Good News & Bad News

On Friday the 13th, I went in for my blood tumor marker test, and on Monday, I got the results.

First the bad news. My tumor markers went up again. My CEA went up to 5 (with the range being 0 - 2.5) and my CA 19-9 went up to 52 (range is 0 - 37). Now, that in itself is not an indication that the tumor as returned, but the fact that the markers have continually risen over the past year could fall nicely into the bad things category.

The next step is a CT scan, which is scheduled for tomorrow (Monday). We're praying that the scan will show nothing, and the fact that the markers went up is just a fluke. I'll post again after I get the results.

Now, the good news. As you may remember from previous posts, my triglycerides were extremely high. About 6 months ago, they were up to 1140 (they should be below 150). After being on 1 gram of Niaspan for three months, the went down to 668. My doc had my up the prescription of Niaspan to 2 grams per day, and with this last test, they went down again to 406. My overall cholesterol also went down to 146 (down from 200 six months ago).

So, how am I doing with the high tumor markers? I must admit when I first got the results, I started to get scared. All the fears of recurrence started flooding my mind. Will I need more chemo? Will I need another surgery? Will I end up with a permanent ostomy? One of the things about having cancer is that little nagging voice in the back of your brain, trying to convince you the worse is going to happen.

Even though nothing has changed, and I don't have any results of the CT scan yet, I am doing better. Emotionally, I'm a bit nervous about the scan and the tumor markers, but I also reminded myself that no one knows what will happen to them. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow, so we need to live life and enjoy it. I'm thankful for my wife, my friends and family and the fact that right now, I have one more day.

Of course we are praying that everything works out fine. G-d has been very good to us, and we can do nothing more than to put this situation into His hands, and pray that He will continue to give us the strength we need to get past this hurddle.

And it doesn't need to be said, but I'll say it anyway, all of your prayers and support are welcomed and cherished.

Kevin