Update on CEAs

Since my last PET scan (April 12th) my CEA has still been on a bouncy journey up. Here is the summary of the CEA results since then:

• 4/13:  2.3
• 4/27:  2.0
• 5/11:  2.1
• 5/25:  2.6
• 6/8:  2.5
• 6/22:  2.9

The previous results since January:

•  1/6:  1.0
• 1/23:  1.2
• 2/3:  1.2
• 2/17:  1.6
• 3/1:  1.8
• 3/9:  1.8
• 3/23:  2.1

You can see as well as I can that the overall trend is a bumpy upwards one. I see my oncologist every other Monday, and also get a Avastin infusion then, and tomorrow will be my next appointment with him. I believe he already planned to order a PET scan for me - his plan being to do one after 6 treatments since my last PET scan. So, I expect to be doing a PET scan probably on or about July 5th. My CEA will be repeated on Friday, July 6th as well.

I am posting this update as just an update, not as a reason to rile some people up or to cause some to go into a "it could be something else" mode. I have come to terms with the fact that I have to accept blood test and scan results for what they are: data gathering tools. My oncologist trusts them and I trust them. I'm not panicking (and probably won't ever really panic as that has no usefulness) and my wish is that you not go into panic mode either. I also don't need to spend any energy trying to decide whether to convince anyone that the test results are not to be disregarded, at least from my perspective. I like to post these updates so that those who like to keep updated can do so, and so that "this" doesn't sneak up on someone in the future. One thing I can take for granted is that nobody can admonish me for not keeping them informed!!

So, please take this post for what it is: simply an update to give you the overall picture at this moment. I'm cautiously worried, naturally, but that's normal I guess. And I'll keep you updated if anything changes.