On 7/5/2008
Margebf wrote:
Hi--------want to share my story. I am 9 years post stage II colon cancer-------that should give you hope. Before surgery my CEA was 4.3. I have my blood tested (at my request) every three months and it ranges from3.0 to 4.6, which is it is now. Yearly PET and CT scans have been clear. I'm one of those where it just keeps bouncing around. It's something we have to live with. I still get anxiety before each blood test and scan but it's a small price to pay as long as we are healthy. It's out of the ordinary but I encourage you to take an active role in decision-making with your oncologist. E-mail me any time-----Marge ( --Message edited by CancerCompass staff. For personal protection, email address removed. Consider private reply. Please review CancerCompass Member Guidelines at
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Hi Marge,
Thank you for replying to my email. Glad to hear you are doing so well. My surgery was 2 years ago and since then my CEA has ranged from 6 to 13.6. Pre-surgery it was 6.3 and it didn't go down after surgery. As a result I had a PET scan which turned out fine. I have a blood test every 6 weeks and the CEA level doesn't change much--just stays in thatsame range. The oncologist says I am in that very small percentage of people that has an elevated CEA level and it isn't related to any cancer being in my body. I am learning to accept that since I have been healthy the past 2 years. But I still also get anxious before I go in and have the blood test every 6 months. I suppose at some point the blood tests will stop. When I had my bowel resection I didn't have to have any further treatment. I was very lucky that the cancer was found so early and there was no lymph node involvement. Cathy