This is probably not it, but might be worth thinking of. When I was on Xelox, it was sometimes hard to open my eyes in the AM - didn't last for long. I never felt it exactly as you describe, but there were times when I felt my eyes very temporarily hard to move. Not exactly the same thing. My onc at...

It is frustrating not to know the stage. Sorry for that stress. But, I (although not being a medical person) strongly suggest that you have it treated as Stage 3. Sadly I have seen Stage 2 folks who did not do chemo and ended as Stage 3 and then even Stage 4. Since your data is sort of murky, it see...

Sorry you have to worry about this. I don't have data on those specific numbers, but I think any primary care physician would refer even slightly abnormal blood results to your onc. You have a good general who is keeping on top of this. Good luck.

See my signature also.

There is hope for Stage 4 folks.

CEA is a cheap test - your doc/onc should be doing regular CBC/CMP, so no problem doing CEA also with the same sample. It's just another data point. Stage 4 and my first and all but one CEA has been less than 0.5 - once it was 0.9 - clearly it is not a good marker for me - and yet we test it every 3...

I was just going to mention that it also can cause a bleeding ulcer - which it did for me after several years. It's a tough choice - in my case it did not prevent CRC, but that doesn't mean it won't for others. Just be aware that there is a possible stomach ulcer issue.

I had VATS not RFA for my small lung met - easy surgery. In my case the met was deep, so nuclear material was inserted under CT guidance and then during surgery the surgeon went for the "hotspot" - that was back in 2008. Recovery was easy. I suspect, but do not know, that RFA recovery is a...

When I was in a similar situation, I decided that I could not live with myself if I had a recurrence and had not done chemo. We are all different when we consider the options. I elected for Xeloda/Avastin (my onc's recommendation and one I felt very comfortable with.) NED since 4/09. Who knows wheth...

P.S. I went to bed around 11+ PM - slept all night and then started again 4 hours before my appt.

In my case the split prep was wonderful (as wonderful as a prep can be!). Mine was 2 Dulcolax around 3PM, then at 6PM 1 quart of go-lytely spread out over 15 min intervals. The next AM another quart of go-lytely (this means only used half of the go-lytely). This was absolutely the easiest prep I hav...

In my experience, tumors can bleed, even a lot. I had several instances of blood in stool which is why I saw a gastroenterologist. Once I saw a toilet bowl full of blood. When my diagnostic scope was done, my GI doc poked repeatedly at the tumor and it never bled. So, it seems that the situation can...

I've played the cancer card once that I can recall. However, age 65 does not mean you are cranky,cumugeonly, demanding, critical of young people or feel you are entitled to a seat reserved for the "elderly". Just finished painting 2 walls of my dining room and now I'm off for a 1 mi walk w...

From what I have read on this site, it seems that 5FU causes more intense fatigue in the short term than Xeloda/capecitabine (which you could consider it's oral analog). I found that Xeloda fatigued me, but less intensely - more spread out for a week or two - never needed extra sleep and worked afte...

In addition to the great info from the other poster, normal SUV varies by part of the body - e.g if you look at a PET, the bladder always "lights up". (Of course if there were cancer it would light up more.) So, in part, the radiologist looks at SUV as compared to expected SUV in different...

One poster listed a great list of possible questions. However, I would caution you against discussing treatment options (beyond surgery), or how your disease might or might not progress, or how treatment would affect your life, or anything else that is not directly related to surgery. Your surgeon m...