CEA confusion

CEA
Pam, I know it's easier said than done, but try not to put too much importance on CEA. A CEA test is just one of many, many monitoring tools that, combined with others can give the doctors an idea of what is going on... but on it's own, doesn't mean too much. Your doctor says anything under 4.0 is considered "normal". My doctor says they don't worry about anything under 5.0 because they consider anything under 5.0 to be normal (so if you were going to my doctor, you have a perfectly normal reading). But, you have to also take into consideration that everyone's "norm" is different! 5.0 might be your norm and 2.0 might be my norm which would mean if we both had a reading of 3.5, it would mean two different things for the two of us.

Here's my understanding... let's go with your doctor's norm of 4.0. Your reading says 4.7. So he's going to want you to come in in 2 - 4 weeks and have it taken again. If it reads 5.0 next time then he will most likely have you come in 2 weeks from then (a choice of 3 readings to see if the pattern is going up or coming down). Let's say your 3rd reading is 3.9. That means you are hovering between 3.9 - 5.0... which is soooo close to his normal, that he may decide to have you do the test once/month for a couple of months.

Ok, let's say the second reading was 5.0 and the third reading was 7.0. That is showing a pattern of rising. So with the results from that one tool, he may suggest a CAT scan. If nothing comes up on the CAT scan, but the CEA is still showing a pattern of rising, he will most likely suggest a PET scan (which is a body scan at the molecular level). In other words, nothing is going to be DX'd with just the CEA results... and no, he won't order a PET or CAT scan every two weeks because of the radiation exposure as well as the cost.

So, again... don't worry. And if he doesn't have a reading of CEA from prior to you having been DX with cancer, that's ok too because what it was years ago means nothing... it's what it is now. There's no reason for having a CEA test done if there's no suspicion of cancer, on the off chance you might have cancer one day because the reading you get today means nothing 10 years down the road

Like I say, it's really hard, but try not to worry about one little test that can fluctuate and change at the drop of a hat (if you get an infection, that will throw it off again and for all you know, you may have a minor infection that you aren't even aware of, that will go away on it's own... but that has affected a reading of your CEA).

You are not the only one who worries more after treatment than during... and guess what? It doesn't matter how long you are off treatment, the worries still come back to haunt you. I have not been on chemo since Oct/2007, but have had the constant checks and monitorings, scans and CEA tests and still worry. I have nodules in my lungs that aren't doing anything... but when I stop and think about them... I worry. But the idea is to try and not add stress to our lives by worrying... when we are all under good hands and being watched closely. Heck, we are so lucky that we are being monitored like a hawk whereas our friends/family who have never been DX'd have no idea what may be going on in their bodies since they are not being monitored

Huggggggs,

Cheryl