seeing onc tomorrow and surgeon next day

pete43lost_at_sea

Its probably an important visit to say the least.

yes its the second cea rise in a few weeks, so i will see whats said.

so my my cea rose to 7.4 from 6 18 days earlier.
still clear pet and ct a few weeks ago.

doing lots of interesting research as always on samE, melatonnin and immunotherapy.
when i take specific treatments i will let you know. i am doing some basic tests like liver function, parasites and a heavy duty blood test.

had a lovelly weekend with wife and kids and friends.

not sure what questions to ask onc, maybe i want to leave somethings unsaid.
i am interested at the time frame with regard to disease progression and chemo effectiveness and what clinical trials are on the table with regard immunotherapy.

menawhile my iv vitamin c will have to do. another hit tomorrow.

hugs,
pete

ps and i still walking and doing yoga and having a healthy diet.

smokeyjoe

Are these regular follow up
Are these regular follow up appointments??

tanstaafl

immunotherapies; virtual trials
Pete, have you found the missing cimetidine? What is the situation for second surgeries there? Might also have a look at Ben Williams' site.

tommycat

Will be thinking of you.
Will be thinking of you. Please post what the onc says tomorrow.

laurettas

Thanks
Thanks for keeping us informed, Pete. I am still hoping that the malaria is the cause for your CEA rise but please let us know what the doc has to say. Will be hoping for the best.

plh4gail

Pete, big hug to you. I will
Pete, big hug to you. I will be thinking about you, and walk in your name when you can't. Just so ya know :)I hope your appointment goes well!

plh4gail

lauragb

Hey Pete,
I'm thinking of
Hey Pete,
I'm thinking of you hoping for the best. Maybe that number doesn't mean
anything significant.
Sending you light.
Laura

Goldie1

Pete...
sending good vibes your way...please let us all know how it goes!

Ellen C.

Annabelle41415

Appointments
Wishing that all goes well with both appointments. Maybe your doctor can give you some insight as to why the rise. Was that a good indicator for you before? It can fluctuate for many different reasons. Let us know.

Kim

pete43lost_at_sea

thanks everyone
the drum roll from the big onc appointment was nothing.
my onc said the small rise in cea from 5.9 to 7.4 on its own is not enough to start chemo and said i could get a second opinion. i will take her up on this, but it maybe a second opinion from a clinic in germany. will keep you posted.
so i see my onc on 23jan2012 and will do bloods again then.
was expecting the big sad stage 4 talk, thats been deferred. so no new chemo port and chemo.
its coming up to christmas so this is really positive.

i am blessed to have had a recent clear pet and ct, so these bloods cea still very worrying and soemthing to be tackled, but i am trying to keep them in perspective.

mind you the idea the tumours is growing as we speak and my wonderful alternative liefstyle and diet has not stopped it is frustrating but thats my lot.

i also saw the integrative doctor at 9am and had 45gr vit c iv. it went well, he was far more pessimistic. he mentioned the interview below and cancer defeated newsletter.
both interesting reads.

http://www.prescription2000.com/Interview-Transcripts/2011-07-12-jeanne-drisko-iv-vitamin-c-update-transcript.html

the blessing out of all this is i can continue to focus on my alternative lifestyle and a few well choosen supplememnts. i am seeing another intregative specialist this week and my surgeon tomorrow.

its crazy to think they have an indication my tumour is growing, taking root so to speak and conventional medicine cannot even locate it, at least the wholeist approach has an advantage here, as the conventional guys don't even have a target yet.

i hope we all have a healthy and happy xmas,
hugs and parayers for us all,
Pete

PS I am doing starting a transendental meditiation course with wife tonight. When i get it mastered i will fly over mentally and wish all my friends in the usa. never in 10000 million years did i think i would do a tdm course.

