Go on, climb that hill!
It was wet, windy and very cold and that was at the bottom of the hill I’m looking up at. It wasn’t a terribly big hill but I knew it would still cause me pain. Whilst the rain splashed onto our jackets and the wind howled, Chris and I looked at each other and we both said “do we really want to go up that?” Of course we do……. no pain, no gain! So we went up the hill and it hurt. Up there…
When I was being officially told I had an advanced and incurable cancer, I did what most people seem to do on films/TV ..... I asked "how long do I have". The Oncologist said " ... perhaps just months". That must have been quite a shock because for a few moments after that, I heard nothing - my brain was clearly still trying to process those words. The really important bit I missed was him saying "..…
When I was undergoing my initial treatment and surgery I didn't really have the knowledge I have now. I was initially treated by experienced Neuroendocrine Tumour (NET) specialists in an established NET Centre and I guess I felt comfortable with what was happening. In hindsight, I wish I had studied the disease earlier as I would have understood at the time what was actually happening to my body and more fully understood…
The sooner any cancer can be correctly diagnosed, the better chances of a complete cure for the person concerned. However, some cancers are not as easy to diagnose as others. Neuroendocrine (NET) Cancer is one of the difficult to diagnose cancers due to the vague symptoms which may be mistaken for other diseases and routine illnesses. With some patients, this may go on for many years. I don't normally pay too much attention…
When I was discharged from hospital following major surgery in Nov 2010, I knew I would shortly be commencing long-term monthly 'somatostatin analogue' treatment and had assumed Octreotide (Sandostatin LAR) would be the drug of choice. However, my Oncologist prescribed Lanreotide (known in the UK as Somatuline Autogel).
Somatostatin Analogues (Octreotide/Lanreotide) are mainstay treatments for many Neuroendocrine…
