Caring for Carcinoid Foundation - Living with Carcinoid

"In the past, people with a chronic illness (an illness a person lives with for several years such as cancer) were often advised by their doctor to rest and to avoid physical activity. This may still be true if movement produces severe pain, rapid heart rate, or breathlessness. But for many people with cancer, regular exercise is beneficial. It is an effective way to counteract the negative effects of inactivity in chronic illness. Too much rest and lack of physical activity may result in loss of function in the person with a chronic illness. Hence, patients are being encouraged more and more to be physically active."

American Cancer Society - Physical Activity and the Cancer Patient

National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship - Exercise

"Exercise? Now?

The notion of exercise, when a person is in the middle of chemotherapy or radiation, or recovering from surgery, may sound pretty strange — and yet there is mounting evidence to show that exercise, even just a little, while undergoing cancer treatment can help you feel better and have a better quality of life."

National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship - Exercise

People Living with Cancer - Physical Activity and Cancer

"Physical activity is good for everyone. Physical activity can reduce the risk of certain cancers, improve quality of life, and is helpful for reducing stress in people living with cancer."

People Living with Cancer - Physical Activity and Cancer

Nutrition

Nutrition plays an important role in living with carcinoid, according to Novartis:

"Your health care team will discuss different lifestyle changes you can make that may also help control the symptoms of carcinoid syndrome. One such change is your diet. Avoiding alcohol and spicy foods may help prevent flushing. In addition, there are several dietary substitutions you can make to help prevent diarrhea."

Dietary substitutions to prevent diarrhea - Novartis

More broadly, nutrition plays an important role in fighting any cancer:

Nutrition - Cancer Talk Show (video)

Nutrition in Cancer Care - National Cancer Institute

Nutrition of the Cancer Patient - American Institute for Cancer Research

Eating Hints for Cancer Patients: Before, During & After Treatment - National Cancer Institute

Cancer Nutrition Info

The following organizations provide information on cancer drugs and other prescription drugs. This information includes how the drugs work, how they are administered, potential side effects, and known interaction risks:

American Cancer Society - Guide to Cancer Drugs

"The following reference contains basic information about cancer treatment medicines and commonly used medicines that individuals with cancer may be taking to relieve symptoms."

American Cancer Society - Guide to Cancer Drugs

DrugDigest

"DrugDigest is a noncommercial, evidence-based, consumer health and drug information site dedicated to empowering consumers to make informed choices about drugs and treatment options."

DrugDigest

Drugs.com

"Welcome to the most popular, comprehensive and up-to-date drug information resource online. Fast, easy searching of over 24,000 approved medications."

Drugs.com

MedlinePlus

"Prescription and over-the-counter medication information."

MedlinePlus

National Cancer Institute - Drug Dictionary

"Welcome to the NCI Drug Dictionary, which contains technical definitions and synonyms for more than 500 agents that are being used in the treatment of patients with cancer or cancer-related conditions."

National Cancer Institute - Drug Dictionary

WebMD - Drugs & Tests

"WebMD has always been the place to come to for drug information. Now, it's even better than before. Your new drug and herb page has easier access, faster update, pictures, and critical information on drug interactions and side effects for more than 60,000 medications, herbs, and supplements."

WebMD - Drugs & Tests

Medical Dictionaries

The following medical dictionaries answer a wide range of medical questions. They provide definitions of medical terms, doctor's views and responses, health news, and related information:

MedTerms - Medical Dictionary

"MedTerms online medical dictionary is the medical reference for MedicineNet.com, containing easy-to-understand explanations of over 16,000 medical terms."

MedTerms - Medical Dictionary

National Cancer Institute - Dictionary of Cancer Terms

"Welcome to the NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms, which contains more than 4,000 terms related to cancer and medicine."

National Cancer Institute - Dictionary of Cancer Terms

Online Libraries

The following online libraries provide information on carcinoid:

BioMed Central

"BioMed Central is an independent publishing house committed to providing immediate open access to peer-reviewed biomedical research."

BioMed Central

National Library of Medicine

"The National Library of Medicine is the world's largest medical library. The Library collects materials and provides information and research services in all areas of biomedicine and health care."

National Library of Medicine

PubMed

"PubMed is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to the 1950s."

PubMed

Peer Review Journals

The following peer review journals provide information on carcinoid:

Journal of Clinical Oncology

"The Journal of Clinical Oncology serves its readers as the single most credible, authoritative resource for disseminating significant clinical oncology research."

Journal of Clinical Oncology

Journal of the American Medical Association

"JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), published continuously since in 1883, is an international peer-reviewed general medical journal published 48 times per year. JAMA is the most widely circulated medical journal in the world."

Journal of the American Medical Association

New England Journal of Medicine

"Peer-reviewed medical journal online featuring current medical research information, reviews and articles for biomedical science, internal medicine and clinical practice."

