Quote:
Originally Posted by 85vette
So how is Connie doing? Has she responded to the treatment?
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Well, that would be a yes and a no. One of the markers they use for ovarian cancer is the CA 125 blood test. During actual chemo, the number was dropping rapidly. Then when she went off of two of the drugs and still remained on the Avastin as a "maintenance" drug, the number is climbing back up again.
- 9000+ - May, 2022
- 984 - 06/16/2022
- 579 - 06/29/2022
- 335 - 07/20/2022
- 211 - 08/10/2022
- 154 - 09/20/2022
- 333 - 10/31/2022
- 146 - 11/28/2022
- 99 - 01/04/2023
- 64.7 - 01/17/2023
- 82.7 - 02/09/2023
- 157.3 - 03/06/2023
- 410.1 - 03/27/2023
A "normal" reading is between 0 and 35 or so.
In a meeting with Connie's oncologist (Dr. Stephens), she seemed to be pretty positive. She noted that Connie's CA 125 number was up (the last reading she had was from 03-06 since she didn't have the number from the 03-27 test yet). She said it is disappointing, but there are a lot of things that can affect that reading. I asked her what exactly that CA 125 is an indication of, since calling it a "tumor marker" sure makes it sound ominous. She said it was actually a measure of peritoneal irritation. The peritoneum (for when I look back on this and can't remember) is the lining of the abdominal cavity. Yeah, cancer can cause this number to rise, but so can anything else that might cause inflammation. I guess inflammation would not be a good thing, no matter what is causing it, though. But Dr. Stephens didn't seem real concerned about it. She did do a physical exam of Connie, and said everything seemed just fine with that.
On the positive side, physical exams are not showing any tumor formation, nor have the last CT scans Connie has had. Connie also had an echocardiogram of her heart done recently, and the tech remembered Connie and the problems she was having with fluid building up around her right lung. So he checked that out and said there was no fluid buildup to be seen.
She seems to be maintaining a weight of between 113 and 114 after dropping down to around 108 or so in the thick of the chemotherapy. So that seems to be a good sign. She seems to be tired quite often, but from what I have read, that is a long lasting aftereffect of chemo therapy. She never really lost all of her hair, and what she did lose seems to be coming back now. Some days she will tell me that she feels completely normal.
But we have both read extensively about ovarian cancer, especially the stage 4 version, and know that Connie is a LONG LONG way from being out of the woods. And is known to recur, and when it does, it can be pretty harsh.
So I pray a lot.
She has an appointment down at Moffitt Cancer Center in May. She likes her current oncologist here at Tallahassee Memorial Cancer Center, but when we went to a local cancer support group meeting, everyone there emphatically told her that going to Moffitt for some opinions would be a real good thing to do. So we are following that advice.
Honestly, after that fiasco (ongoing) with the COVID vaccine and the way the FDA and pharmaceutical companies handled the alternate information about therapeutic drugs, I have little to no faith in them nor doctors who dance solely to the tune they play. So Connie and I spend a lot of time reading about alternatives. Admittedly there is likely a lot of BS and snake oil bantered about, but are willing to try to read through the chaff to see if there is actually some wheat kernels there.
So I guess we are both pretty much just walking on the knife edge of life these days. Very difficult to look at the future without getting sucked down into that black hole you know is lurking there.