Tumor Marker History

    Here are my tumor markers since April of 2014. 

                 CA15-3(0-31.3)    CEA(0-4.6)

5/13/15              28.7               3.4

3/24/15              40.3               9.5

2/6/15                36.8               7.0

1/8/15                34.8               7.4 

12/11/14            28.7               6.9

11/3/14              29                  7.4

10/16/14           30.2               7.7

8/8/14               36.9               7.1

7/24/14             40.3               7.1

6/26/14             36.9               3.7

6/3/14               33.4               3.7

5/6/14               26.8               3.1

4/8/14               27.3               2.4

Tumor Markers are not absolute proof of what the cancer is doing or if it's growing or not. It is one indicator of what could be going on. This test is used with other information to guide my treatments and decisions. 

Life on Halaven

I have been on this chemo, Halaven, for a while now, but I haven't had very many full treatments and I didn't know if it was working. A full treatment means to receive both doses one week a part. So the first dose is on a Wednesday and the second dose is on the following Wednesday. The next week is a break and I don't get any chemo while I rest up and get ready for another round to kick my butt again. For one reason or another, many of the treatments have been interrupted and so the effectiveness of this particular chemo has not been determined and since I lost my hair for it, I would like it to be highly effective! Aside from loosing my hair, it has been one of the hardest treatments I have had. My legs are weak, numb and tingly. I am nauseated most days, I have headaches, and every tastes terrible. Except Reese's Puffs Cereal! I missed treatments because my blood tests would show I wasn't healthy enough, once I had to get a blood transfusion, that worked and I haven't needed another one since! Thanks again for all of the support and blood donations!! You guys are amazing! Other times I just didn't have a tumor marker test because the new doctor that came and went didn't believe in basing treatment on markers so much so that he rarely would test them. (I never let treatment stop or slow down with him, but he did over rule my requests to test the markers. Ironic since testing was the one thing many thought he did way too much of.) Anyway, I either didn't get enough consecutive treatments to test, or I wasn't getting a test to see if this chemo was effective. After talking with Dr. Hsu, he is substituting for himself :), we made it through enough treatments and then got the tests! I was pretty nervous but cried real tears of joy when I got the results! . My CA-15-3 went from 40.3 to 28.7, normal is 0-31.1. My CEA went from 9.5 to 3.4, normal is 0-4.6. You can see I went from off the charts to "normal". So I will continue to take this chemo until I am "normal" long enough for the doctors to determine I will stay there without the treatment. Until then I will happily be bald and feel like crap.

Radiation? Check!

Today was my 10th and final day of radiation. I'm exhausted! The cancer in my bones had gone into my right shoulder and was causing a lot of pain. It was hard to unload the dishwasher or even pour a glass of tea. After about 5 sessions of radiation, I could already feel a difference. Now it feels better than I can remember. My dad drove me to all of my appointments and I loved speeding the time with him. At first I thought I would just drive myself, but I'm glad he took me. There were so many days that I was too tired to drive. That's one thing about radiation, you might see positive results quickly, but it makes you tired just as fast. There have been a number of days that I took a nap for 6-7 hours. My brain is like mud. It's hard to concentrate on reading, even texts! But it's all up from here! I've finished my last session and will continue to feel better and will hopefully be able to stay awake longer than a newborn baby.