Clean scans but CEA of 15.6 ! Seen this yet?

Please feel free to read, share your thoughts, your stories and connect with others!
Rikimaroo
Posts: 436
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 8:48 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Clean scans but CEA of 15.6 ! Seen this yet?

Postby Rikimaroo » Tue Aug 03, 2021 9:08 am

SKB,

Glad we are both still alive and kicking. This stuff is tough to deal with and can really bring you down. Stay positive, I am very positive and try my best to stay strong. This is not easy.

My cancer is currently stable I am on a six week break from last chemo. I do Avastin and take the pump home for 3 days vs doing the pills.

Yeah I messed up on a few things during Watch and Wait. One of the key factors was to do chemo after, but I didn't and I am not sure if that made it come back. It is really tough making decisions regarding cancer treatment.

I hope your PET shares some results to make you more complacent, I know how much anxiety CEA is!!

Also to answer your question, yes CEA can jump from Jan to July. Were you getting any treatment during this time? I took a break for like 5 months and my CEA jumped and there was progression thus I have to be on chemo for life, or hopefully cancer just dies and go into remission.

I wish you all the best as well my friend!!
Riki
RC T3N1M0 12/16
MSS - NRAS Mutation
Chemo Rad, CCR - W&W 5/2017
Recurrence 11/2017
CT Scan 11/2017 Liver Met 5.5cm Stable, Stage IV
LAR/Liver Resect 4/2018
Reversal 10/18
CEA highest 500, lowest .8 throughout process, waiting for latest
Recurrence left vesical/pelvic sidewall - 10/7/2019 resect perm bag,
CEA rise Feb/May 3.7, 8.8, 30, Recurrence in Pelvic
CEA 40 right now, but was 57, so folfiri to beat it back down.
Lots of chemo for the past 4 years.

skb
Posts: 100
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2017 2:00 pm

Re: Clean scans but CEA of 15.6 ! Seen this yet?

Postby skb » Wed Aug 04, 2021 12:09 am

Hi Rikimaroo

No, I was not getting any treatment from Jan to July when the CEA jumped. I have not got any chemo since 2017 Dec and no treatment since solitary lung nodule surgery in August 2019.

I got some chemo after my wait and watch but I did not get any after the solitary lung nodule surgery in 2019. Now I am wondering if I should have. But the scans were clean for two years after that

My CEA was never elevated until last month. During diagnosis and the lung met, it was all < 0.5
3/21/17: Dx T3N0M0-mid rectal 4.5cm
4/18 to 5/22/17: chemoradiation- Xeloda and daily radiation (25 doses)
6/28/17: clean biopsy, clean scans
8/17: MRI - no evidence of tumor, no surgery, starts wait and watch
8/17 to 12/17: Folfox
8/19 VATS - 1cm lung nodule
7/17/21- Clean CT, CEA 15.6 !
8/24/21- PET , biopsy finds met along obturator lymph nodes
10/1/21- Surgery , 12 rounds of FOLFIRI -ended 4/22
4/15/22, 9/6/22. 1/20/23- Clean scan, normal CEA
10/23- four sub-centimeter lung nodules, all PET negative

skb
Posts: 100
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2017 2:00 pm

Re: Clean scans but CEA of 15.6 ! Seen this yet?

Postby skb » Fri Aug 13, 2021 7:21 am

The PET scan found a hypermetabolic lymph node in the pelvis measuring 1.6cmx1.2 cm (near obturator chain in pelvic region) that was ruled 'recurrence' unless proven otherwise. I am so bummed. Has this kind of met been treated for any of you? If yes, please share details. I have not met with my oncologist yet.

The PET did not find any other lesions or lymph mets
3/21/17: Dx T3N0M0-mid rectal 4.5cm
4/18 to 5/22/17: chemoradiation- Xeloda and daily radiation (25 doses)
6/28/17: clean biopsy, clean scans
8/17: MRI - no evidence of tumor, no surgery, starts wait and watch
8/17 to 12/17: Folfox
8/19 VATS - 1cm lung nodule
7/17/21- Clean CT, CEA 15.6 !
8/24/21- PET , biopsy finds met along obturator lymph nodes
10/1/21- Surgery , 12 rounds of FOLFIRI -ended 4/22
4/15/22, 9/6/22. 1/20/23- Clean scan, normal CEA
10/23- four sub-centimeter lung nodules, all PET negative

skb
Posts: 100
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2017 2:00 pm

Re: Clean scans but CEA of 15.6 ! Seen this yet?