Buckwirth

pete43lost_at_sea said:

thanks everyone
the drum roll from the big onc appointment was nothing.
my onc said the small rise in cea from 5.9 to 7.4 on its own is not enough to start chemo and said i could get a second opinion. i will take her up on this, but it maybe a second opinion from a clinic in germany. will keep you posted.
so i see my onc on 23jan2012 and will do bloods again then.
was expecting the big sad stage 4 talk, thats been deferred. so no new chemo port and chemo.
its coming up to christmas so this is really positive.

i am blessed to have had a recent clear pet and ct, so these bloods cea still very worrying and soemthing to be tackled, but i am trying to keep them in perspective.

mind you the idea the tumours is growing as we speak and my wonderful alternative liefstyle and diet has not stopped it is frustrating but thats my lot.

i also saw the integrative doctor at 9am and had 45gr vit c iv. it went well, he was far more pessimistic. he mentioned the interview below and cancer defeated newsletter.
both interesting reads.

http://www.prescription2000.com/Interview-Transcripts/2011-07-12-jeanne-drisko-iv-vitamin-c-update-transcript.html

the blessing out of all this is i can continue to focus on my alternative lifestyle and a few well choosen supplememnts. i am seeing another intregative specialist this week and my surgeon tomorrow.

its crazy to think they have an indication my tumour is growing, taking root so to speak and conventional medicine cannot even locate it, at least the wholeist approach has an advantage here, as the conventional guys don't even have a target yet.

i hope we all have a healthy and happy xmas,
hugs and parayers for us all,
Pete

PS I am doing starting a transendental meditiation course with wife tonight. When i get it mastered i will fly over mentally and wish all my friends in the usa. never in 10000 million years did i think i would do a tdm course.

Pete,
It is probably a good thing your onc is being conservative. A rising CEA can be a number of things, and not all of them are cancer related. It is even possible that your recent malaria infection is causing this rise. You certainly don't want to go through another round of chemo if you don't need to, as John would say that is not good for your health.

Another reason for waiting for an actual tumor to show itself is that it provides a baseline where you can measure the effectiveness of a particular treatment.

Here are some of the finer points of CEA:

CEA Explanation

What conditions can cause an elevated CEA?

Both benign and malignant (harmless and cancerous) conditions can increase the CEA level. The most frequent cancer which causes an increased CEA is cancer of the colon and rectum. Others include cancers of the pancreas, stomach, breast, lung, and certain types of thyroid and ovarian cancer. Benign conditions which can elevate CEA include smoking, infections, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, and some benign tumors in the same organs in which an elevated CEA indicates cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can cause a temporary rise in CEA due to the death of tumor cells and release of CEA into the blood stream. Benign disease does not usually cause an increase above 10 ng/ml.

What are the limitations of CEA testing?

CEA is not an effective screening test for hidden (occult) cancer since early tumors do not cause significant blood elevations. Also, many tumors never cause an abnormal blood level, even in advanced disease. Because there is variability between results obtained between laboratories, the same laboratory should do repeat testing when monitoring a patient with cancer.

Sonia32

Pete
Has a growth been found in any of your scans yet?

pete43lost_at_sea

smokeyjoe said:

Are these regular follow up
Are these regular follow up appointments??

i wish smokeyjoe, but no
i had a quarterly about 3 weeks ago, then they spotted the cea rise from 0 to 5.9
now all the appointments are a blur.
hugs,
pete

pete43lost_at_sea

Buckwirth said:

Pete,
It is probably a good thing your onc is being conservative. A rising CEA can be a number of things, and not all of them are cancer related. It is even possible that your recent malaria infection is causing this rise. You certainly don't want to go through another round of chemo if you don't need to, as John would say that is not good for your health.

Another reason for waiting for an actual tumor to show itself is that it provides a baseline where you can measure the effectiveness of a particular treatment.

Here are some of the finer points of CEA:

CEA Explanation

What conditions can cause an elevated CEA?

Both benign and malignant (harmless and cancerous) conditions can increase the CEA level. The most frequent cancer which causes an increased CEA is cancer of the colon and rectum. Others include cancers of the pancreas, stomach, breast, lung, and certain types of thyroid and ovarian cancer. Benign conditions which can elevate CEA include smoking, infections, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, and some benign tumors in the same organs in which an elevated CEA indicates cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can cause a temporary rise in CEA due to the death of tumor cells and release of CEA into the blood stream. Benign disease does not usually cause an increase above 10 ng/ml.