New England Journal of Medicine

The Oncologist

"The Oncologist is devoted to medical and practice issues for surgical, radiation, and medical oncologists and is designed specifically for the busy practitioner entrusted with the care of adult or pediatric cancer patients. With emphasis on clear, concise interpretation, this international peer-reviewed journal publishes original papers, reviews, and commentaries addressing the multimodality diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life of the cancer patient."

The Oncologist

Services

Counseling

The following organizations provide counseling services to cancer patients:

Cancer Hope Network

"At Cancer Hope Network, we provide free, confidential, one-on-one support to people with cancer and their families.

We match patients with trained volunteers who have themselves undergone a similar experience.

And we provide support and hope, to help patients and families look beyond the diagnosis, cope with treatment, and start living life to its fullest once again."

Cancer Hope Network

CancerCare

"Learning that you or your loved one has cancer can be frightening and overwhelming. Talking to a professional about your concerns, a practice known as counseling, can help you feel more hopeful and in control.

Counseling is not just about emotions, though. It also includes practical concerns, such as how to tell your children or your boss that you have cancer. Counseling will give you tools to manage the cancer experience."

Counseling - CancerCare

LiveStrong

"The LiveStrong SurvivorCare program offers counseling services, help with financial, employment or insurance issues and information about treatment options and new treatments in development.

LiveStrong SurvivorCare is for all cancer survivors, including those diagnosed, caregivers, family and friends."

LiveStrong SurvivorCare

Financial Assistance

Drugs

Novartis provides information on insurance coverage for Sandostatin:

"After your doctor prescribes monthly injections of Sandostatin LAR® Depot, one of the first questions you will probably have is, "Will my insurance pay for it?" The answer will depend on the details of your individual insurance coverage, but drugs given by a health care professional are reimbursable under most plans. To assist you with your questions about health insurance coverage, Novartis, the maker of Sandostatin LAR® Depot, sponsors a free hotline staffed by an independent health care consulting team: Call 1-877-LAR-HELP."

Sandostatin Reimbursement - Novartis

Novartis also offers a Patient Assistance Program for Sandostatin:

"Novartis is committed to providing access to our medications for those most in need through the Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation's Patient Assistance Program (PAP). PAP provides assistance to patients experiencing financial hardship who have no third party insurance coverage for their medicines."

Sandostatin Patient Assistance Program - Novartis

The following websites provide information on patient assistance programs for all drugs:

HealthWell Foundation

Partnership for Prescription Assistance

RxHope

Medical Care

Medical Insurance and Financial Assistance for the Cancer Patient - American Cancer Society

How to Find Financial Aid and Advice - American Association for Cancer Research

Financial Help for People with Cancer - CancerCare

Housing Assistance

Hope Lodge - American Cancer Society

"Getting the right care sometimes means cancer patients must travel away from home, often to a cancer treatment facility in another city, which places even more of an emotional and financial burden during what is already a challenging time.

The American Cancer Society is trying to make this difficult situation easier for cancer patients and their families through 22 Hope Lodges – free, temporary housing facilities for cancer patients who are undergoing treatment. But Hope Lodges are more than just a place to stay – they provide a home-like nurturing environment, so patients can get support from others going through the same experience. A cancer survivor’s recovery involves much more than medical treatments; it takes hope to heal.

Hope Lodge offers the warmth and security of home in a setting where the love and encouragement of others enlighten and inspire guests. At Hope Lodge, guests rally around each other, building life-affirming connections and lifetime friendships."

Hope Lodge - American Cancer Society

National Association of Hospital Hospitality Houses

"A home that helps and heals is a place where families and patients may lodge overnight while receiving treatment at a medical facility. It is not for profit, serves the needs of the patient and the family, and endeavors to provide community to its guests."

National Association of Hospital Hospitality Houses

Travel Assistance

The following organizations provide travel assistance, including free flights, to cancer patients seeking treatment:

Air Care Alliance

"The Air Care Alliance is a nationwide league of humanitarian flying organizations whose volunteer pilots are dedicated to community service. This ACA site will introduce you to us and to all the groups we list whose volunteers perform public benefit flying for health care, patient transport, disaster relief, environmental support, and other missions of public service."

Air Care Alliance

Angel Flight America

"Angel Flight America - a national network of seven member organizations - arranges free flights of hope and healing by transporting patients and their families in private small airplanes to specialized medical treatment facilities. We also arrange free flights in the event of a national crisis or whenever there is a compelling human need."

Angel Flight America

Corporate Angel Network

"Corporate Angel Network is the only charitable organization in the USA whose sole mission is to ease the emotional stress, physical discomfort and financial burden of travel for cancer patients by arranging free flights to treatment centers, using the empty seats on corporate aircraft flying on routine business."

Corporate Angel Network

Patient Travel

"Our goal is to ensure that no financially-needy patient is denied access to distant specialized medical evaluation, diagnosis or treatment for lack of a means of medical air transportation."

Patient Travel