Time For An Update

Well, it's that time again. I had my blood tumor markers taken this week. On Monday as a matter of fact. I wasn't that anxious about it, but I wasn't totally calm about it either. There's always that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that keeps asking "What if?" Fortunately this time, I didn't need an answer to "What if?" My tumor markers were fine. Whew!

My CEA was 3.0. Still slightly out of range, but it hasn't really moved much in 6 months. In Feb it was 3.0, then in April it went down to 2.9, then this week back up to 3.0. The high range is really 2.5, but the fact that it hasn't been moving up farther is a good thing.

My CA 19-9 went down from 34 to 25. I was starting to get a little worried about it climbing, but now that it dropped, I feel better. The range on that is 0 - 37.

I have also started to have my PSA tested (which is a marker for prostate cancer) and that has been fine as well. This time it was 0.81. The range is 0 - 4.0.

The only bad news was that my triclycerides were still high. My overall cholesterol is fine, well below 200, but the triclycerides are a problem. So, I just started taking Tricor, a prescription medicine that should help lower them. We'll see what happens with the next blood test in 3 months.

So, once again, I can breathe easy. Which is good, 'cuz where going on vacation. Today, Roni and I fly to Seattle, WA, where we'll stay over night, then board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship on Friday for a cruise to Alaska. It's a cruise with all of my family, so it should be fun. Really, I'm not kidding. :-)

It's a seven day cruise, and after the cruise, we spend another night in Seattle then come home July 22nd.

Now for some other good news. I have been published in a magazine! Well, I didn't write the article, but my blog was highlighted, and one of my posts was published.

A few months ago, I got an email from person who works for CR magazine, which is published by American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). She asked if I would like my blog to be mentioned in the magazine and I said of course. Any opportunity to get publicity for our PMP Awareness site, and our PMP BellyButton group is gladly taken. So the article was done and the magazine was just recently published. Here is the link to the magazine:

CR Magazine

And here is the link to the article:

Cancerblog - Online Catharsis

It's a good magazine and I hope you enjoy the article.

That's all the news for now. When I return from vacation, it will be time to schedule a CT scan. Oh joy. :-(

When I get the results for that, I'll let you all know.

Thank you to everyone who keeps me in your prayers and thoughts. I am forever grateful.

Kevin