NETCancer

Help Get NET Cancer Awareness BLOOMING This Spring!

~ Tricia Wahmann-Knatz ~ Leave a comment

Help us, the Neuroendocrine Cancer Awareness Network (NCAN), get NET Cancer Awareness BLOOMING this spring by purchasing beautiful flowers for your garden!

NCAN is doing a flower fundraiser this month to get awareness for NET Cancer blooming this spring!

How you can help: Visit NCAN’s fundraising site here and purchase blubs and seeds of your favorite flowers! Then, you will recieve your flowers and NCAN will recieve a whopping 50% profit from your purchase!

How it works: This campaign is running today (March 1st, 2017) through April 30th, 2017. You can place your order beginning now!

Please help us reach our goal of $2500 this spring so NCAN can continue the amazing and tireless work they do throughout the whole year! Remember once you make your purchase, be sure to send the campaign link on to friends and family, as well as sharing on social media such as Facebook!

We thank you for your support and for helping us BLOOM awareness for NET Cancer! Happy shopping and HAPPY SPRING!

Five Reasons to Attend a Neuroendocrine Cancer Patient Conference

~ Tricia Wahmann-Knatz ~ Leave a comment

Educational opportunities. No matter how experienced you are about handling your disease, everyone can learn. Being treated for a rare cancer can often be isolating, and without exposure to a variety of points of view, we can miss new ideas and trends that can impact our futures. The educational aspect of a conference can expose you to new treatment regimens and therapies and help you discover how to be a more productive advocate for your treatment and care.

Networking with peers. Patient conferences provide a great opportunity to network. Often patients and caregivers from different regions of the country can become valuable resources for referrals and best-practices. Avoiding your peers for whatever reason you have can actually limit you own success in fighting neuroendocrine cancer. You will find that the people who come together at a conference can help each other uncover ideas and spark inspiration when they get to know each other on a personal level.

Encounter the vendors & suppliers who provide the therapies you need. Too often people shy away from exhibitors at conferences. They fear they will have to talk to salespeople, but these industry suppliers are some of the best people for you to get to know if you want to learn more about the current direction of treatment. Discovering innovative products and services for your business is critical to your treatment and care in today’s fast-paced world. Invest time with the sponsors at the event and turn them into your friends and allies.

Position yourself as an expert. It has been suggested that well over half the requests by neuroendocrine cancer patients to their physicians for specific treatments are honored. A neuroendocrine cancer patient conference is the perfect opportunity to build your knowledge and become a better advocate for your health! You will hear directly from experts. Save your life by making sure you know enough to participate in your care so you are getting the best treatment plan possible.

Have fun. Being a neuroendocrine cancer patient or caregiver is hard work and it is stressful. All work and no play can get old fast. Patient conferences can add a layer of enjoyment to managing your disease by mixing a social aspect into your patient journey. Taking an extra day at the beginning or end of the trip to explore or visit friends in the region is also a great way to maximize the investment in travel. Never underestimate the power of a little fun mixed with some interesting people!

The internet won’t replace the conference experience. Many falsely believe that since they can now access industry information via the internet that the days of the live meeting are gone. The truth is, meetings are more important than ever. The value in meetings comes from the human-to-human connections that occur. Often people cite the serendipidous “hallway-conversations” that they have with other attendees as the most valuable parts of attending an event. While these are not on the agenda, or mentioned in the learning objectives, when two or more people begin to discuss topics on a deeper and personal level, the success of the event to those involved becomes irreplaceable. It is the people that bring the ROI to your time at a conference.

NCAN has 4 conferences scheduled for 2017. Why not make it your business to attend at least one of them?

Saturday, March 25th – NET Patient Conference – Charlotte, NC (Registration open NOW!)

Saturday, April 22nd – NET Patient Conference – Lexington, KY (Registration open NOW!)

Saturday, May 6th – NET Patient Conference – Seattle, WA (More information to come!)

Saturday, October 14th – NET Patient Conference – Iowa City, IA (More information to come!)

