I read your affectionate response, which revives me so, your want of cheerfulness is acceptable of any token of friendship you can give me. May good angels guard and preserve you. :salute:

Something you might ask about is a CA-125 count (Cancer Antigen-125)

Everyone here has in their bodies a 'normal level' of cancer antigens floating around on the look out for cancer cells of which, believe it or not, everyone has in their bodies too. When these mutating cells are found the cancer antigens attack and destroy them. Sometimes however these cancer cells grow too fast and the body will produce antigens in even greater numbers to do combat.

When she had blood work done the CA-125 count was 32. A relatively low number for some cancers, but very high for the kind she had.

It might be something to ask about next meet to see what exactly they are looking at. Like the CA-125 count, swollen sentinal nodes indicate potential problems but not always a certain problem with cancer. Combined information helps.

Love ya man. live strong, stay strong.




.

So how you now?

Diet seems to play a serious part in our lives, some one shared this with me last week so I thought I'd share it with you.

http://www.hacres.com/home

Well, i'm pretty positive about the whole thing, i have the deciding follow-up appointment next Wednesday, so that is when i will find out what treatment i need.
Last week's appointment was a referral for more CT scans to see if the lymph glands had enlarged since the last time, however the Doc told me that if they had that that may not necessarily be bad. I was confused by that.
In fact, i was confused by a lot of things that day, as i pointed out in a previous post.
Will keep updating, as news develop.

Thanks for the link :salute:
Will read through that shortly.

Fingers and everything else crossed :sunny:

this is a very wierd thing to ask, but how big was the lump?

I have something similiar, except its a tiny bead (slightly hard) that just floats around in there. I dont think much of it, because it hasnt gotten bigger, and based on my knowledge, cancer needs blood vessels to pump directly into it to feed itself, and since its just floating around i didnt think it was attached to vessels.

If you have any doubt whatsoever - go to the Docs! Soonest! Better to have your mind at rest than ANY other option.

Only a couple of days away, I wish you the best!:yep:

GET 'EXPERT OPINION' simple as.

Matt, from previous experience, that sounds like an infection and not cancer, but you absolutely MUST see your GP soonest for a proper course of antibiotics to treat it. (I hate antibiotics, but I hate being unwell more.) Over time, that untreated infection can really mess a guy up, and some Docs believe that a tendency for infection there is a contributor to cancer later on.

Update. 03/08/11.

I went into today's consultation with some trepidation, as you can imagine.
Thoughts of : "Has this spread to my vital organs"? "Has this spread to my stomach"?
The answers were surprising and a rather big relief.
Nothing of the sort.
No signs of spreading, kidneys, lungs and liver all in good repair.
The Doctor said that this type of cancer does not spread to the stomach, or the liver or kidneys.
The way it travels up is through your lymph nodes. Then it can invade your Lungs etc.
Now, the lymph nodes was the other thing i thought of. From the last scans done a month ago, no visible signs if enlargement. What they look for is if the lymph nodes are 1 cm or larger, that is abnormal and a sign of concern. However in my case, no enlargement, which is bloody fantastic!
The road i travel now, from today is the following:
On the 8th i have an Education session, on the 10th a Doctor's appointment at 14:15 and then the same day at 15:00 1, yes, 1 cycle of Chemo.
The Doctor said that in my situation, with this type of cancer and where i'm at currently, i had 2 options:
1) no treatment and continual monitoring every 3 to 4 weeks then less to monitor any concerns with the lymph nodes enlarging.
Or, 2) 1 Cycle of chemo with 1 drug.
I chose the latter.
In the hope of killing this sucker now, before it has a chance to spread or do further damage.
The only really worrying thing that i found from today's hospital trip is that i have lost 2kg's in 7 days!!
Bloody hell, i'm wasting away here.
I asked Doc and he said it can be because of the cancer cells present in your system.
He advised that i have this cycle of chemo, wait 3 to 4 weeks and see if there are any signs of improvement.
If not, see GP and go from there.
We will see.
But i hope this is going to improve, with the chemo, because i've got no idea how to stop this wasting away.
Overall, i'm still alive and in good fighting spirits.
I forgot to mention, the procedure for the next 5 to 10 years is to keep on being monitored, via ct scans, xrays and tumor markers.
Actually the other good news is that the blood tests done last week showed that the tumor markers haven't increased from last time.
Tumor markers are a sign that the cancer has increased, or stabilized. Also a good measuring stick for chemo treatment, to see if cancer cells are responding to the treatment.
Anyways, once again Gentlemen, thank you for your ongoing support and thoughts and well-wishes!
Very much appreciated. :salute:

Glad to hear the good angels were with you Pete, goodluck with the rest. Now your on next watch you do no get away from us easily. :O: :salute::yeah:

Likewise nice to here the optimistic prognosis. :yeah:

Good news Pete, for sure. I can only imagine your fears going in there for the appointment. Still, the relief must have been good.

You made the right decision with the Chemo, I would have done the same thing, better deal with it now and with any luck be able to put it all behind you later.

You may have lost a fair share of that weight due to stress as well as any cancer you may have. How are your eating habits?

Hi my Friend !

That sounds very good, I´m happy for you !!! :yeah:

Best regards,
Magic:salute: