CEA & SCANS

bruins1971

Ok so I sat down with my oncologist today and asked him a few questions. First was the question about why don't I get scans done more often. My last scan was done after the surgery in August and it looked good. He stated that for a person who does not have any known tumors he usually only does scans every six months unless blood work shows something going on. Like CEA numbers climbing then he will order a scan to see what's up. As for the CEA not being tested so often again he said that with NO tumors in your body the CEA number should be low and that he would usually test that every three months. I asked him why he felt that I had such a good chance of seeing a cure one day and he stated that I should have at least a 50% chance due to the fact that I didn't have a lot of tumors and the ones I did have were able to be removed by surgery. Also that my KRAS test came back as me being KRAS-Y which is a good thing. The CEA test will be run today and I will have the results tomorrow. I asked him what number it could come back at to make him worried and he said it's really about it he sees a pattern of increase. Like if it's up tomorrow from the 1.8 from September then he would test it again in three weeks at my next chemo to see if it's up or down. He said it's normal for it to go up and down by a small amount but that we just don't want to see it going up and up. He said he did not expect this to be my case that it will probably still be low due to the fact that there should not be any more tumors in there. Can't wait till tomorrow to celebrate my birthday by hearing the CEA number is still in the normal range.

Bobby

JoyceSteele

Happy Birthday
Bobby, thank you for letting us know. I hope you get great news about your CEA and I hope you have a very Happy Birthday! Enjoy your special day. My best, Joyce

pepebcn

JoyceSteele said:

Happy Birthday
Bobby, thank you for letting us know. I hope you get great news about your CEA and I hope you have a very Happy Birthday! Enjoy your special day. My best, Joyce

Happy birthday Bobby !
l Prey for good results about CEA!
Hugs!

CherylHutch

Your update
Thanks, Bobby. That all makes sense and it sounds like your oncologist has a plan. 3 months is not unusual to go between CEA tests if one is not on in treatment. I think that is what concerned everyone is that he was telling you you were cancer-free, even though you were still on treatment... and you had mentioned not having any CEA tests because he figured you were cancer-free.

But, it does sound like he is going to be monitoring you and that's great Yes... CEA can fluctuate, so if say tomorrow your CEA results say you are 2.5. There is no need to get excited because that could just be a fluctuation... and in 3 weeks it could be back down to 1.0. But if it was, say, 2.5 tomorrow, and then 3.2 in three weeks, and then 4.0 three weeks later... well, this would indicate a rising trend. And that's when the scans would start up again. It's not the numbers that would cause concern... it's the upward trend.

So let's hope tomorrow you are happy with your results and there is nothing to indicate an upward trend

Cheryl

Lori-S

Bobby
Here's to great CEA results and a very Happy Birthday

herdizziness

Good Job
I'm glad you brought it up to your onc, and asked questions and got answers.
In this little world we live in, we have a need to know basis on most aspects of our lives, especially when held in the hands of the onc, (yes, I know and God as well)just saying here on earth, our onc, is the one that can give us verbal answers, the one that orders the tests, etc.
What I'm trying to say, is, I'm proud of you for questioning and getting answers.
You go guy!!!!
Winter Marie

AnneCan

Bobby
I am glad that you talked to your onc. I hope you have a Happy Birthday!

tina dasilva

Happy B-DAY
and here's hoping for low CEA counts hugs Tina

tootsie1

Happy Birthday!
Hope your CEA count stays low. Have a wonderful birthday!

*hugs*
Gail