Scanxiety

Hi! @vlarenne:

First of all, please allow me to say that you are a strong, courageous lady with wisdom - just like you were 17 years ago. Thanks for sharing your experience of fighting the disease of BC!

Secondly, I am grateful to know that you seem to have a very competent and caring team of oncologists that keep you "no evidence of disease" all through the last 17 years and counting! As you stated: for the first time this year when you had two elevated ca27.29 test results, your doctor has ordered a PET/ct scan to investigate further. These facts are truly in your favor:)

Thirdly, as I understand it, elevated levels of CA27.29 are not specific enough to diagnose early-stage breast cancer (or recurrence, etc.) and can be caused by noncancerous conditions. I think this is the reason that your physician ordered a PET/CT scan to make sure there's no metastatic issues in your body; and even if there is, thank God that you have caught it early and you'll walk through the journey of conquering the disease step by step with the guidance of your professional care team.

You are in our thoughts and prayers, @vlarenne; for you are our comrade in this journey of fighting the disease of cancer. Wishing you all a better journey ahead with peace, hope and love from above!

My anxiety starts probably 3 months before every annual mammogram. My head is all over the place, I even have like brain fog because my mind has too much going on with the anxiety of hearing bad news. You're not a different person or less strong, you're just having normal feelings, I am the same way. What works for me is having both plans one for bad news and one for good news. The good news plan is a celebration its sometimes, an overnight treat trip someplace or even a full blown vacation to book once I hear that good news. If it's bad news I have a plan of attack on how to fix it and that plan helps me sleep better some nights but at the end of the day it's exhausting and it beats us up ): This forum helped me get through my breast cancer, so many fantastic people here and everyone cheering everyone on is a blessing! Prayers for you, and sending you lots of hugs!

Dear @lifetraveler,
Thank you so much for this beautiful and encouraging note. It made me cry (in a good way) and I appreciate you reaching out with such kindness. It helps so much knowing we are all in this cancer business together and your words were a great comfort to me.

Love,
Valerie

Dear @gigipatula
It helps to know I'm not alone in my stress around this stuff. I really appreciate your great suggestions and will do the same. I think planning for best/worst case scenarios helps create more of a sense of control around things we don't have very much control over. While I can't control what is going on inside my body, I can control my response. That was an important reminder that I really needed today and I want to thank you for offering me your words of comfort.

Love,
Valerie

I know where you’re coming from. Diagnosed April 2023 and my oncologist uses ca27-29 as a diagnostic tool. It was elevated before surgery, decreased some by end of treatment (surgery, chemo and radiation) but never went to normal levels. Happens sometimes and as long as stable, he was unconcerned. But 3 months later, it started back up and by 6 months was almost where we started. Went through pet scan and brain MRI and both negative, and ca27-29 went back down. Continued to improve and stabilized over the next 9 months (still not normal) and he called it complete remission and I went to 6 month rechecks, still on ai therapy. Then in December (6 months), it went back up to starting point again. He took me off ai for a month, rechecked and still high so just went through both tests again. I see him in 2 weeks but don’t see anything abnormal in reports. So I sit here wondering if there’s something brewing that isn’t found or is there another reason for this. He’s talking more tests but not sure I want to go further since pet scan didn’t give us any inkling of where to look. Like you, I went through treatment with optimistic outlook and thought I have been through the worst. Now, it’s just a heavy weight of what’s going on, when will it rear it’s ugly head and what should I do if it does? The only thing they have offered in the past is antidepressants. So don’t know if I can offer any suggestions to help except to hang in there and know you are not alone. We are strong women and it will see us through this.