What are the limitations of CEA testing?

CEA is not an effective screening test for hidden (occult) cancer since early tumors do not cause significant blood elevations. Also, many tumors never cause an abnormal blood level, even in advanced disease. Because there is variability between results obtained between laboratories, the same laboratory should do repeat testing when monitoring a patient with cancer.

thanks blake
time will tell. i really like all the other causes of cea rising, i would even be happy to have a couple. i have been a bit explosive of late in the bm department, so i pray this is just ibs.

so i still plan for the worst and hope for the best. why take a day for granted anyway. i appreciate my onc, she tries to keep me on a tight leash. she is a calming influence.

she also mentioned the baseline, you discussed. she also wanted me to gain weight. we agreed that muscle is ok, so my weight training has a bit more more focus.

i hope you are going well.

hugs,
pete

pete43lost_at_sea

Sonia32 said:

Pete
Has a growth been found in any of your scans yet?

no growths found so far
hi sonia,
i hope you going ok. its been a while.
merry xmas,
hugs,
pete

pete43lost_at_sea

Annabelle41415 said:

Appointments
Wishing that all goes well with both appointments. Maybe your doctor can give you some insight as to why the rise. Was that a good indicator for you before? It can fluctuate for many different reasons. Let us know.

Kim

thanks kim
what can i say. many different reasons for the cea.
just praying its ibs.
i did not realise how vulnerable us stage3 were,
graduating to stage 4 is simple,, get a cea rise, do a scan. bang your stage4.
now its not quiet that simple, in my sitution.

time will tell, i am going to give my body all the help i can with this.

hugs,
pete

pete43lost_at_sea

Goldie1 said:

Pete...
sending good vibes your way...please let us all know how it goes!

Ellen C.

thanks ellen
it appreciate the vibes
hugs,
pete

pete43lost_at_sea

lauragb said:

Hey Pete,
I'm thinking of
Hey Pete,
I'm thinking of you hoping for the best. Maybe that number doesn't mean
anything significant.
Sending you light.
Laura

thanks laura
now is see the light. a little more light makes our world a better place.
hugs,
pete

pete43lost_at_sea

plh4gail said:

Pete, big hug to you. I will
Pete, big hug to you. I will be thinking about you, and walk in your name when you can't. Just so ya know :)I hope your appointment goes well!

plh4gail

dear gail
we have been mates here for so long, thanks for the walking support.

its obvious an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

maybe walking may or may not have helped me, but the studies are so positive.

getting back onto the crc merry go round ain't much fun, except for the wonderful people on this board to keep me company.

i think my appointment went as well as possible, my onc has tried to give me 6 more weeks of peace of christmas. which i will gratefully accept.

hugs,
pete

pete43lost_at_sea

laurettas said:

Thanks
Thanks for keeping us informed, Pete. I am still hoping that the malaria is the cause for your CEA rise but please let us know what the doc has to say. Will be hoping for the best.

i had some white bread with the fish soup today
here is hoping its good news. what i want is the strength to cope with whatever this life dishes up with courage and style. i know i pushed the diet thing hard here, and i have added some protein back as my onc insisted i did not loose any more weight.

my onc's crystal ball is a bit foggy. she is not guessing, is basically said what blake said but in a feminine blonde warm way.

she is across all the colorectal clinical trials in australia and nothing is suitable for me.

i psuhed the immunotherapy topic without real success.

heres to the best christmas we can all have, i will try and put this out of my mind while taking lots of positive steps.

hugs,
pete

Sonia32

pete43lost_at_sea said:

no growths found so far
hi sonia,
i hope you going ok. its been a while.
merry xmas,
hugs,
pete

I lurk more at the moment then post
:-) hugs, just thinking have you started any new natural treatment that could cause it? it's good they can't see any tumors. hugs just hate you and everyone else having to go through this and worry.