NCAN’s 2017 Kentucky Neuroendocrine Cancer Patient Conference

~ Tricia Wahmann-Knatz ~ Leave a comment

Registration is open for the 2017 Kentucky Neuroendocrine Cancer Patient Conference & support group meeting on April 22nd, 2017 in Lexington, KY!

Date & Time: Saturday, April 22nd, 2017 from 8AM-5PM

Where: Griffon Gate Marriott Resort & Spa – 1800 Newtown Pike, Lexington, KY 40511

Price: $20 per person – includes breakfast, lunch, & snacks

Agenda:

8:00 am – 8:30 am     Registration and Breakfast

8:30 am – 8:45 am     Welcome By: Robert Wahmann          

9:00 am – 9:45 am     Controlling Symptoms of Hormone Hypersecretion By: Lowell Anthony, M.D.

 9:45 am – 10:15 am     Improvements in NET Imaging By: Riham El Khouli, M.D.

 10:15 am – 11:00 am     What is PRRT?  Results of the Randomized Phase III Clinical Trial By: Larry Kvols, M.D.

 11:00 am – 11:15 am     Break

 11:15 am – 11:45 am     Clinical Trials in NET  By: Aman Chauhan, M.D.

 11:45 am – 12:30 pm     Questions and Answers

 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm     Lunch

 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm     Patient Experiences

 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm     Support Group Session

For more information and to by YOUR ticket to the 2017 Kentucky Neuroendocrine Cancer Patient Conference on Saturday, April 22nd, click HERE!

Produced by: NCAN Bandaid

Don’t Miss the 2017 Charlotte NET Patient Conference!

~ Tricia Wahmann-Knatz ~ Leave a comment

NCAN has officially opened up registration for the 2017 Charlotte NET Patient Conference for Saturday, March 25th, 2017!

Agenda:

8 AM – 9 AM     Registration and Breakfast

9 AM – 9:10 AM     Welcome- Tricia Wahmann, NCAN

9:10 – 9:45 AM     Surgery and Related Therapies for NET Liver Metastasis- David Iannitti, MD

9:45 – 10:15 AM     NET Clinical Trials- Reza Nazemzadeh, MD

10:15 – 10:30 AM     Break

10:30 AM – 11:00 AM     Treating NETS: A Gastroenterologist’s Perspective-Matthew Eves, MD

11:00 – 11:30 AM     New Medical Treatment Options for Carcinoid / NET Cancer Patients- Brian Morse, MD

11:30 – 12:30 PM     Question and Answer

12:30 – 1:30 PM     Lunch

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM     The Significance of Patient Advocacy- Maryann Wahmann, Ronda Ayala, Judy Golz

2:30 PM – 2:45 PM     Break

2:45 PM – 3:45 PM     Networking for Patients

Meet the Speakers:

David Iannitti, MD- Surgery

Dr. Iannitti is the Chief of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic (HBP) Surgery. In addition to clinical research in the area of surgical approaches to treat diseases of the digestive tract, he is engaged in basic research that focuses on the development and characterization of microwave ablation technology for the ablation of tumor masses. Dr. Iannitti also collaborates closely with Dr. McKillop in ongoing projects that address the fundamental pathophysiology of Hepatocellular carcinoma development and progression. Dr. Iannitti also oversees the HBP Fellows program at CMC including the research and clinical components. 

Reza Nazemzadeh MD- Medical Oncology

Dr. Nazemzadeh graduated from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 2000. He works in Charlotte, NC and specializes in Hematology/Oncology. Dr. Nazemzadeh is affiliated with Carolinas Medical Center.

Matthew Eves, MD- Gastroenterology

Dr. Matthew Eves is a gastroenterologist in Mobile, Alabama and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Huntsville Hospital and Mizell Memorial Hospital. He received his medical degree from University of South Alabama College of Medicine

Brian Morse, MD- Radiology

Dr. Morse is an Assistant Member in the diagnostic Imaging section of Moffitt Cancer Center and holds a co-appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncologic Sciences at the University of South Florida.  He received a BA in Microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.D. from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.  He completed his radiology residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas where he served as radiology chief-resident during his final year.  After residency, Dr. Morse completed fellowship training in cross-sectional imaging with an emphasis in body MRI at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Dr. Morse is a reviewer for several journals and has published multiple articles in peer-reviewed journals.  His clinical expertise includes the use of computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiographs and fluoroscopy to diagnose cancer and assess treatment response, particularly of the gastrointestinal and genitourinary organs.  His research interests focus on imaging of neuroendocrine tumors.

