Whew!!

Well, I had my CT Scan done this morning. Drank the gallon (at least it seemed like a gallon) of the contrast, got my scan and they finally let me go.

I thought I wouldn't get the results until tomorrow, but my oncologist called me today abour 5 PM. Because of the rise in tumor markers, at first I started to panic. Then he said, "I just got the report, and there was no significant change." I said, "Whew, thank you!!" He replied, "I thought you might like to know." I said, "Yes I did, thank you very much."

So, that was the good news. And I was able to breathe again.

For those who have never seen a CT scan report, here are some of the more interesting comments:

-- Evaluation of the supraclavicular and axillary regions reveal no evidence of lymphadenopathy.

OK, I have no idea what that means, but I guess it's a good thing.

Here's the last two comments:

-- Healing left posterior rib fracture (I never even knew I had a rib fracture.)

-- Comparison was made with with a previous examination of July 28th, 2006. There has been no significant interval change. (That was the best part).

So, with that good scan, I'm not going to worry to much about the rise in my tumor markers and just wait to see what the next round of tumor marker test show.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayersl. I never take any of them for granted.

Kevin

A Couple of Things...

First thing, I had my tumor marker test done last Thursday. I haven't seen the report, but my oncologist called today to let me know some of the results. The liver functions were fine, my cholesterol was 200 (that went up), and my CEA was 3.7. That was the bad part. The normal range for CEA is 0 - 2.5. The highest it ever got before was 3.1 and last time it was 3.0. So it was a bit of a jump. My oncologist didn't seem too worried about it, and said that I might want to get another test in a couple of months. I might give Dr. Sugarbaker a call tomorrow and see what he says about the jump.

I also have a CT scan coming up, so if that is stable, then i won't worry too much about the CEA numbers.

The other thing is my complaint about blasted insurance companies. I'm thankful that they pay my bills, but they sure make everything else difficult. With both of my surgeries, my insurance company never paid the full amount the first time. They paid part of it, then I would get a bill from the hospital, have to call the insurance company, get them to resubmit the bill and finally pay it all the second time. It got so bad that a couple of years ago the anesthesiologist sent my bill to a collection agent because my insurance company didn't pay. I called the insurance company and they said they would pay it.

So, jump ahead to last week. I get a call from the collection agency again saying the bill that the insurance company didn't pay the first time, it overdue. Turns out, they never paid it. Now, I have to wait for the information from the collection agency, call the insurance company again, then hope that they finally get things right two years later.

Stupid insurance company.