to Esther, re: responsiveness

My experience has been in the other direction, meaning that when I initially started navelbine, my tumor markers dropped by 30% within 4 wks. My onc was very surprised. My markers seem to be very high but are sensitive to treatment and respond when the drug is effective. I backed off treatment this summer for about 3 wks because of feeling so bad on gemzar, and the markers started climbing. Tumor marker response seems to vary by individual, and for some are not good indicators of the effectiveness of chemo drugs. Between the tumor markers and my skin mets, I know what's working and what doesn't! So glad to hear that you had a great vacation!! I would have done the same thing to ensure that you could enjoy yourself, and I'm glad you're back on track with disease management now.