Connect
Husband’s CA19-9 plunged by 90%
Hi,
My husband just finished 11 rounds of chemo with oxaliplatin and irinitican. During this time, he also has been working with a nutritionist to clean up his diet, taking some Rick Simpson cannibis oil, doing red light theray and high dose Vitamin C drips. His CA19-9 plunged by 90% during the six months and after a recent CT scan, the surgeon scheduled Whipple surgery. The surgeon feels there is a more than 50% chance he will be able to remove the entire mass. Leading up to surgery, my husband is gaining strength after chemo and keeping up with the holistic therapies he has been doing during his treatment regime. The surgeon expressed that only 15% of his patients have the response rate to the chemo my husband has had. We believe that all of his complimentary efforts are paying off. Anyone else have this kind of success with chemo alone?
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Pancreatic Cancer Support Group.
Connect
I had surgery, but those results sound excellent! What stage was husband diagnosed?
They didn’t want to stage before surgery, but the tumor was about 3.5 x 2.7 cm at diagnosis. Based in the size and guidelines we have found online, seems it was a 1B. They wouldn’t do surgery initially because a blood vessel was involved. Now scans show the tumor is up against the vessel, but no longer surrounding it. The size of the tumor has Runk down to 2.3 X 2.0 cm.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
3 ReactionsFantastic news! My humble advice is to be the best advocate that you can for your illness. Enjoy life but never take any periods of “cancer free” for granted.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
3 Reactions@denip - If you don't mind sharing, what was your husband's earliest and most recent CA 19.9 levels? Somewhat similar to your husband's situation, my CA 19.9 levels fell significantly, but began to rise prior to scheduled Whipple that has been twice postponed due to the current CA 19.9 levels. They slowly continue to rise. I'm now rescheduled for a Whipple in six weeks.
Continued success to you both in the shared struggles of beating back pancreatic cancer.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsWow! That's incredible news. Congratulations to you both! I am intrigued to hear that his tumor has pulled away from the blood vessel(s) it was surrounding. I am going to ask my oncologist about that as well. Hope all goes well as he continues his treatment plan!
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsGood advice indeed! Wishing you well as well!
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionYes. It was a fantastic response! Wishing you well!
Did your surgeon mention other factors relating to why surgery would be postponed? My husband’s levels started around 2300 and shrank to around 244. His most recent CA19 test was last Tuesday. His surgery is scheduled for April 17. Sounds like around the time you will have yours. Wishing you success.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction@denip There were no other factors. All other indicators (CT/PET scan imaging and other blood test levels) look relatively good.... little changed over the past four months. My most recent CA 19.9 level (one week ago) was 273, with previous high of 641 ten months ago and previous low of 43 five months ago. My unusual past circumstance and history of twice changed chemo regimens, as well a couple of other factors, I strongly suspect have impacted the range and trends in my CA 19.9 results. My surgery is now scheduled for April 26 following two more cycles of my current chemo. Wishing the two of you success as well.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionThanks for sharing that info. Sending you well wishes for your upcoming surgery.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 Reactions