Hi everyone,
I have been joined up for a while now but not posted before. If you read my profile you can find out a bit about my story so far. I have my third chemo session tomorrow. I saw my consultant yesterday after having my second blood test. She told me that looking at me and my extremely good blood results from my first chemo she feels very encouraged. She said my tumour markers had gone down from my first chemo session. I would just like to hear others opinions - should I be quietly optimistic that the chemo is doing it's job? Can the markers increase? Many thanks.
Hello Hop5
Welcome to the Online Community. I was the same as you- I joined up and read other posts before posting myself. It does help to hear of others experiences.
I hope that you are managing ok with the chemo and are not having too many side effects. I did have a few but found that most could be managed with medication and support and just taking it easy and not doing too much.
Your blood test results do sound promising. They do regular blood tests during chemo to monitor how your body is coping with the chemo and it sounds like it is coping well. The tumour marker is likely CA125. When it is higher it can suggest cancer is active and if it has dropped it would suggest that the chemo is indeed working and things are going in the right direction.
The CA125 can go up but there are different reasons for that- it can mean cancer is becoming active again but it can also rise for other reasons such as infection. It is a useful marker but not the whole picture. This is how my oncologist explained it to me.
It does sound like the consultant is optimistic and I would take comfort from that.
If you have any medical questions about the markers and blood results then perhaps give the Support Line a call and speak to one of the nurses who will be able to explain in more detail. The number is below and they are lovely on there.
I hope that your 3rd chemo has gone ok and that you are feeling ok for Christmas.
If there is anything else you need, please do ask.
Jane
Thanks so much Jane. I have just had a conversation with my CNS and pre surgery my CA125 was 167. The bloods taken on Tuesday prior to my third chemo show it has dropped to 8! I am over the moon, especially as my norm pre cancer in 2016 was 8.3. I know this is not the whole picture but I definitely feel more optimistic for my mid treatment scan on 3 January (the first anniversary of my mum's passing strangely enough 
That's amazing- I was told anything under 35 is considered normal. Good luck with your scan and do let us know how you get on
