Quote:
Originally Posted by zx10guy
There is some hope.
But I also want to arm you with some facts about CEA. CEA is not reliable for many people. That's why it's not used as a first diagnostic tool to detect for cancer. It's only used when cancer is confirmed or to track for recurrence. The reason I asked if CEA was tested is because it is good to have a baseline number before going into any treatment. I have been reading up on CEA and it's been a big part of my life....more a thorn than anything. I feel the medical establishment still don't have a handle on CEA and need to come up with a more reliable blood test. When I was first diagnosed my CEA number came in at 13.9. There are those that are stage 4 with normal CEA numbers. It all depends on if the tumor cells express CEA in large quantities or not.
I don't want to scare you more than what you are going through now. Even if the PET scan comes back with less than positive results, don't lose hope. There have been many people at stage 4 who have been cured or have survived long term. My neighbor is my inspiration. She is a 20+ year stage 4 breast cancer survivor and is still under going treatment. Everyone is different.
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Very informative, thanks! I'll make sure to get the numbers, too. We just scheduled an appointment with SCCA in preparation for a second opinion and they said they would take care of getting the CT and PET scan images from the other hospital.
Slightly unrelated but I wanted to ask for anyone's opinion. I have an 18-day trip with a friend to SE Asia that begins in a week and my first thought after seeing the CT results was to cancel the trip. I've been holding off on cancelling until I learn of the PET results, but my family, including my father, insists that I still go on the trip regardless of the outcome. I haven't been able to bring myself to work behind a desk this week and can't imagine leaving my father's side if he doesn't have much time left. I'm conflicted on whether I continue with this trip or not.