I have been away from the Online Community for some time as my new normal and work commitments have been such that I have been focused on those positive developments.
I have recently had a PET CT Scan to check progress since my last one (March 2019). Delighted to report that all was clear. My blood test results were also great...until I turned to the final page which dealt with the CEA and CA19-9 readings. They were above the maximum level for a normal non-smoker, although they were still in the range which would be acceptable for a smoker (which I am not). Naturally caused me a bit of a concern as these are tumour markers and, where everything else was slap bang in the middle of the 'normal' range, these were not.
So the Oncologist and I agreed that we would have a re-run of the bloods in April, effectively treating the first results as a baseline marker to see if the values reduced. The more important readings really were the other bloods apparently and of course the PET CT!
Very pleased to say that they were both down, Previous readings in ( ). CEA: 7.3 (8.4); and CA19-9: 49.2 (52.1). So, whilst they are still slightly elevated, they have fallen. All good.
On the day-to-day, I do still experience issues with dry mouth and a lack of second-wind when exercising, but ultimately it's a case of adapting and accepting that this is the new reality.
Regularly on my indoor rowing ergo (Concept 2)...thankful for it during this present lock-down! 50km rowed in April and aiming to do a 100km total for May. Probably a bit nuts, but its a goal. Life is about goal-setting.
Stay well and safe all!
John
