My Oncologist is giving me another weeks break from chemotherapy as I am so tired, so fatigued. So the 26th of April is chemo day.
I am a bit irritated that I still a few days shy of two weeks do not have my last CEA numbers. To me these are very important as they are a good indicator for me how my cancer is doing.
(What is CEA?
CEA stands for carcinoembryonic antigen. CEA is a type of protein molecule that can be found in many different cells of the body, but is typically associated with certain tumors and the developing fetus. The word "carcinoembryonic" reflects the fact that CEA is produced by some cancers ("carcino-") and by the developing fetus ("-embryonic").
How is CEA measured?
CEA is most frequently tested in blood. It can also be tested in body fluids and in biopsy tissue.
What is the normal range for CEA blood levels?
The normal range for CEA in an adult non-smoker is <2.5 ng/ml and for a smoker <5 ng/ml before therapy are associated with cancer which has already spread (metastatic disease).
What conditions can cause an elevated CEA?
Both benign and malignant (harmless and cancerous) conditions can increase the CEA level. The most frequent cancer which causes an increased CEA is cancer of the colon and rectum. Others include cancers of the pancreas, stomach, breast, lung, and certain types of thyroid and ovarian cancer. Benign conditions which can elevate CEA include smoking, infections, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, and some benign tumors in the same organs in which an elevated CEA indicates cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can cause a temporary rise in CEA due to the death of tumor cells and release of CEA into the blood stream. Benign disease does not usually cause an increase above 10 ng/ml.
What are the limitations of CEA testing?
CEA is not an effective screening test for hidden (occult) cancer since early tumors do not cause significant blood elevations. Also, many tumors never cause an abnormal blood level, even in advanced disease. Because there is variability between results obtained between laboratories, the same laboratory should do repeat testing when monitoring a patient with cancer.
For some people it is an ongoing indicator of how their cancer is doing ~ (like me) for others (Like REB) their CEA has never risen so is not a good indicator of how the cancer is doing.)
So it's kinda of important to "me" to know what it is each time after I have chemo (takes about a week usually to get it, have no clue why it is taking so long this time)
Right after chemotherapy I am okay but then the fatigue hits and I can stay in bed, can get on the computer for short periods, and watch tv, but then usually after about 4 days I am back to tired but can function, this time almost two weeks and I am just barely getting my energy back a bit.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Dr's visit today
Went to see the Dr. today, all blood counts normal ( except for we don't know about my CEA levels until Thursday) and no reason he can see for the fatigue, but he is giving me another week off chemo so my next chemo is on the 26th. He mentioned rehydration but we didn't have time as Tom had to get to work. Also I think part of it is I "think" I have a cold (sniffling, sneezing, blowing my nose) and yes Tom and I have changed our diets and are eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and lean meats. (But it sucks in one week of the "new eating" I've only lost 1/2 a pound. So am just going to take it easy for awhile more and put the "housework" aside until I feel better. Thanks everyone for your words and concern and will keep ya'll updated.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Not a good time
I am depressed, I ache all over and am not feeling well, I just am so tired and I cry easily at anything, I don't know what to do.
Friday, April 9, 2010
This weeks side effects
I am feeling the side effects hard from the latest chemo session, no energy at all and the simpliest thing like walking to the mail box has me having to sit or lay down to catch my breath and to get some kind of energy. This week I have done no housework other than to make dinner for Tom, I just cannot seem to find the energy to do anything. Have been having headaches almost every day except for today so maybe that side effect is going away.
This was in our local paper today, so thought I'd share, seems they are a long way off from "Clinical Trials" but..... who knows.
New method shown to attack cancer tumors
La Jolla scientists’ work on mice still preliminary
By Scott LaFee, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Friday, April 9, 2010 at 12:43 a.m.
Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti
SOLID-TUMOR CANCERS
These are diseases in which abnormal masses of tissue form in the body. They may be benign or malignant. The top 10 cancers in the United States, based on incidence rate, are all solid-tumor types.
