cea test

pat9409

Hi folks,
I am new in this journey call colorectal cancer!!!! What is a cea test??
I have surgery a week from today. I have stage 3 and am starting to realize that this is
more serious than I thought!!!! Just read about the lymph nodes and how the cancer spreads.
So far I have had 6 weeks of chemo and radiation. After surgery I am told I will have 6 months of chemo and the treatments sound more aggressive. Anyone had a similar experience
and if you have can you tell me what to expect from 2nd round of chemo? Thanks, Pat

John23

Colorectal cancer
Re:
"I am new in this journey call colorectal cancer!!!! What is a cea test??"

It's too bad doctors don't explain more to their patients.

If it weren't for these forums, I think 90% of us would be
going totally out of our minds.

Here's two links that can be of help:

http://www.webmd.com/cancer/carcinoembryonic-antigen-cea

http://www.medicinenet.com/carcinoembryonic_antigen/article.htm

The second URL will start with this:
"Both benign and malignant (harmless and cancerous) conditions can increase the CEA level. "

So please keep that in mind?

My colon cancer was said to have grown to the size it was, over
a period of perhaps 7 to 8 years. At no time during those years,
had my "CEA" indicated a problem; my blood tests were always
fine. I had no family history of colon cancer, but I drank like a fish,
smoked like a diesel, and worked at a job where I ingested and inhaled
asbestos dust.

Does it matter? Perhaps not. CEA tests, or any other tests, may or
may not indicate a problem.

You have been diagnosed with colon cancer? You mention lymph nodes,
but haven't said how they know?

If they take out the suggested amount of lymph nodes (usually 20+)
and find that there are more than 4 nodes with cancer, then it makes
it a stage 3 situation. They can't make that diagnosis unless they have
removed -that many- lymph nodes.

Scans should have been taken, to see if there's any indication of
cancerous tissue in other organs. That's important, since once a
cancer moves to another location (organ), it's a stage 4, and more
complicated.

So first of all, try to relax and not get filled with fear. Even at stage four,
you have a long time ahead of you. You have options to consider, and
you will not be able to consider anything, unless you shed the fear.

You have -not- been handed a death warrant. Any time frame is simply
an opinion from another human being. Doctors are human, not prophets;
they have no mystical powers to see into the future.

I am a stage 3c/4 colon cancer victim. I was diagnosed, and operated on
over three years ago. I did not do Chemo, I did Chinese herbs. It is a long
story, and I am not promoting "my way"; I have no idea if it is working
or not, but only that I have not suffered any "usual" consequences of chemo,
and I managed to remain here to talk about it. Luck, I am told....

One thing I should tell you right now..... Please make sure you spend
time with an experienced colorectal surgeon, and a gastrointestinal
specialist. You want to make sure, that if you need to have an ostomy,
that the stoma is at least 3/4 to 1" long, and placed below your natural
belt line, and to one side of your middle (navel) by about 4-6 inches.

That, is imperative to your future good health!

You have nothing to fear, and without fear, everything to gain.

Others here will tell you about Chemo, radiation, and the other
western medicine models offered.

You might want to research Traditional Chinese Medicine, and
see what you think. You have plenty of options, and the time to
consider all of them. Don't be frightened into feeling otherwise.

You have to follow the course you feel is best for you, and
do that without fear, or due to fear.

Good luck, and good health!

pat9409

John23 said:

Colorectal cancer
Re:
"I am new in this journey call colorectal cancer!!!! What is a cea test??"

It's too bad doctors don't explain more to their patients.

If it weren't for these forums, I think 90% of us would be
going totally out of our minds.

Here's two links that can be of help:

http://www.webmd.com/cancer/carcinoembryonic-antigen-cea

http://www.medicinenet.com/carcinoembryonic_antigen/article.htm

The second URL will start with this:
"Both benign and malignant (harmless and cancerous) conditions can increase the CEA level. "

So please keep that in mind?

My colon cancer was said to have grown to the size it was, over
a period of perhaps 7 to 8 years. At no time during those years,
had my "CEA" indicated a problem; my blood tests were always
fine. I had no family history of colon cancer, but I drank like a fish,
smoked like a diesel, and worked at a job where I ingested and inhaled
asbestos dust.

Does it matter? Perhaps not. CEA tests, or any other tests, may or
may not indicate a problem.

You have been diagnosed with colon cancer? You mention lymph nodes,
but haven't said how they know?

If they take out the suggested amount of lymph nodes (usually 20+)
and find that there are more than 4 nodes with cancer, then it makes
it a stage 3 situation. They can't make that diagnosis unless they have
removed -that many- lymph nodes.

Scans should have been taken, to see if there's any indication of
cancerous tissue in other organs. That's important, since once a
cancer moves to another location (organ), it's a stage 4, and more
complicated.

So first of all, try to relax and not get filled with fear. Even at stage four,
you have a long time ahead of you. You have options to consider, and
you will not be able to consider anything, unless you shed the fear.

You have -not- been handed a death warrant. Any time frame is simply
an opinion from another human being. Doctors are human, not prophets;
they have no mystical powers to see into the future.

I am a stage 3c/4 colon cancer victim. I was diagnosed, and operated on
over three years ago. I did not do Chemo, I did Chinese herbs. It is a long
story, and I am not promoting "my way"; I have no idea if it is working
or not, but only that I have not suffered any "usual" consequences of chemo,
and I managed to remain here to talk about it. Luck, I am told....

One thing I should tell you right now..... Please make sure you spend
time with an experienced colorectal surgeon, and a gastrointestinal
specialist. You want to make sure, that if you need to have an ostomy,
that the stoma is at least 3/4 to 1" long, and placed below your natural
belt line, and to one side of your middle (navel) by about 4-6 inches.

That, is imperative to your future good health!

You have nothing to fear, and without fear, everything to gain.

Others here will tell you about Chemo, radiation, and the other
western medicine models offered.

You might want to research Traditional Chinese Medicine, and
see what you think. You have plenty of options, and the time to
consider all of them. Don't be frightened into feeling otherwise.

You have to follow the course you feel is best for you, and
do that without fear, or due to fear.

Good luck, and good health!

cea test
Thanks John for the information. That really helped. I have a pretty good cancer team at the hospital but that was something I had not heard or I forgot. There is so much to learn
and I am finding I need to do it pretty fast. Again thanks for the help Pat