The doctors previously thought the tumor on his pancreas must be the primary, but on last month's octreoscan it didn't "light up". That means it probably isn't a carcinoid tumor. Although this is good news, it means his primary tumor still hasn't been found.
Merlynn has devoted many, many hours to studying carcinoid cancer and neuroendocrine tumors. I really believe he now knows more than most of the doctors in our area. We feel we're ready to help others who have this awful disease, and we feel we can learn from them as well, so we're starting the first support group for carcinoid cancer in Utah. We've met or spoken with several people who have helped us set it up, and our group is now listed on many cancer websites and other information sources. Our first meeting will be at the Intemountain Medical Center on March 13. It's been interesting to hear from several people from other states who have wanted to help, and so far, three people have signed up to join our group. Here's the information as it's been published:
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with carcinoid/NETs or have an interest in learning more, you are invited to join our Utah Carcinoid Cancer Support Group. We will meet beginning March 13 from 6 - 8 pm and continue to meet the second Wednesday of May, July, September and November at the Intermountain Medical Center Campus in Murray. Click here, http://www.carcinoid.org/support/support-groups/directory, for contact information. Please check the Utah listing to register for the new group.
We had fun designing a logo for our support group. We wanted to use Delicate Arch in our logo since it's so closely associated with Utah. We found this awesome artwork by artist, Rory Walker. We wrote and asked permission to use it and he so graciously gave us the okay. I thought his response was so sweet:
Dear Merlynn,
Thank you for writing and asking permission to use my image in your logo. As it so happens cancer is sadly something that's very much in the forefront of my mind of late. It would be my pleasure to allow you to use the painting, and I hope it can (in whatever sense) go some way to giving the members of your group a small amount of support and encouragement in difficult times. I have a love affair with Utah and could happily spend endless days exploring it. I've been to visit a couple of times, and maybe one day will get the opportunity for further exploration. If you have a website or group page link that I could write about on my website to help spread the word that would be great.
All the best,
Kind regards,
Rory Walker
The zebra is the symbol for carcinoid cancer, (see earlier posts) so that's why we've also incorporated it into the logo. (I purchased the zebra from a clip art site.)
We know it will take some time to build, but we're excited about the potential of our new support group. We'll see how our first meeting goes.
