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CA 19-9 and pancreatic cancer: What do the numbers mean?

Posted by lisarlee @lisarlee, Feb 1, 2020

What is your opinion on these numbers? Was diagnosed in September 2019 and my ca 19-9 was 7500. New number yesterday was 909 after 9 chemo sessions. Is this good news or a wasted test?

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sciguy | @sciguy | Nov 7 2:12pm
In reply to @katieliz "What makes this journey scary is that things are unpredictable, nothing is for certain, so there’s..." + (show)
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What makes this journey scary is that things are unpredictable, nothing is for certain, so there’s always the question- will my next scans be clear? Or will the worst happen and I’ll - without any warning - have a reoccurrence?
You sound younger than me (I’m 72-feel young though!), so harder to deal with for sure.
I hope you’re staying hopeful, I know it’s hard. But what else can we do?
Every night I go over in my head the things I enjoyed that day, and I do my best to stay thankful for every day and the good things in my life.
I’m going to my Y 3 days/week, exercising really helps me! Endorphins, etc. And my goal is to send the message to my body that I’m strong and not going anywhere any time soon.
Looking forward right now to 2 things that I plan to be around for - my first grandchild is due February 2026 🤗, and my first book (I took up writing later in life - about 10 years ago) is going to be published March 2027.

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@katieliz thank you for the very kind response. It was most helpful. By the way, I am 75 years old and if I did not have this, condition, I would be considered very healthy :-). Before I retired I was a very active college professor with Research publications and teaching. So I used to be on the go and tend to be a bit on the depressed side of things if I am not busy. Also, and I don’t want to make anyone feel worse than they already do, I lost my wife to cancer three years this month. I think your suggestions were great, especially the one about regular exercise. For many years since my youth, I used to practice the martial arts. I found that most helpful in dealing with stress and exercise. I never had to use any of things that I learned in any way that hurt another person! However, that being said, I think right now, and you can’t avoid it, practicing a contact sport in which you can sustain an injury is a train that has already left the station :-). Thank you again for your encouragement. It really does help to be amongst people on this form that have challenges and have dealt with them and such mature and constructive manners so thank you again for replying and I hope to have further exchanges with you and others

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sciguy | @sciguy | Nov 7 2:16pm
In reply to @lvtexas "@markymarkfl Hello! I am doing Signatara now. I had a recurrence in March 2025. Back on..." + (show)
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@markymarkfl Hello! I am doing Signatara now. I had a recurrence in March 2025. Back on Gemcitabine/Abraxane chemo now off of that. But Signatara is being followed now.

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@lvtexas It certainly sounds like you’re getting excellent care. I have a background and cell biology and biochemistry . The major limitation with needle biopsies are that they just are not very large. The field of view under a microscope is tiny. Taking a larger sample in a non-invasive way is impractical because of where the pancreas lies in the body and it is also a tender organ and likes to bleed. I spent 40 years study in the G.I. track and the complexity of that organ system never ceased to amaze me. Here’s hoping for good news and getting you back on track with your remission, you’ll be in my thoughts and prayers.

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sciguy | @sciguy | Nov 7 8:27pm
In reply to @sciguy "@katieliz thank you for the very kind response. It was most helpful. By the way, I..." + (show)
Profile picture for sciguy @sciguy

@katieliz thank you for the very kind response. It was most helpful. By the way, I am 75 years old and if I did not have this, condition, I would be considered very healthy :-). Before I retired I was a very active college professor with Research publications and teaching. So I used to be on the go and tend to be a bit on the depressed side of things if I am not busy. Also, and I don’t want to make anyone feel worse than they already do, I lost my wife to cancer three years this month. I think your suggestions were great, especially the one about regular exercise. For many years since my youth, I used to practice the martial arts. I found that most helpful in dealing with stress and exercise. I never had to use any of things that I learned in any way that hurt another person! However, that being said, I think right now, and you can’t avoid it, practicing a contact sport in which you can sustain an injury is a train that has already left the station :-). Thank you again for your encouragement. It really does help to be amongst people on this form that have challenges and have dealt with them and such mature and constructive manners so thank you again for replying and I hope to have further exchanges with you and others

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Thank you for that :-). It is very nice to feel that you’re not alone. You Will be in my prayers and should you ever want A penpal. The same is true for your husband and I would be glad to try to answer any questions I can understand competently 🙂

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