be familiar to many. I've filtered and extracted all the Neuroendocrine stuff into one list providing you with an easy to peruse table of contents, complete with relevant linkages if you need to read more. For many the extract title and conclusion will be sufficiently educational or at least…

08May 2017 by Ronny Allan 45 Comments

All you need to know about Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT)

Clinical Trials, Treatment

Update June 6th 2021. Novartis reports clinically relevant improvement in median overall survival data in final analysis of pivotal NETTER-1 study with targeted radioligand therapy Lutathera. New analysis of the NETTER-1 trial data has been published. For those who just need a quick summary, the quote from Dr Jonothan Strosberg is below. Short PRRT PrimerWhat is Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT)?For those who are still not sure what it's all about. This is a non-surgical treatment which is normally administered intravenously. It's based on the use of somatostatin receptors to attract a 'radiopeptide'. The radiopeptide is a combination of a somatostatin analogue and a radioactive material. As we already know, somatostatin analogues (i.e. Lanreotide/Octreotide) are a NET cell targeting drug using somatostatin receptors, so when combined with radioactivity, it binds with…

25Apr 2017 by Ronny Allan 15 Comments

Diagnosed with Neuroendocrine Cancer? – 10 questions to ask your doctor (and where to find a NET Specialist Worldwide)

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

On the day I was diagnosed, I hadn't really thought about questions, the only one I actually remember asking was "how long do I have left to live" (I watch too many movies!). On the day of diagnosis and period beyond, people tend to feel emotions of shock, denial, anger, and sadness, before going on to accept their situation. Yes, I 'googled' but not a great deal really - although some things I found did frighten me. I wish I had found this article way back then.As things progressed in the weeks after 'D-Day', I started to work out the sort of things to ask but even then, it was limited. I had been referred to an experienced NET team so I felt confident they would do whatever needed doing.…

06Apr 2017 by Ronny Allan 2 Comments

Don’t believe the hype – Neuroendocrine Cancer Myths debunked

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

Edited and refreshed 16th March 2023 OPINION There's a lot of inaccurate and out-of-date information out there. Some are just a lack of understanding, and some are caused by out-of-date websites. Often the problem is a result of patient forum myth spreading exacerbated by poor moderation in the groups concerned. Some can only be described as propaganda. Some of it even comes from uninformed doctors and bizarrely and disappointingly from NET advocate organisations. All the graphics below contain links to relevant blog posts. Myth 1: All Neuroendocrine Neoplasms will metastasiseSimply untrue. They are a heterogeneous group of tumours. Read more here[caption id="attachment_38543" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Click on the picture to read more[/caption]Myth 2: All Neuroendocrine Tumours are terminalNot true. By any definition of the word terminal in a medical diagnostic context, most NET patients…

21Mar 2017 by Ronny Allan 29 Comments

In the war on Neuroendocrine Cancer, let’s not forget to win the battle for better quality of life

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

OPINION. Date of Article March 2017. In the last 24 months, there seems to have been announcement after announcement of new and/or upgraded/enhanced diagnostics and treatment types for Neuroendocrine Cancer. Increased availability of radionuclide scans, increased availability of radionuclide therapies, combination therapies, increased availability of somatostatin analogues, biological therapies, enhanced surgical and minimally invasive techniques, new oral drugs for carcinoid syndrome, more trials including immunotherapy. Admittedly, some of the announcements are just expansions of existing therapies having been approved in new regions. Compared to some other cancers, even those which hit the headlines often, we appear to be doing not too badly. However, the pressure needs to stay on, all patients, regardless of where they live, need access to the best diagnostics and treatments for them, and at the requisite…

20Mar 2017 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments

Poker Face or Cancer Card?

