December's Tumor Markers

I received my tumor marker numbers today - my treatment was yesterday. The CEA was up to 10.5 (from 7.6 last month) and the CA15-3 was up to 38.5 (from 36.4 last month). Anything less than 3.8 is normal for the CEA and anything less than 33 is good for the CA15-3.

1/2008 - 1.2 ng/mL
3/2008 - 0.9 ng/mL
6/2008 - 1.0 ng/mL
8/2008 - 1.1 ng/mL (need to double check this number, but it was in that 0.9 to 1.2 range)
9/2008 - 0.5 ng/mL
10/2008 - 0.9 ng/mL
10/31/2008 - 1.2 ng/mL
11/28/2008 - 1.2 ng/mL
12/30/2008 - 1.1 ng/mL
3/2/2009 - 1.4 ng/mL
4/8/2009 - 1.6 ng/mL
5/5/2009 - 1.9 ng/mL
6/4/2009 - 3.0 ng/mL
7/2/2009 - 3.7 ng/mL
8/3/2009 - 4.2 ng/mL
8/31/2009 - 5.1 ng/mL
10/2/2009 - 5.7 ng/mL (or was it 5.8?)
11/2/2009 - 7.6 ng/mL
11/30/2009 - 10.5 ng/mL

And, here's the CA15-3.

Sept 2007 - 23 U/mL
Jan 2008 - 31 U/mL
Mar 2008 - 36 U/mL
June 2008 - 23 U/mL (started radiation that month)
Aug 2008 - 18 U/mL (week of August 4th)
Sept 2008 - 14.5 U/mL YAAAAAAY!!!
Oct 1 2008 - 19.6 U/mL
Oct 31 2008 - 15.3 U/mL
Nov 28 2008 - 19.5 U/mL
Dec 30 2008 - 16.0 U/mL
Jan 22 2009 - 15.4 U/mL
Mar 2 2009 - 17.8 U/mL
Apr 8 2009 - 19.6 U/mL
May 5 2009 - 18.4 U/mL
June 4 2009 - 19.7 U/mL
July 2 2009 - 22.1 U/mL
Aug 3 2009 - 29.7 U/mL
August 31 2009 - 31.9 U/mL
Oct 3 2009 - 38.7 U/mL
Nov 2 2009 - 36.4 U/mL
Nov 30 2009 - 38.5 U/mL

Hmm, how does one interpret these results? A reminder of what the nurse told me last month, which is that sometimes the number spikes after starting a new treatment before it comes down again. Sooo . . . the fact that the CA15-3 is going down is a good thing and maybe the CEA went up because as cancer cells die, they put off more of the protein (carcinoembryonic antigen) into the blood. Hmm, I kinda like that explanation, huh?

Despite some interpersonal drama that occurred last week, I have been sleeping quite well (I have had four nights in a row in which I slept at least 4.5 to 5 hours at a stretch, followed by two more 90 min to 2 hour stretches of sleep). People keep telling me how healthy and energetic I look. I feel fairly well - just some slight fatigue in the late afternoon - and have been productive at work and at home and have been having fun with Spagedward. So, I'm well. I can't complain too much - just wish that CEA number would stop spiking and start going down down down. I guess I can't complain too much about the CA15-3 number - that's stable.

It's a wait and see game . . . I see my oncologist's physician assistant next week. My guess is she says "wait and see" as well. I still have swollen lymph nodes - but it's hard to tell if they are smaller or not. At one point, it seemed like two had sorta merged to become one. I feel a space between two of them now - but one of those feels larger than it had been.

Wish they could come up with something better to measure progress.

Dr. K did say that taking them monthly wasn't too productive and that it might be better to wait a few months between measurements.

I kinda like the monthly, though. It's the kick in the pants I need to keep with the program and/or redouble my efforts at things like meditation and qigong.