I've mentioned 'luck' a few times in the past month following some more 'cancerversary' milestones - these tend to make me reflect on my experience. Even though I was metastatic at diagnosis, I think of myself as lucky on the basis that my tumours were found by 'chance' or to be more accurate, found following an innocuous set of circumstances. As we know, Neuroendocrine Cancer (NET Cancer), it can sometimes be …
The majority of Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) are slow-growing. However, the tumours can be silent (non-functioning) for some years before they start to 'function' and inform you of their presence. Even then, it may take some time to work out the real cause as the symptoms can mimic regular ailments. Moreover, in most cases, the appearance of a functional tumour normally indicates the disease has spread and is now…
One of the most discussed and debated Cancer issues is late diagnosis. Cyberspace is full of disturbing stories and many different cancers are involved. Some cancers are much more difficult to diagnose than others and this increases the need for more awareness campaigns. Neuroendocrine Cancer - also known as Neuroendocrine Tumours, or NETs for short, is one such cancer. Statistics indicate that many patients are initially…
"I'm only as good as my last scan". I received this comment last week in response to one of my posts and I thought it was a very pragmatic thing for someone to say. The timing is good as I'm off for a CT scan later today :-)
A NET patient under surveillance has regular tests at determined intervals but the one that is most likely to indicate disease progression, stability or regression is a scan. Markers…
At a follow-up meeting during my diagnostic phase in July 2010, the specialist who was investigating my referral condition was clearly suspicious that I had cancer but as the results of my liver biopsy were not yet in, he was not in a position to declare his findings. However, following my revelation about flushing during this meeting, he immediately guessed the biopsy would confirm Carcinoid (the most common type of Neuroendocrine…