Inspiration, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship

[caption id="attachment_11078" align="aligncenter" width="500"] As featured by Cure Magazine[/caption]Before I was diagnosed, I had my share of illnesses. Fortunately, many of them were the routine stuff that most people tend to get from time to time, and most did not stop me from getting on with whatever I needed to do. I served in the military from age 16 until 45 – a long time! On only two occasions during that 29-year period, did I involuntary visit a hospital: aged 16 having been knocked out at boxing (you should have seen the other guy!) and aged 39 after falling off a vehicle (in my defense it was really dark). Illness wasn't really something I thought much about and for minor things, I would just "soldier on.” So, from an early…

27Feb 2017 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

It’s been 10 years since I saw a scalpel (….but my surgeon is still on speed dial)

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship, Treatment

In 2012, I had a bunch of lymph nodes removed. Two separate areas were resected, only one was showing growth but both were showing up as hotspots on an Octreoscan. I had known since shortly after diagnosis in 2010 that 'hotspots' were showing in my left 'axillary' lymph nodes (armpit) and my left 'supraclavicular fossa' (SCF) lymph nodes (clavicle area). Some 10 months previously, I had a major liver resection, and 5 months prior to the liver resection, I had a small intestinal primary removed including work on some associated complications. There had always been a plan to optimise cytoreduction of my distant metastases, it was just a matter of timing. I still can't get my head around why metastases from a small intestinal NET managed to get to this area but…

25Jan 2017 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

Road ahead closed – Bowel Obstructions

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

OK - we've gone through diagnosis; we've gone through treatment and now we need to live with the consequences of cancer and its treatment. Not a day goes by when I don't feel some twinge or some minor pain, and I think 'what was that?'. Fortunately, many things can just be day-to-day niggles or in my case, the perils of getting older! The natural tendency is to think your cancer is causing these things.... easy to say, but very often not easy to prove. However, for Neuroendocrine Tumour (NET) patients who have had surgery, anything that seems like a bowel obstruction is quite a scary thought (I suspect this is also an issue for other cancer types). In fact, even before diagnosis, a bowel obstruction can be how the condition is…

17Jan 2017 by Ronny Allan 18 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer: Nodes, Nodules, Lesions (and false alarms!)

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship, Treatment

A fairly common disposition of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms is a primary with associated local/regional secondary's (e.g. lymph nodes), and often with liver metastases. Technically speaking, the liver is distant. However, many metastatic patients appear to have additional and odd appearances in even more distant places, including (but not limited to) the extremities and the head & neck. Certain things are known about the behaviour of Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NENs) (a term for Neuroendocrine Tumours and Neuroendocrine Carcinoma) and specialists will be analysing many factors when working out the type of NEN and how it might behave. This is useful in cases of unknown primaries as it can give them clues to the possible location(s). Read more about these issues in my article "Needle in a Haystack".How does cancer spread? In addition to…

14Jan 2017 by Ronny Allan 7 Comments

Surgery for Neuroendocrine Neoplasms – to cut or not to cut?

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Treatment

Reviewed and edited 26th September 2021Surgery can sometimes be a tough call (......to cut or not to cut?)It is an area where I have some sympathy for physicians and surgeons who sometimes have tough decisions to make. Surgery is risky, particularly where people are presenting in a weak condition, perhaps with very advanced disease, secondary illness and comorbidities. I also suspect age is a factor (I was surprised to find myself considered 'young' at 55). Physicians and surgeons need to weigh up these risks and the consequences of the surgery against a 'watch and wait' or alternative non-surgical approach. This would normally be discussed via a 'Tumor Board' or Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) meeting. However, and although imaging helps, the situation is not really 100% clear until the surgeon 'gets inside'.…

28Dec 2016 by Ronny Allan 28 Comments

Somatostatin Analogues for Neuroendocrine Cancer: Lanreotide and Octreotide

Treatment

Somatostatin Analogues are the 'workhorse' treatments for those living with NETs, particularly where certain syndromes are involved. So not just for classic NETs with Carcinoid Syndrome but also for treating the hormone overscretions caused by insulinoma, gastrinoma, glucagonoma and VIPoma (all types of pNETs) and others. They are most effective if the NETs express somatostatin receptors. They also have an anti-tumour effect but more of a slowing down of growth rather than a killing or reduction of tumour size - but there are always outliers where such effects are displayed.Somatostatin is actually a naturally occurring hormone produced by the hypothalamus and some other tissues such as the pancreas and the gastrointestinal tract. However, it can only handle the normal release of hormones. When NET syndromes occur, the naturally occurring somatostatin is unable to cope. The…