Important information about this conference:

Where: Charlotte Marriott SouthPark – 2200 Rexford Road, Charlotte, NC 20211

Cost: $20 includes: breakfast, lunch, and breaks.

Special Rate for the hotel is available when booked BEFORE March 3rd. $129/night. You can book your room here!

Self-Parking is FREE.

To sign up for your spot at the 2017 Charlotte NET Patient Conference on Saturday, March 25th, 2017, please click here!

NCAN’s 13th Annual ‘Celebration of Life’ Gala and the ‘Above and Beyond’ Award Honoree

~ Tricia Wahmann-Knatz ~ Leave a comment

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Saturday, November 12th, 2016 was NCAN’s 13th Annual ‘Celebration of Life’ Gala in Bethpage, NY. Held at The Sterling, it was a beautiful evening of dancing, raffles, laughs, and good food!

The Gala is always one of my favorite fundraisers because it really is a celebration. We take the time to not only focus on the cause of NET Cancer, its awareness and fundraising but taking a moment to really enjoy and celebrate time with family and friends.

Every year at the ‘Celebration of Life’ Gala, NCAN takes the opportunity to honor someone who is invaluable to the NET community by presenting the ‘Above and Beyond’ award. Past recipients include Dr. Hal Gerstein, also honoring Dr. Gene Woltering and Dr. Tom O’Dorisio. This year, NCAN has honored Dr. Edward Wolin who is very well known throughout the community for his commitment to NET Cancer and his patients.

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As Director of the Neuroendocrine Tumor Program at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care, Dr. Wolin brings a robust research program to Montefiore, including multiple clinical trials. His research efforts focus on finding treatments which are more effective and less toxic, including m-TOR inhibitors, targeted radiation including PRRT, anti-angiogenic drugs, novel targeted biologic anti-cancer treatments, and targeted treatment of liver metastases. Dr. Wolin’s research is also directed at development of new imaging and diagnostic procedures for carcinoid/neuroendocrine tumors.

Dr. Wolin is an internationally recognized Neuroendocrine Medical Oncologist. Patients from all over the United States and abroad come to see him for access to personalized care and the latest diagnostic and therapy programs.

Dr. Wolin was previously the Director of Neuroendocrine and GI Oncology Program and the Director of Clinical Research at the University of Kentucky Medical Center.  For the preceding 26 years, he held key positions at Cedars–Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he founded and directed of one of the largest and most productive Carcinoid and Neuroendocrine Tumor Programs in the country. As you can see, Ed Wolin is one of the foremost experts and best friends that neuroendocrine cancer patients have! For more information on how to reach Dr. Wolin, you can check out a brief profile on him from a previous post here.

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‘Above and Beyond’ Award Honoree – Dr. Ed Wolin and his wife, Susan.

 

Overall, it was a very successful night for NCAN and the NET community. Take a look here at some of NCAN’s wonderful prizes, the big winners of the TV, and one of the delicious cakes!

For more information on how YOU can get involved with NCAN’s 14th Annual ‘Celebration of Life’ Gala on November 11th, 2017, keep your eyes out here and be sure to watch out at NETCANCERAWARENESS.ORG for details! For help in hosting your own fundraising event for NET Cancer near YOU, send me a message here and I’d be happy to assist you.

NCAN would really love to thank all of the volunteers, donors, attendees, and sponsors for all of their time and support! Without you, events like this amazing night would not be possible!

NCAN’s 13th Annual ‘Celebration of Life’ Gala was sponsored by:

NET Cancer Day and Other Exciting News

~ Tricia Wahmann-Knatz ~ Leave a comment

Happy NET Cancer Day, Zebras and Co!

I hope everyone is ready to get out and spread awarenesss of NET Cancer all day.

