CEA and silly request but..........

[dianetavegia]

My CEA was 4.3 on Oct. 10th. Labcorp USA's high norm is 3.9 for a non smoker. It's been 4.3 and 4.4 three times prior when I was sick with a sinus infection or walking pneumonia. I was feeling bad when I went that day and almost cancelled. Two days later was on 2 weeks of antibiotics and a steroid shot for a bad sinus infection affecting all four cavities.

The slight elevation always terrifies me so the doctor had me come in today for a repeat CEA now that all the meds are finished. I won't get my results until late next week. My stomach is all torn up from anxiety!

I KNOW I should not expect anything 'bad' because it's been 9 years the end of Dec. since I was dx'd with Stage III (surgery first week of Jan. 2009) and it's been 5 years, 7 months since my liver resection and all scans have been good since then. This was my first time not to have scans. We moved to scans once a year unless my CEA were to suggest otherwise and then will go to only CEA's.

My husband was septic in June and September. He was in the hospital for over a week both times. One was from black mold exposure when he went to Oregon to visit a long lost relative. The second time was from a UTI! We were told only 30% of people who come to the ER that sick live. A follow up with the pulmonologist in the end of June included a CT of the lungs. No one contacted us, but when he went in for a recheck, they gave him a paper copy of the CT which showed he has a 4.1 cm aneurysm on the ascending aorta. We saw his cardiologist (for HBP only, no heart problems) and he says we will do scans in 2 weeks and then every 3 to 6 months to see if it is enlarging. It wasn't there 2 years ago when he had an echo. Jim is 70 and still teaches middle school math so we can have good insurance.

I'm just a wreck. I don't think chronic disease post traumatic stress ever gets better.

Diane

[susie0915]

My lab has 0-5 as normal. Good luck, I'm sure your test will come back fine. But I understand. I always worry when I get my blood drawn and my CEA has never been highter than 1.1 and that was during chemo. Usually is less than .5. In August it was 1 and I emailed my oncologist because it rose .5. I know it sounds crazy but we always need some encouragement that it is not alarming. I hope you can relax until you get your results. Keep us updated.

[Detox]

CEA tests are scary obviously but I'm 99.999999% sure you'll be fine.

I've never seen or read about a recurrence 5+ years after NED (or maybe 1 in about 20-30 million has had a recurrence) and I've skimmed through all 700+ pages of topics on this message board. LOL

Also pretty much all doctors label their patients cured after 5 years of NED.

Try not to think about it (tough to do) but you'll get your test results and they'll be back down again.

[NHMike]

I had a 100 cm^2 tumor and my CEA was 3.7 so it can be wrong in both directions. I try not to worry about stuff that I can't do anything about but I know that it's very hard with cancer. I think that the turnaround time at my local hospital for these tests, though, is a few hours to a day. I usually get some of the test results back on the hospital portal a few hours later and the rest the next day - they obviously run some of them at the hospital.

[dianetavegia]

Labcorp picks up the test end of the day and sends the results to the doctor. They give him two business days to see my results before they'll post them online. I've had the same onc for 9 years and it always took 2 weeks for me to get any results. He said it's his fault because he has to release them before the RN will share them.

We've had several with new mets after 5 years, but they've all been rectal cancer patients. Studies show that at 6 years 7 months after resection, my chances of a recurrence is the same as the general public. That's a year from now, and my onc thinks I'm cured (likely cured he said when I challenged him 7 months ago on 'cured'). I still can't help worry.

It'll be a long 6 days for me. I think the health issues with my husband triggered my anxiety. I'd actually began to forget about cancer for a week at a time.

Diane

[mypinkheaven]

I'm sorry you have to wait and worry. It's very possible that you have some inflammation going on that you haven't even noticed. Try to keep busy and have a good weekend

[dianetavegia]

Mypinkheaven, I was already feeling ill when I went for my visit and bloodwork. I went to my primary about 36 hours later who said all four sinuses were 'full' and infected and my nasal passages were swollen and red. She gave me a steroid shot and two weeks of antibiotics.

Common sense tells me not to worry. 60% of small elevations are false positives. I know this. 85% of people who've never had CRC have a CEA of 2.5 and 95% have a CEA of up to 5.0. I know all this but at 2 1/2 years post resection my CEA went to 4.4, six months later it was 6.5. No one told me. Six months after that it was 8.5 and no one told me but my scan showed a tiny liver met. It's only been about 1 1/2 years that my onc allowed us to view our test results online and it bothers me the many times I was told it was 'fine' and it was 4 or slightly higher. When it was 8.5, the top of the report said 'stable'!!!!!

I have to remind myself that it's been just under 9 years since my original dx but that 'number' always makes me ill until I hear it's in my normal range which is 2.7 to 3.4 except on very rare occasions when it was 2.1 or 4.3 (ill).

I've been with him for 9 years and my husband says you'd think he'd remember me.

[Thetoad]

CEA tests are scary obviously but I'm 99.999999% sure you'll be fine.

I've never seen or read about a recurrence 5+ years after NED (or maybe 1 in about 20-30 million has had a recurrence) and I've skimmed through all 700+ pages of topics on this message board. LOL

Also pretty much all doctors label their patients cured after 5 years of NED.

Try not to think about it (tough to do) but you'll get your test results and they'll be back down again.

Any statistics for 4 years NED? I'm coming up to a routine colonoscopy and am getting more and more anxious! No worries about any scans or blood tests so far. Also, the CEA level mentioned in the post you answered is ok on the range I was given.

[NZJay]

CEA tests are scary obviously but I'm 99.999999% sure you'll be fine.

I've never seen or read about a recurrence 5+ years after NED (or maybe 1 in about 20-30 million has had a recurrence) and I've skimmed through all 700+ pages of topics on this message board. LOL

Also pretty much all doctors label their patients cured after 5 years of NED.

Try not to think about it (tough to do) but you'll get your test results and they'll be back down again.

Any statistics for 4 years NED? I'm coming up to a routine colonoscopy and am getting more and more anxious! No worries about any scans or blood tests so far. Also, the CEA level mentioned in the post you answered is ok on the range I was given.

Toad - To be honest - if I were you I'd demand a scan for your own peace of mind.

Diane - I'm an example of someone with high CEA and NED

[Thetoad]

CEA tests are scary obviously but I'm 99.999999% sure you'll be fine.

I've never seen or read about a recurrence 5+ years after NED (or maybe 1 in about 20-30 million has had a recurrence) and I've skimmed through all 700+ pages of topics on this message board. LOL

Also pretty much all doctors label their patients cured after 5 years of NED.

Try not to think about it (tough to do) but you'll get your test results and they'll be back down again.

Any statistics for 4 years NED? I'm coming up to a routine colonoscopy and am getting more and more anxious! No worries about any scans or blood tests so far. Also, the CEA level mentioned in the post you answered is ok on the range I was given.

Toad - To be honest - if I were you I'd demand a scan for your own peace of mind.

Diane - I'm an example of someone with high CEA and NED

Thanks NZJay. I'm not due to see my Dr until January for my 3 monthly Care Plus check. You mean a CT scan? As you know, my colonoscopy is probably January too but was due last month. I might write to my specialist nurse, but I doubt she will agree. It's all in my mind! I hope...