[2021-05-05] Latest CA125 result
In advance of my next oncology appointment on Friday, I went to the lab at The Ottawa Hospital's Cancer Centre today for my monthly blood work.
Within 30 minutes, my test results started to trickle in via MyChart, and within 90 minutes, I had all of them. Is that not miraculous?
The result that always excites and scares me the most is my CA125. This is the cancer antigen marker. Whenever I see that result in the MyChart app, I always pause for half a second before clicking on it.
For the past five tests, my result has held steady at 8, well below 35, which is the cutoff for what's considered normal. I was hoping for another 8. Imagine my delight when the number that appeared was 7. If the number was going to change from my beautiful string of 8s, I'm thrilled that it went down and not up.
I don't see the 7 as so much better than those 8s. I suspect that my oncology team will be pleased, though they're never effusive in their commentary, that my CA125 result remains both low and stable. I love seeing my CA125 numbers presented in a table.
2020-07-29 | 2020-09-24 | 2020-12-03 | 2021-01-14 | 2021-02-11 | 2021-02-19 | 2021-02-26 | 2021-03-05 | 2021-04-07 | 2021-05-05 |
920 | 862 | 19 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
Other blood results have gotten a little worse: my neutrophils, white blood cells and red blood cells are all down relative to last month's results. But I doubt that my healthcare team will be too concerned. I predict that they will advise me to stay the course, that is, to continue on my maintenance medication and to do redo my blood work in a month, before the next call. We shall see on Friday.
Today, as Chris and I drove to the General Campus of The Ottawa Hospital, we passed the Riverside Campus. It took me back to last summer, when I had met with members of the oncology team for the first time and they had laid out my treatment plan―surgery plus chemotherapy―looking no further than that. It seemed so long ago. I marveled at how far I've come. I'm increasingly optimistic that my journey with ovarian cancer can co-exist with a beautiful, long life.
