Ca27-29 Marker questions

[Barb]

I have just finished 4 regimens of Adriamycin/Cytoxin & getting ready to do radiation. I found out today that my Ca27-29 marker was 64. The nurse said 40 is normal. The doctor said not to worry but I am scared about it. Does this mean there is still cancer in my body? Should I be concerned? I am stage 1 no lymph nodes involved,2 cm tumor. Had lumpectomy in Sept. I am also concerned about a hard knot where my lumpectomy was done & my breast has some sore spots. I just lost my husband from pancreatic cancer in Nov. & I am very alone with this & having a hard time staying positve. Would appreciate any input. Thanks so much. Barb

[Lolly]

Barb, my heart goes out to you. This is tough enough but having just lost your husband makes it even more cruel. I hope you have other family to support you, or church friends, but know that you've found a great group of friends here, so you've come to a good place.

I myself don't have the CA27-29 done as it wasn't ever elevated even when I had active cancer. Instead, I have the CEA done. What I know about markers in general though, is that the doctors look for a trend to indicate possible activity. In your case, especially after just coming out of treatment and starting into radiation, it wouldn't be unusual for the markers to fluctuate for awhile, until "all the dust settles" and you're somewhat back to normal in all other respects; healed from rads, red and white cell counts back up, etc. Then, if your marker is still elevated and especially if it continues to inch up, that would call for concern.
The hardness in the lumpectomy site and the sore spots, in the breast, you should have looked at by your surgeon...maybe an MRI could be done and if that's inconclusive ask for a needle biopsy. You have a right to have these concerns addressed to your satisfication.

Finally, staying positive IS hard, even when we're totally symptom free. It just does take time to learn to breath again. Just try to give yourself time each day to relax and say, "Right now, for 10 minutes, I'm not going to worry about cancer." Then, each day try to give yourself a little bit more time, and as time goes by you learn to put cancer in it's place and you CAN live normally most of the time. I don't mean to trivialize what you're going through, but sometimes these little tricks are very helpful. We basically have to teach ourselves how to live again.

You are brave and strong, and you will get through this.
Love and Hugs,
Lolly

[JKrak1975]

Lolly has given you such good advice about living with cancer! Listen to her:-) I would say that I had a hard knot where my lumpectomy was done for a LONG time! My lumpectomy was done in Sept of 03 and the lump was there until just a couple of months ago. I still have painful spots on the breast. It is all normal though...I'm NED:-) Don't be surprised if rads leaves the breast feeling pretty weird as well. I had fibrosis for a LONG time...the breast and skin was thick and hard. They usually don't tell you that you will get it but that too is completely normal. The critical thing is to have anything that you find weird checked...and don't let anyone push you out of the process!

I wish you well on this journey. This is sure the place to come if you want information of anything. The ladies here have been through it all and they are very generous with their information

[Ginger]

Barb,
I also had surgery (lumpectomy) in AUG 2003 and am still feeling hardness and tenderness when pushing in spots. Like the other Replies I suggest you keep asking about this altho the response I got from my oncologist and radiation Dr. was that it was normal. My gyn recentlysaid it was not and ordered a mammogram but it looked normal so nothing so far is being done unless I want to get a PET Scan. I've been looking for a long time about the blood test. At least you are getting one done. I can't even get any of my doctors to admit that there is such a test.
I have found recently the www.susanlovemd.org website to be very helpful. The Frequently Asked Questions section answers a lot of questions that you may not have now but will eventually. I highly recommend at least looking thru some of those as wish I had known about it as I was going thru my treatments. SOmetimes it does seem like there's so much to think about and you don't always get easy answers without doing a little digging - Google.com helps with that also.
Good Luck to you. Wish I could be of more help. You'll get thru this soon and Lolly's advice was very good. Make sure you get plenty of rest and get some nutritious groceries.......yogurt, Carnation instant breakfast, fruit, etc.

[Jan]

That's not a bad number. My onc says it's not so much the number, but the direction it's going!
Also it takes a few months after chemo for the marker to go down. Mine was about what yours is after chemo but went down to 16 a few months later.