ca 25.27 fluctuations talk me down again please

minarchist

hi i know i posted about this last time i had my blood work, but my number has fluctuated up to 43 after a clean mammo. im stage one, no lymph involvement, i dont know when ill get to talk to my dr and i just want someone to tell me its going to be OK lol (or the truth if its not). if i just have a higher baseline, i dont know if i can take this worry every three months

my mom died of stage 4 mets a year ago, i feel like i have no one to talk to i dont want to worry my husband much over possibly nothing

help

Salamandra

I'm stage 1 and getting treated a very reputable cancer and I get no marker tests. They are not validated. Does your doctor have a good reason for using them?

Scanxiety is real, and you are also facing a combination of grief, mental health, and being married to someone you don't feel like you can talk to. Any of those individually is likely a bigger imminent concern than your blood markers, let alone all together.

Can you ask your cancer center to connect you to a therapist? It's really helpful to have someone to talk to, and can be even more isolating than being single to have a 'partner' that doesn't actually help share your load. It also seems like you should get a second opinion on doing these tests at all

Hang in there!

minarchist

thank you for your reply Salamandra . her attitude towards it the day of the test seemed to be that its a tool in the toolbox thats a little too nonspecific and that i shouldnt panic at an elevation (that was regarding the elevation to the border of normal last time, not this 5 point jump i havent talked to her yet) and it might lead her to order a CAT scan to be sure. what confuses me is that the literature, DR comments and patient reports seem all over the place regarding the import of the marker numbers and i feel like i cant get a straight answer. maybe a therapist would help, i dont know i could give it a try. its very rare that i need support, i just wanted to jawbone my worry a little with people who understand i guess lol