1. Prostate, 152.6 (per 100,000 people)
2. Female breast, 119.3
3. Lung and bronchus, 66.8
4. Colon and rectum, 46.8
5. Corpus and uterus, 23.7
6. Urinary bladder, 20.5
7. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 18.7
8. Skin melanomas, 18.2
9. Kidney and renal pelvis, 15.0
10. Ovary, 12.3
SOURCE: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Solid cancer tumors can resist a doctor’s most powerful weapons, hunkering down to prevent drugs from penetrating far into their masses of diseased tissue. The physician can up the dosage, hoping for better results but also risking nastier side effects.
The battle’s dynamics may change soon.
In a study published yesterday in the journal Science, cancer scientists at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in La Jolla say they have developed a new method of attack, one that essentially induces tumors to pull medications deep within them. The technique, tested in lab mice, produced significantly better therapeutic results with smaller drug doses and fewer side effects.
“This may be a very important innovation,” said David A. Cheresh, a professor of pathology at the Moores Cancer Center, which is part of the University of California San Diego.
We have plenty of drugs that work. The problem has always been getting the drugs to the right location,” said Cheresh, who is not involved in the project.
In their report, Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti and his colleagues describe injecting the mice with a variety of anti-cancer drugs and a peptide — a chain of specific amino acids. These mice carried grafts of human breast, prostate and pancreatic cancers.
The peptide is key.
During the 1980s, Ruoslahti showed that a peptide called RGD could find and attach itself to receptors on solid-tumor cancer cells. Last year, he published a paper documenting how iRGD, a variant of RGD, not only homed in on cancer cells but also activated their internal transport systems. As a result, the peptide could pass through cell after cell, moving farther toward the tumor’s core.
The study in Science, whose co-authors include Dr. Kazuki N. Sugahara and Tambet Teesalu at the University of California Santa Barbara, said anti-drugs lingering near peptide molecules get pulled into and through tumor tissues as well. Seven to 40 times more of the medications entered tumors with the peptide as compared to those without it.
By their nature and architecture, solid tumors are well-equipped to fend off cancer drugs.
They have poor vascular systems, which reduces their exposure to blood-borne drugs. They are densely fibrous, which serves as a kind of physical armor. And they have high internal pressures, which means “anything trying to get in is basically swimming upstream,” Ruoslahti said.
The iRGD peptide acts like a key, switching on the internal transport system of cancer cells so they pull in anything that’s knocking on certain surface receptors.
Based on early findings, the approach promises to have wide application. Researchers said iRGD penetrates many types of tumors and might be useful in treating most, if not all, solid-tumor cancers. The peptide also was shown to enhance the therapeutic effects of several cancer medicines, including a small molecule drug, a monoclonal antibody and two nanoparticle drugs.
In tests, some mouse tumors that showed resistance to a drug were effectively treated when that drug was delivered with iRGD. Other tumors that only partly responded to a drug were eradicated by the combined approach.
Another encouraging aspect of the research is that iRGD and cancer drugs are effective together without being chemically attached to each other, said Robert Brackenbury, a professor of cancer and cell biology at the University of Cincinnati, who also wasn’t part of study.
That means scientists “can use drugs that have been previously approved for therapy without having to seek approval for a new, covalently-coupled compound,” he said.
The result might be a simpler and shorter path to actual clinical use.
“This could cut years off the testing process,” Ruoslahti said.
Both Cheresh and Brackenbury cautioned that more research remains to be done.
Scientists aren’t sure whether the new treatment strategy will work as well in humans as in mice. Also, iRGD might open up a tumor’s blood vessel walls too much and allow cancer cells to escape into the general bloodstream, possibly spreading the disease faster, Cheresh said.
“It’s still early in the process,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I can see how this approach or something like it could lead to more efficient therapies. It could change the way we treat cancer patients.”
This was in our local paper today, so thought I'd share, seems they are a long way off from "Clinical Trials" but..... who knows.
New method shown to attack cancer tumors
La Jolla scientists’ work on mice still preliminary
By Scott LaFee, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Friday, April 9, 2010 at 12:43 a.m.
Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti
SOLID-TUMOR CANCERS
These are diseases in which abnormal masses of tissue form in the body. They may be benign or malignant. The top 10 cancers in the United States, based on incidence rate, are all solid-tumor types.
1. Prostate, 152.6 (per 100,000 people)
2. Female breast, 119.3
3. Lung and bronchus, 66.8
4. Colon and rectum, 46.8
5. Corpus and uterus, 23.7
6. Urinary bladder, 20.5
7. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 18.7
8. Skin melanomas, 18.2
9. Kidney and renal pelvis, 15.0
10. Ovary, 12.3
SOURCE: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Solid cancer tumors can resist a doctor’s most powerful weapons, hunkering down to prevent drugs from penetrating far into their masses of diseased tissue. The physician can up the dosage, hoping for better results but also risking nastier side effects.
The battle’s dynamics may change soon.
In a study published yesterday in the journal Science, cancer scientists at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in La Jolla say they have developed a new method of attack, one that essentially induces tumors to pull medications deep within them. The technique, tested in lab mice, produced significantly better therapeutic results with smaller drug doses and fewer side effects.
“This may be a very important innovation,” said David A. Cheresh, a professor of pathology at the Moores Cancer Center, which is part of the University of California San Diego.
We have plenty of drugs that work. The problem has always been getting the drugs to the right location,” said Cheresh, who is not involved in the project.
In their report, Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti and his colleagues describe injecting the mice with a variety of anti-cancer drugs and a peptide — a chain of specific amino acids. These mice carried grafts of human breast, prostate and pancreatic cancers.
The peptide is key.
During the 1980s, Ruoslahti showed that a peptide called RGD could find and attach itself to receptors on solid-tumor cancer cells. Last year, he published a paper documenting how iRGD, a variant of RGD, not only homed in on cancer cells but also activated their internal transport systems. As a result, the peptide could pass through cell after cell, moving farther toward the tumor’s core.
The study in Science, whose co-authors include Dr. Kazuki N. Sugahara and Tambet Teesalu at the University of California Santa Barbara, said anti-drugs lingering near peptide molecules get pulled into and through tumor tissues as well. Seven to 40 times more of the medications entered tumors with the peptide as compared to those without it.
By their nature and architecture, solid tumors are well-equipped to fend off cancer drugs.
They have poor vascular systems, which reduces their exposure to blood-borne drugs. They are densely fibrous, which serves as a kind of physical armor. And they have high internal pressures, which means “anything trying to get in is basically swimming upstream,” Ruoslahti said.
The iRGD peptide acts like a key, switching on the internal transport system of cancer cells so they pull in anything that’s knocking on certain surface receptors.
Based on early findings, the approach promises to have wide application. Researchers said iRGD penetrates many types of tumors and might be useful in treating most, if not all, solid-tumor cancers. The peptide also was shown to enhance the therapeutic effects of several cancer medicines, including a small molecule drug, a monoclonal antibody and two nanoparticle drugs.
In tests, some mouse tumors that showed resistance to a drug were effectively treated when that drug was delivered with iRGD. Other tumors that only partly responded to a drug were eradicated by the combined approach.
Another encouraging aspect of the research is that iRGD and cancer drugs are effective together without being chemically attached to each other, said Robert Brackenbury, a professor of cancer and cell biology at the University of Cincinnati, who also wasn’t part of study.
That means scientists “can use drugs that have been previously approved for therapy without having to seek approval for a new, covalently-coupled compound,” he said.
The result might be a simpler and shorter path to actual clinical use.
“This could cut years off the testing process,” Ruoslahti said.
Both Cheresh and Brackenbury cautioned that more research remains to be done.
Scientists aren’t sure whether the new treatment strategy will work as well in humans as in mice. Also, iRGD might open up a tumor’s blood vessel walls too much and allow cancer cells to escape into the general bloodstream, possibly spreading the disease faster, Cheresh said.
“It’s still early in the process,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I can see how this approach or something like it could lead to more efficient therapies. It could change the way we treat cancer patients.”
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Chemotherapy yesterday.
