CEA Leveled Off but Not Dropping

Kev72
Kev72 CSN Member Posts: 1 *
in Colorectal Cancer #1

For past two months, my CEA level has been around 10.5-11.5 but has not dropped after treatment. At one point I was as low as 2. Any idea why this is happening?

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  • beaumontdave
    beaumontdave CSN Member Posts: 1,294 Member
    #2

    Hi, I was told that even if the CEA test was usable or applicable, the changes in number mattered more than the original number itself. I was also told that a number much above 7ish, means other things may be involved, including things like smoking, and even the scary possibility of recurrence. I watched mine slide upward twice after the colectomy and after the first liver resection, after being at 5 the first post-surgery check and 2 after the second. The second liver resection got the last met, and the checking was even more anxiety-inducing than the first two times, because of complications like fluid on the right lung, needing draining twice. Other indicators were concerning enough that my CT was followed weeks later with a PET scan, for 5 quarters [every 3 months] after the last surgery, and then several years of CEA tests, twice a year. Whatever they were seeing, my CEA never hit over 3 or under 1.6, and was the one thing I could cling to, when pondering the future. It was a rough road mentally, and by no means one you'll have to walk to get clear, but I am since 9/14, in good, though aging health at now 67yo. Take heart and find a philosophy that copes with stress and the anxiety we all feel for years after even a successful treatment……………Beaumontdave

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