Thursday, September 25, 2008
If It's Tuesday, I Must Be Bulgin'
I put off having a paracentesis until this week because it didn't seem so bad last week. By last Thursday I was feeling pretty uncomfortable. So I arranged it for Tuesday, which at least had me on the same day as infusion (only one day at the hospital) but I wish I had goon sooner!
Man, do I feel better.
At my regular appointment, I found out that my tumor markers are nearly half what they were (Yay, Gemzar). No word yet on the ctc test, which has to be sent out for analysis. The last number I saw (in August) was alarming in light of the "key" below on the sheet, which indicated when ctc is used for prognostic purposes, any number higher than 5 indicates overall survival of 4.1 months. My number was 19. I have exceeded the "prognosis" by three years, so I'm not sure I can treat that number as anything more than a snapshot from a trend like the other numbers.
Months. Bah.
It wasn't enough to dampen my thrill at the other markers AND my liver counts, which are approaching normal. Maybe soon the ascites build up will slow down and I won't have to be poked and drained anymore--or at least not as frequently.
w00t!
Man, do I feel better.
At my regular appointment, I found out that my tumor markers are nearly half what they were (Yay, Gemzar). No word yet on the ctc test, which has to be sent out for analysis. The last number I saw (in August) was alarming in light of the "key" below on the sheet, which indicated when ctc is used for prognostic purposes, any number higher than 5 indicates overall survival of 4.1 months. My number was 19. I have exceeded the "prognosis" by three years, so I'm not sure I can treat that number as anything more than a snapshot from a trend like the other numbers.
Months. Bah.
It wasn't enough to dampen my thrill at the other markers AND my liver counts, which are approaching normal. Maybe soon the ascites build up will slow down and I won't have to be poked and drained anymore--or at least not as frequently.
w00t!
Labels: ascites, Gemzar, liver, paracentesis, tumor marker