NCAN has been busily preparing for today:

I’m so happy to announce NCAN’s NEW website launch today! Be sure to take a look right here to check it out!

Also, to celebrate NET Cancer Day, NCAN has released the recordings from the 2016 NATIONAL CONFERENCE from NOLA this past September! Be sure to check these out as they are only FREE through NOVEMBER 30th! Be sure to keep an eye out for new programs from NCAN due out THIS DECEMBER! To take a look at the 2016 NATIONAL NET PATIENT CONFERENCE, please visit HERE!

In celebration for NET Cancer Day and due to the large volume of photos and requests for more time to submit, NCAN will be taking your ZEBRA RIBBON and NET Cancer Day photos through November 13th. Please submit all and any photos of you celebrating today to netcanceraware@aol.com. This video will be released on or about November 15th!

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LET’S PUT AN END TO NET CANCER! GET YOUR ZEBRA ON!

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Call to Action: NET Cancer Awareness

~ Tricia Wahmann-Knatz ~ Leave a comment

Attention All Neuroendocrine/ Carcinoid Cancer Patients, Caregivers, family and friends! Help us bring Awareness to this deadly disease! This is something everyone can do!

Many of you know that November is NET Cancer Awareness Month with NET Cancer Awareness Day on November 10th.

We are asking everyone to wrap or hang zebra ribbons around your community. Trees, mail boxes, telephone poles, hang on front doors, or be creative in your neighborhood in order to help create some buzz surrounding NET Cancer.

All you need to do is get any type of Zebra ribbon. (They can be found in many stores such as Walmart, AC Moore, Michaels, or card stores) and hang them around where the general public where people would question what the Zebra ribbon is for.

NCAN is asking that you take pictures of you, and your family, friends with the ribbon and submit them via e-mail to netcanceraware@aol.com. In your email, please include that you are standing up for the Neuroendocrine Cancer community or in honor or memory of a love one. Please make sure you include the names.

NCAN will be making a video collage to be posted on Youtube, Facebook, and NCAN’s website, as well as here on NETCancerAwarenessBlog.

NCAN is working on getting some press releases out and some media coverage about this for the NET community.

If you have questions feel free to call the NCAN office at (866) 850-9555.

For more information about NET Cancer go to www.netcancerawareness.org

Please invite your family and friends to join!

Get Your Zebra On!

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Raising NET Cancer Awareness, One Step at a Time

~ Tricia Wahmann-Knatz ~ 1 Comment

With NET Cancer Awareness Month coming up, we have several awareness events throughout the country. Here’s just a reminder of a few of these walks we have going on:

Saturday, October 22nd, 2016: NCAN’s 8th Annual ‘Strides for Stripes’ Walk on Long Island, NY.

Location: Parking Field 5 at Eisenhower Park – 1899 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow, NY 11554

Time: 10:30AM

Registration: Pre-registration is $35, Day of Registration is $50

Included in registration fee is:

  • T-shirt (first come, first serve basis)
  • Other assorted prizes based on amount raised
  • Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate, Water, and assorted snack bars
  • Light lunch and snacks

This event is always a lot of fun, so be sure to come on out!

To register for the walk on Long Island, please click here!

Saturday, November 5th, 2016: NCAN’s 1st Annual ‘Strides for Stripes’ Walk in Charlotte, NC. (Also, Charlotte Area Support Group Meeting to follow.)

Location: Independence Park – 300 Hawthorne Lane, Charlotte, NC 28204

Time: 10:30AM – T-Shirt Pick-Up/Registration

Registration: $25

Registration includes:

  • T-Shirt – First come, first serve if NOT pre-registered
  • Water, Coffee, Snack
  • Light Lunch
  • Support Group Meeting

To register for the Charlotte, NC walk, please click here!

Saturday, November 12th, 2016: The Neuroendocrine Cancer Connection‘s First Annual Strolling for Stripes in Jacksonville, NC.

Location: Jacksonville Commons Rec. Center, Shelter 1

Time: 10AM-12PM

For more information, please contact Karen Connell at (910) 545-7513.

If there is not a NET Cancer Awareness Walk in your area:

NCAN’s Virtual ‘Strides for Stripes’ Walk – Giving you the freedom to walk wherever and whenever is convienient for you!

