June '06
We first discovered three cysts in me on the ultrasound. Two in the uterus; one in my ovary. Though the doctor said there was nothing to worry about, he took a blood sample just in case.
September '06
The result from the blood sample set off an alarm in the doc's head. It wasn't a blinding red light with a blowhorn kind of alarm, but it was enough to make the Taiwanese doc went, "mmm......... it's pretty high........mmm......." while flipping back and forth between the ultrasound image and the blood test result.
What he was referring to was CA-125.
A Wikipedia Moment:
* CA-125, Cancer Antigen 125, aka tumor marker or biomarker.
Normal values of CA-125 range from 0-35 U/ml. Elevated values in post-menopausal women are usually an indication that further screening is necessary. In pre-menopausal women, the test is less reliable as values are often elevated due to a number of non-cancerous causes. *
My CA-125 was 198 U/ml from the blood test in June.
The doctor ordered another ultrasound and blood test. Before leaving, I asked if there was anything I could do to bring the value down. He stared at the black and white picture of my chocolate cyst for a moment, then he said, "mmm...... just live your life....... mmm....... we'll discuss it more after your second ultrasound and blood test results come out."
October '06
Dr: "It's currently 2.4 cm big and rests in the ovary on the right. Your CA-125 is 178.9 U/ml from the blood test in September."
K: "That's.... good, right?...... that it has gone down?"
Dr: "(chuckle) It's considered pretty high when a value approaches 100 U/ml. Yours is approaching 200 U/ml. It's not something to be happy about."
K: ".................. so........ what now?"
Dr: "There's not much we can do right now. Let's schedule an ultrasound in December to take another look at it."
I just got your message that you're going into the hospital early. I so want to talk to you right now but it's the middle of the night over there! I just sent you a text message again but seeing as my phone is possessed, I'm not sure if you'll get that one, either. Then I remembered this blog, and I sat down to read. You're a great writer, Kate. I feel like I'm with you: in the hospital, in the doctor's office. But that's the writer-me talking. What I really like about it right now is it makes me feel really close to you, close to the experience, even though I'm across the ocean. Anyway, I'm not sure when you'll get this, and I'll probably have talked to you before then by phone, but I just wanted you to know that I'm here. Sometimes I'm not sure how well feelings translate over long distance phone lines and I just wanted you to know that I'm thinking about you a lot and sending you big, squishy, mushy hugs! And besides that, I'm trying to think of ways to sneak Haagen-Daaz into the hospital... (yes, ice cream is the cure to everything and I stand by it; ice cream and a nice Argentinian Malbec; ooh, maybe I'll try to sneak in the Malbec!)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, all this to say: love you and your blog. i blog u.
(Did I mention i'm on the rag??? ha ha haha ha)