CA-125

RandiK
RandiK Member Posts: 31
edited March 2014 in Ovarian Cancer #1
I have a question. My Mom was diagnosed in February with stage 3a ovarian cancer. Her ca-125 was 3250. After her surgery, and they said they got it all, but before her first treatment her ca-125 was 24. After 2 treatments it was down to 12.7, well she went back today for her 4th treatment and the Dr changed her chemo meds, they said it was something that wouldn't make her so sick. Her ca-125 today was 16, is it normal for it to go up some?

Comments

  • Hissy_Fitz
    Hissy_Fitz Member Posts: 1,834
    #2
    Absolutely normal,
    Absolutely normal, especially if she has been sick, whether from the meds or something else. CA 125 is sensitive to anything that stresses/threatens the body. Even a bad cold can elevate it a few points. Mine went up 200 points between my first and second treatment, then dropped very rapidly.

    Carlene
  • RandiK
    RandiK Member Posts: 31
    #3
    Hissy_Fitz said:

    Absolutely normal,
    Absolutely normal, especially if she has been sick, whether from the meds or something else. CA 125 is sensitive to anything that stresses/threatens the body. Even a bad cold can elevate it a few points. Mine went up 200 points between my first and second treatment, then dropped very rapidly.

    Carlene

    thanks
    wow, thank you that makes me feel so much better. After the other treatments she usually had a bad first week with all of the side effects, I think she got everyone of the possible side effects, lol. Then she usually felt real good until the next treatment, but this time she never had those good weeks. She twisted her knee a week after her treatment and I guess between taking the pain pills for her knee and just the chemo it really got her down. She really never got off the couch to do much of anything this time. So yeah she was pretty sick this go round and I can see where it would have run her results up.
  • msfanciful
    msfanciful Member Posts: 559
    #4
    Hello,
    One thing I would
    Hello,

    One thing I would like to add; even though the ca-125 numbers do matter, I cannot stress enough how important it is not to stress nor focus too much to the point of driving yourself crazy.

    As Carlene said, anything truly can affect these numbers.

    Before I embarked on this journey, I used to literally lie in bed every night thinking about my numbers. It was crazy. Focus on how your mom is feeling and helping her to get back to improving her quality of living. As you know stress is one of the things a person with cancer does NOT need. :-)

    So relax and try to take each day at a time and continue to stay as informed about your mothers cancer so you will know what you are dealing with and how to deal with it.

    Take care,

    Sharon

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