Happy Wednesday!

I came across this funny cartoon that I thought I would share.

This little cartoon is a reminder that WE usually are and should be the MOST informed person in the room about our disease. Just because a doctor says that they “know” about NET Cancers doesn’t really mean that they KNOW about NET Cancers.

Nothing truly scares me more than when a patient of any kind just 100% trusts a doctor, believing that doctors know everything so they don’t want to know or need to know the ins and outs of their disease because a doctor wouldn’t steer them wrong. The only truth in that manner of thinking is that a doctor wouldn’t be purposely steering you wrong.

Think about this: Yes, doctors go through a ton of schooling to become knowledgeable overall about anatomy and physiology and even a specific specialty but there is so much to learn about the human body that they cannot possibly learn everything there is to know about it in that time period. So maybe, if we’re really lucky, they possibly heard Carcinoid or NET Cancer once in their schooling but it’s honestly not all that likely that they remember the one time it was mentioned.

Seeing a doctor who will not continuously educate themselves to help treat you is detrimental to your health. It is so important to work with doctors who are open to being educated and up-to-date on the newest treatments and what options are out there. They should be open to your opinion and what you bring to the table because NO ONE will fight for you the way that YOU fight for you. Your care should be treated as a team, not a one person show.

There are so many ways to educate yourself. Join support groups, both online and in-person. Connect with other patients. (PLEASE be careful with what information you read and take online. Remember that every NET patient is different and not everything you see on the internet is true!) See a NET specialist, or TWO. Most importantly, take advantage of seeing NET specialists speak at conferences, not only do they help with the basics but they give you the most current information there is out there about our disease!

What you don’t know can harm you.

NCAN has our huge 2016 National NET Patient Conference coming up this September! This conference gives you the chance to connect with 500+ patients and caregivers with 20+ speakers in the NET specialty over 2 and 1/2 days! It is such an informative, important, and fun weekend!

For more information, click here.

To register directly, you may do so, here.

Until next time…

Tricia