Hi Teresa,

The day after Thanksgiving, I had really bad epigastric pain with nausea and vomiting. I went to the ER and they did a gallbladder ultrasound, which showed something in the pancreas. They then did a CT and saw the tumor. I haven’t had any pain or further symptoms since that day. The tumor presses against my stomach and the duodenum, so maybe the big Thanksgiving meal contributed to the symptoms, or maybe the drinks I had (I don’t usually drink) induced a mild pancreatitis. Regardless, I have fortunate been fine since and have never had any symptoms to indicate that this is a functioning NET.

I definitely agree with you that I need to see a NET specialist because when I saw the GI oncologist, he told me he doesn’t even like to call NET’s “cancer” and at the end of the appointment he said, “You’re not going to die from this.” Meanwhile, we haven’t even staged it yet and don’t know if it’s metastasized beyond the lymph nodes, and the tumor is only borderline resectable, so I thought that was an awfully cavalier statement to make. I have an appointment with a NET specialist on 1/12, the week after my scan. I just want to get some treatment started! The waiting is hard.

Thank you for welcoming me to the group. I’ll keep you posted!

Kate