Neuroendocrine Cancer Awareness

  • It’s been 5 years since I saw a scalpel (….but my surgeon is still on speed dial)

    im-still-here

    5 years ago today, 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…

  • Recent Progress in NET Management

    jonathan-strosbergI recently wrote a blog called Neuroendocrine Cancer – Exciting Times Ahead! I wrote that on a day I was feeling particularly positive and at the time, I wanted to share that positivity with you. I genuinely believe there’s a lot of great things happening. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot still to be done, particularly in the area of diagnosis and quality of life after being diagnosed. However, this is a really great…

  • 25 Life Lessons From a Two-Time Cancer Survivor

    25-life-lessons-morro-bay

    Sometimes, a blog post comes along and it just resonates!  This was one I found via some new friends in Anti-Cancer Club (check it out – sign up for their newsletter). I got chatting with the author who has given me permission to post it here.  Shari Berman is a two-time cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at age 25, days after returning from her honeymoon and a second time with breast can…

  • Things not to say to someone with cancer (featuring Macmillan Cancer)

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    Graphics courtesy of https://emilymcdowell.com/

    This topic comes up regularly on patient forums, twitter, Facebook….. in fact everywhere!  Personally, I don’t tend to get too excited about it, although there can be extremes.  Most people (not all) are just stumped to know exactly what to say.  Even as a person with cancer, I sometimes feel awkward when faced with someone I just found out has a serious illness…

  • Endoscopy for NETs – taking the camera to the tumour

    endoscopy

    An Endoscopy is a procedure where the inside of your body is examined using an instrument called an endoscope. This is a long, thin, flexible tube that has a light source and camera at one end. Images of the inside of your body are relayed to a television screen. Endoscopes can be inserted into the body through a natural opening, such as the mouth and down the throat, or through the bottom.  The mouth route is more accurately…