Had chemotherapy yesterday and talked to the Dr. Had my blood drawn and have to wait till Monday to get my CEA results.
Chemo was fairly uneventful, I slept through part of it then Tom and I talked to a very nice lady who was getting chemo also in the small room we were in.
But last night had horrible side effects; nausea, headache, and a bit of loose stool, not quite diarrhea. Compared to others side effects last night wasn't much of anything but kept me in discomfort.
Also my hernia acted up last night and ended up balled up and crying twice I think as it hit me like a bad cramp then went away, hit me again and then went away and I was able to sleep.
Took a vicodin for the headache and Compazine for the nausea, no Immodium AD as not full fledged diarrhea.
Today have a bit of headache and some nausea but took a Vicodin and Compazine so slowly feeling better.
And today that's about all the news that's fit to tell, wishing everyone a great day.
Chemo was fairly uneventful, I slept through part of it then Tom and I talked to a very nice lady who was getting chemo also in the small room we were in.
But last night had horrible side effects; nausea, headache, and a bit of loose stool, not quite diarrhea. Compared to others side effects last night wasn't much of anything but kept me in discomfort.
Also my hernia acted up last night and ended up balled up and crying twice I think as it hit me like a bad cramp then went away, hit me again and then went away and I was able to sleep.
Took a vicodin for the headache and Compazine for the nausea, no Immodium AD as not full fledged diarrhea.
Today have a bit of headache and some nausea but took a Vicodin and Compazine so slowly feeling better.
And today that's about all the news that's fit to tell, wishing everyone a great day.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Have to lose weight and eat healthy
Okay, I HAVE to lose weight. (and so does Tom) This sounds weird coming from someone with my stage cancer huh? Anyways, we are going grocery shopping tomorrow morning and I need good ideas on food or diets someone can direct me too on the internet. (Taking a nap in a few so not doing my own research for once (grin)
So here's what our diet is usually like:
BREAKFAST:
Bagel slathered with cream cheese and strawberry jam 2 whole bagels for Tom (4 halves), 1 (2 halves) for me.
or
Bicuits and sausage with gravy, 4 biscuits (8 halves) for Tom, 2 biscuits (4 halves) for me. Both slathered with sausage fried and white home made gravy mixed with cooked sausage bits and grease.
or
Cereal with milk ~ BIG bowl for Tom, half his size bowl for me. (Golden Grahams his preferred kind, Captain Crunch or some kids sugary cereal for me)
or
Frozen breakfast bag cooked in a bit of oil and eggs scrambled and mixed in. Tom eats his burrito style with cheese slices and I eat mine just like it is.
or
Bacon and eggs and toast.
or
French toast and bacon or Homemade pancakes and bacon ~ 6 slices french toast or three big pancakes for Tom and about 5 pieces of bacon, 2 slices french toast or one big pancake for me and the same amount of bacon.
or
We go out to eat at Denny's or IHOP sometimes
LUNCH
I pack his lunch and he is a creature of habit so each day Tom's lunch is the same (The days he is working: Two double meat sandwhiches with 1 1/2 slice provolone cheese with mustard, one orange, one apple, one chocolate boost (he works 2pm to 10 or 11 pm so takes the boost if he feels tired), one granola snack bar, 8 rollos (chocolate covered carmel candies), 6 chocolate chip cookies or one package of two Little Debbie snack cakes)
My lunch is soup and a lunch meat sandwhich or two lunch meat sandwhiches or a bowl or plate of leftovers (varies)
I snack later during the day; chocolate, make homemade nachos, cookies, ice cream, etc.
DINNER:
Usually premade frozen dinners in bags, and steam fresh vegetables that I put too much butter on, easy to make and fast. One dinner and vegetable bag feeds 2 people, but I dish him out a much larger portion of both the dinner and the vegetables. (Remember dinner is when he comes home from work and after he relaxes for a bit so usually we are eating about 11:30 pm.
Then sometimes a snack after dinner; Ice cream, cheesecake, etc.
