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CEA tripled in 6 months: Luckily further testing shows no recurrence
I had stage 2 colon cancer 4 years ago. I had a section of my colon removed and did not need any chemotherapy. The tumor had not breached my colon and 42 lymph nodes were clear. I have the CEA blood test every six months. It was 3 (which was average for all the tests) 6 months ago. I just had it done a few days ago and it rose to 10.9. I see my oncologist next week but I am worried. I have had no symptoms. The only thing that has changed is about two months ago I started taping off oxycodone and morphine ER after 20 years for chronic pain I was able to taper very quickly with no withdrawal symptoms. I am doing it under the guidance of a doctor.
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@alicefive, any update?
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1 ReactionI FINALLY received the results of my PET scan. They found NOTHING. My doctor just said better safe than sorry and the CEA wasn’t always a completely reliable test. I will be going back for another one in three months instead of the six month mark like I usually do. The first week in September will be four years cancer free unless something happens. Three years ago I had a colonoscopy and they told me everything is clean and perfect and don’t come back for three years. Another doctor told me I’d be getting one every year, but they declined to do them every year. Everybody that has been diagnosed with cancer knows you’re almost in limbo while you’re waiting for the test results to come back. I’m extremely happy that they found nothing but I still worry that maybe whatever was going on was too small to be seen by the human eye or possibly I could have another type of cancer that wouldn’t necessarily show up on that type of scan. But I will just try to live my life in the meantime. Thank you to everyone that replied, it really helped me get through this. I am greatly relieved, but I’ll just take it one day at a time. Hopefully nothing will be found and I am praying for the people that are still going through this. Thank you everyone for your support.
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1 Reaction@alicefive, throwing **confetti**. This is great news. The waiting is stressful, but I'm glad your doctor is monitoring closely and that the CEA turned out to not be a cancer recurrence. Back to living life!
Has your dr ordered a Signatera test? My CEA have been normal since my small intestine cancer surgery one year ago along with my cat scans but recently a Signatera test came back abnormal. I have not met with my Oncologist yet to discuss.
@alicefive do you get ctDNA or Signatera tests ? They are more reliable than CEA and can catch things at a microscopic level…my CEA numbers dance around at a low level even when scans and blood tests like Signatera are clean… the waiting is one of the hard parts about cancer—wishing you clear results !