Postby skb » Tue Aug 24, 2021 11:17 am

A biopsy confirmed metastasis to retroperitoneal obturator lymph node
3/21/17: Dx T3N0M0-mid rectal 4.5cm
4/18 to 5/22/17: chemoradiation- Xeloda and daily radiation (25 doses)
6/28/17: clean biopsy, clean scans
8/17: MRI - no evidence of tumor, no surgery, starts wait and watch
8/17 to 12/17: Folfox
8/19 VATS - 1cm lung nodule
7/17/21- Clean CT, CEA 15.6 !
8/24/21- PET , biopsy finds met along obturator lymph nodes
10/1/21- Surgery , 12 rounds of FOLFIRI -ended 4/22
4/15/22, 9/6/22. 1/20/23- Clean scan, normal CEA
10/23- four sub-centimeter lung nodules, all PET negative

skb
Posts: 100
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2017 2:00 pm

Re: Clean scans but CEA of 15.6 ! Seen this yet?

Postby skb » Mon Jul 25, 2022 2:06 pm

I am back on the forum , 9 months after an abdominal surgery to remove retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis. This was followed by FOLFIRI (12 rounds- that is 6 months) during which I lost all hair
I suffered foot drop from the surgery due to nerve damage sustained during the surgery . I limp and use a walking stick. I have physiotherapy sessions. Also my bowel control is less than ideal, I often have to rush to the bathroom.

What is interesting is that the surgery took 10 hours and did not find any lymph node that had metastasis. Out of 6 samples taken, two tissue samples had cancer. I doubt if the procedure that made me kind of disabled was necessary at all. Here is the pathology report. I made complaints to the hospital about nerve damages but they say that I have no case and these are normal risks that manifested itself. i also tried getting some lawyer to represent me but no one out of 10 people I called was willing to take the case.

Are all these things common in pelvic surgery? (losing normal mobility, using a walking stick, reduced bowel control)
I felt very healthy before I went into surgery. Now I am a mess.


--------------Surgical pathology report- Oct 1st, 2021-----

A. RIGHT OBTURATORLYMPH NODES X5, EXCISION:
Negative for metastatic carcinoma (0 /5)

B. RIGHT OBTURATOR LYMPH NODE X1, EXCISION:
Negative for metastatic carcinoma (0 /1)

C. RIGHT OBTURATOR LYMPH NODES X2, EXCISION:
Negative for metastatic carcinoma (0 /2)

D. RIGHT OBTURATOR LYMPH NODE, EXCISION:
Fibroadipose and neural connective tissue:
-No lymph nodes identified; negative for carcinoma

E. PET POSITIVE RIGHT OBTURATOR LYMPH NODE, PART 1, EXCISION:
POSITIVE for carcinoma (intravascular):
-Fibroadipose and skeletal connective tissue only
-No lymph nodes identified (See Comment)

F. PET POSITIVE RIGHT OBTURATOR LYMPH NODE, PART 2, EXCISION:
POSITIVE for carcinoma (perineural and soft tissue):
-Fibroadipose, neural and skeletal connective tissue only
-No lymph nodes identified
3/21/17: Dx T3N0M0-mid rectal 4.5cm
4/18 to 5/22/17: chemoradiation- Xeloda and daily radiation (25 doses)
6/28/17: clean biopsy, clean scans
8/17: MRI - no evidence of tumor, no surgery, starts wait and watch
8/17 to 12/17: Folfox
8/19 VATS - 1cm lung nodule
7/17/21- Clean CT, CEA 15.6 !
8/24/21- PET , biopsy finds met along obturator lymph nodes
10/1/21- Surgery , 12 rounds of FOLFIRI -ended 4/22
4/15/22, 9/6/22. 1/20/23- Clean scan, normal CEA
10/23- four sub-centimeter lung nodules, all PET negative

Dennyp
Posts: 84
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 9:28 pm

Re: Clean scans but CEA of 15.6 ! Seen this yet?

Postby Dennyp » Mon Jul 25, 2022 4:25 pm

Sorry to hear about this.
5/19 IIIC sigmoid cancer 2/25 lymph nodes positive
5/19 surgery
7/19 FOLFOX 6 months
9/20 recurrence to single lymph node
10/20 FOLFIRI 5 rounds
1/21 surgery to remove lymph node
4/21 CT NED
8/21 CT NED
11/21 CT NED
2/22 CT NED
5/22 CT NED
8/22 PET NED
11/22 CT NED
3/23 PET lesion on liver
3/23 MRI confirmed lesion
4/23 liver surgery aborted lesion found on diaphragm
5/23 chemo started
7/23 CT shows shrinkage of lesion, consult scheduled with surgeon


Return to “Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum”



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 91 guests