Hello,
This is about my mother. Some background:
She was diagnosed with colon cancer in July 2018. She was actually scheduled to have a preventive surgery in 2017 due to the massive amount of polyps she had (+all my aunts/ucnles had coloncancer), but the doctor kept her waiting for 1.5 years. So one of them grew into a tumor.
She had surgery in august 2018, her CEA level apparently was 5.6 back then, when the tumor was still there. They told us her lymph nodes were fine (so they expected)
But after surgery we had to go to the oncologist earlier than planned and he told us she was stage IIIa (3a), with a tumor thatw as 2cm, non-agressive, and 2/18 lymph nodes affected. Chance of recurrence was 30% and he suggested chemotherapy.
Mom got 4 rounds of CAPOX but because the side-effects were severe (massive nerve damage during round 2, her legs and hands refused to work) they gave round 3/4 with 75% strength instead of the whole 100%. Also said that 4 rounds had the same effect as 8.
During round 4 she also got ill, ended up in the hospital with a flu infection, and after she as recovered from thta she got a cold.
Now, 2-3 weeks after ending her chemo the oncologist told her to get her bloodtests done, and apparently she had a CEA of 5.6 again.
She also had a CT-scan of her lungs, and ultrasound scan of her liver, pancreas,kidneys, cervix etc this week, which all seemed clear (NED).
We had our firts result yesterday and the oncologist told us about the elevated CEA and wants my mom to do another bloodtest in 3 weeks, and have a coloscopy again. I'm worried. I asked him if it meant anything because I read the normal CEA levels should be between 1-4. He said he had patients that had a normal level of 7 or even 10, and that 5.6 might be normal for my mother. My mom did used to smoke for 50 years, she quit 1.5 year ago. She also has COPD, and possibly an inflammation in one of the muscles of her left arm. Could that cause a CEA of 5.6?
Are there people here with higher levels CEA than normal, who did not have a recurrence or mets??
now we have to wait 4 weeks again. The oncologist said that if it 4 weeks it'd be 5.6 (or lower) again he'd resume normal teSting intervals of 3 months..
I'm so scared, I've been anxious (have panic attacks a lot) since july, also because in the same time 2 of my aunts also got diagnosed with cancer (stage 4 lung cancer, and stage 4 cervix cancer) and both of them died real quick. I don't want to lose my mom, she'sm my best friend I really hoped the first results would be fine, that her bloodwork would be okay, and it'd give me a bit of confidence.