With a Virtual Walk You Decide Where and When– Since a virtual walk is one you can do anywhere…anytime, it is good for those whose schedule is very busy, who aren’t close to the Long Island or another scheduled event or can’t physically participate. Below is a guide that’s full of ideas to help you plan your own Virtual Walk (or another fundraising event) and help support the fight against Neuroendocrine Cancer.

We ask that you set aside some time to put on your t-shirt with family and friends to walk wherever works for you.

Registration is $35 per walker, within the US only. NCAN will ship your shirt out to you.

Virtual Walk Guide: Fun Ideas for Your Virtual Walk

VIRTUAL WALKERS- If you want to walk on your own, that’s fine! If you’re a person who likes to get people together, why not create your own community fundraising event by planning a walk or other event in your community. You can plan a walk or another type of event like a wine tasting or a bowl-a-thon. By registering as a team on the virtual walk website, your team page would be about your event specifically. Those individuals that choose to join your “team” can fundraise on the website. You can watch the progress of your event and send emails to your contact list encouraging their participation and support.

You may choose to walk around your community, in a local park, indoors at a mall or even on a treadmill at a gym! Your Virtual Walk is a reflection of you, and is as personal as your reasons for joining the fight against this deadly disease.

Not sure where to start? Here are a few ideas.

  • Walk in a mall
  • Take a walking tour of your town
  • Make your grocery shopping or another shopping trip YOUR walk to fight neuroendocrine cancer
  • Belong to a gym? Walk a treadmill, and enlist other members to walk with you
  • Even if you can’t walk, get people involved with a board game, bus trip, beanbag toss- you can be as creative as you want!

To join in on the ‘Strides for Stripes’ Virtual Walk, click here!

If you are interested in help starting up a NET Cancer Awareness Walk in YOUR area, please send me an email at tricia@netcancerawareness.org or send me a text with your Name, Phone Number, Location, letting me know that you’d like some assistance at (516) 366-4497 and I would be more than happy to help you out!

#StripesforNETCancer Contest!

~ Tricia Wahmann-Knatz ~ Leave a comment

Happy Friday beautiful Zebras and Co!

I have a great contest that will be going on this weekend and it starts as soon as this post goes live!

Yesterday, Snapchat released a supercool Zebra lens! With this comes an awesome opportunity for the NET community to come together and take advantage of this to spread awareness!!

So here are the details:

What do I need to do?: Take a picture of yourself using the Zebra Snapchat lens and post it to Instagram.

When does it run?: Friday, April 22nd, 2016 at 9AM EST through Sunday, April 24th, 2016 at 11:59PM EST.

How many times can I enter?: Unlimited BUT each picture must be a different picture so you can take pictures of your kids, spouse, neighbor, friend, family, whoever. Be sure if they are on Instagram, to tag them or at least give them credit for being in the photo!

To be eligible:

  1. You must tag or give credit to whom the picture is of
  2. You must tag @netcancerawarenessblog
  3. You must use the hashtags #StripesforNETCancer #NETCancer #NETCancerAwareness and #BigNETConference
  4. And you must be following @netcancerawarenessblog on Instagram

So what is the prize, you ask? You will get a free registration to the 2016 National NET Patient Conference this coming September! This is a $125 saving!!!

What if I’ve already registered?: Don’t worry, you can participate also! If you win, when we contact you, that will be taken care of!

How will you determine the winner?: I will be using a random drawing app to draw the winner.

The winner will be announced at 10:30AM EST on Monday, April 25th, 2016!

*By entering the contest, you are giving me, Tricia Wahmann-Knatz, NETCancerAwarenessBlog, and NCAN permission to use your photos in our photo database for future awareness usage.

If you would like to send us your photo to be a part of the upcoming Awareness poster but DO NOT want to be entered into this contest, please to ALL of the above EXCEPT the hashtag #BigNETConference.

I can’t wait to see you show your #StripesforNETCancer!!!

Have a great weekend!

Tricia

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P.S. Keep an eye out tomorrow morning for our next Speaker Spotlight!