24Nov 2016 by Ronny Allan No Comments

Happy Thanksgiving

Diet and Nutrition, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

I have been posting this every year on last Thursday in November and I kept forgetting that other countries other than USA (and Territories of the United States) also do Thanksgiving but mostly on different dates. This includes (but is probably not limited to): Canada, Brazil, Grenada, Liberia, Saint Lucia, Leiden (Netherlands), Norfolk Island (Australia). I hope you all had/have a great Thanksgiving Day! Turkey and Sleep Now ........ I hate to stereotype but I guess a lot of you might be eating turkeyon Thanksgiving Day? No Thanksgiving is complete without a turkey at the table (... so I'm told!). And also, a nap right after it’s eaten..... right? As you know I like to analyse such things ...... Apparently, the meat has a bad reputation for making eaters sleepy, but…

18Nov 2016 by Ronny Allan 11 Comments

Palliative Care – it might just save your life

Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy, Survivorship, Treatment

When you've been diagnosed with cancer at an incurable stage, certain words start to mean more. Take 'palliative' for example. Before I was diagnosed, I had always associated the word 'palliative' with someone who had a terminal disease, and this type of care was to make the final days/weeks as comfortable as possible. So, it was a bit of a shock to find out in 2010 that my treatment was palliative in nature. However, I'm still not dead and I'm still receiving palliative care. Go figure! The answer is simple - the cancer story is changing. What was once feared as a death sentence is now an illness in which many people survive. As survival rates increase, so too will the number of people who live with the legacy of…

16Nov 2016 by Ronny Allan 16 Comments

“You must be doing OK, you’ve not had chemotherapy”

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship, Treatment

If there's a word which is synonymous with cancer, it's chemotherapy. It's what most people have in their mind when they are talking to a cancer patient...... 'have you had chemotherapy' or 'when do you start chemotherapy'.I was nonchalantly asked by a friend some time ago 'how did you get on with chemotherapy' - he was surprised to hear I hadn't had it despite my widespread disease. Cue - lengthy explanation! I wasn't annoyed by the question; I just think people automatically assume every cancer patient must undergo some form of systemic chemotherapy. If you read any newspaper article about cancer, they do nothing to dispel that myth, as many articles contain a story about a cancer patient with no hair.Sure, chemotherapy is not the nicest treatment to receive, and it does…

18Oct 2016 by Ronny Allan 22 Comments

Did you hear the one about the constipated NET patient?

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

In my neck of the woods, "did you hear the one about the ........." is normally a precursor to a witty comment, or a joke. However, constipation for NET patients is not actually funny - read on.Certain types of Neuroendocrine Cancer are very heavily associated with diarrhea, either as a symptom of one of the NET Syndromes (yes there is more than one .....); or as a result of surgery or certain other treatments. Occasionally, these symptoms and side effects can all combine to make it quite a nasty and worrying side effect.I must admit to being surprised to find myself with feelings of constipation from around 4-5 years after my treatment and I set about trying to find out why that might be. To understand why I got to this…

11Oct 2016 by Ronny Allan 9 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer – were you irritated by your misdiagnosis?

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

Look on any site about Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) and you'll find the term IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) frequently mentioned. That's because it's a common misdiagnosis for many before being formally diagnosed with NETs.But what exactly is IBS, why is it such a common misdiagnosis for many NET patients and how can these misdiagnoses be prevented or reduced in future? I just spent a few hours doing an online training course on IBS and I want to pass on some stuff I found to be very useful. I have never been diagnosed with IBS but having researched the issue through some training, I can understand why it might be in the thoughts of a general practitioner for many scenarios. Much of my research was focussed on the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) who sponsored the online course I completed which also used…

15Sep 2016 by Ronny Allan 19 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer – the diarrhea jigsaw

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

Diarrhea can be a symptom of many conditions, but it is particularly key in Neuroendocrine Tumour (NET) Syndromes and types, in particular, so called Carcinoid Syndrome but also in those associated with various other NET types such as VIPoma, PPoma, Gastrinoma, Somatostatinoma, Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.Secondly, it can be a key consequence (side effect) of the treatment for Neuroendocrine Tumours and Carcinomas, in particular following surgery where various bits of the gastrointestinal tract are excised to remove and/or debulk tumour load.There are other reasons that might be causing or contributing, including (but not limited to) endocrine problems such as hyperthryoidism, mastocytosis or Addison's disease (which may be secondary illnesses in those with NETs). It's also possible that 'non-sydromic' issues such as stress and diet are contributing. It could be caused by…