I am getting to the point I know I am unhealthy and am worrying about Tom's weight (He is over 350 at this point I know and 6' exactly and I am 5' 3 1/2" and 242.
So before I see my Dr. on Monday for treatment and have to ask him to see a dietician, thought I would ask for help here.
Thanks a bunch all and headed to lay down for a time ((((((((((hugs))))))))))
And in reply to a post someone put down on the colon cancer forum:
Shame faced ~ Sheila we do have vegetables with each dinner the steam fresh kind, easy to fix, I just have to stop putting loads of butter on them and learn to eat them the way they are and enjoy the taste and also buy fresh vegetables and use them before they go bad. Also I do try to do salads once in a while for dinner but the bag salads or the lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc do go bad most of the time before we are half way through them as we don't eat them as much and ranch is our favorite with bleu cheese the next in line for salad dressing so out they go and I am buying vinegrette dressing. Also am going to use your suggestions on buying fresh meat, lean chicken breast, lean turkey, etc and work more on actually cooking than using the store bought high caloric frozen dinners. And going to go to egg beaters and turkey bacon and wheat type bread, more rice also as a side dish (have a rice cooker so why not put it to use?) Also am going to work on other things as I went through our cupboards and am doing a shopping list.
Thank you for your help and ideas Sheila and if anyone else has any ideas before about 11am PST tomorrow let me know, they will be appreciated. (((((((((hugs))))))))))))
Okay back from grocery shopping and Tom is at work.
I woke up this morning before him and cleaned out the bad stuff from the freezer, refrigerator and cupboards (Donated some unopened stuff to a family with kids downstairs and to the right of us).
I made breakfast and coffee for Tom and then spoke to him about what I wanted to buy and how I wanted us to start eating starting Monday, he balked a bit but hey I was buying groceries this time so, my call (grin) and he knows the truth of us both having to lose weight and get healthier.
So, bought fresh vegetables and fruits, salad fixings, Turkey bacon, skinless boneless chicken breasts and skinless boneless turkey breasts, also bought some thin lean steaks, bought vinagrette dressings (low calorie), Egg Beaters and a bunch of other healthy things. I asked Tom to get me wheat bread but he apparently did not hear me so I didn't realize until we were home and I was putting away the groceries that he bought white bread.
Well I guess he can have that for his sandwhiches for lunch which I told him would now consist of two sandwhiches still but with one piece of lunch meat and one piece of provolone cheese instead of the two pieces each he was eating before, (he really didn't like that but I make his lunch so I am going to do what I need to do to make sure he also eats well) and one apple and one orange or another fruit, a banana and a snack bar, no more cookies, Little Debbie cakes or chocolate for either him or me.
I did tell him every Sunday we could have a treat like a small ice cream cup or a small piece of pie or something.
So tomorrow we are having a big nice Easter dinner and then Monday starts the healthy eating and hopefully I will have good news to report in not too long a time in us both feeling healthier and losing some weight.
(smiles)
So here's what our diet is usually like:
BREAKFAST:
Bagel slathered with cream cheese and strawberry jam 2 whole bagels for Tom (4 halves), 1 (2 halves) for me.
or
Bicuits and sausage with gravy, 4 biscuits (8 halves) for Tom, 2 biscuits (4 halves) for me. Both slathered with sausage fried and white home made gravy mixed with cooked sausage bits and grease.
or
Cereal with milk ~ BIG bowl for Tom, half his size bowl for me. (Golden Grahams his preferred kind, Captain Crunch or some kids sugary cereal for me)
or
Frozen breakfast bag cooked in a bit of oil and eggs scrambled and mixed in. Tom eats his burrito style with cheese slices and I eat mine just like it is.
or
Bacon and eggs and toast.
or
French toast and bacon or Homemade pancakes and bacon ~ 6 slices french toast or three big pancakes for Tom and about 5 pieces of bacon, 2 slices french toast or one big pancake for me and the same amount of bacon.
or
We go out to eat at Denny's or IHOP sometimes
LUNCH
I pack his lunch and he is a creature of habit so each day Tom's lunch is the same (The days he is working: Two double meat sandwhiches with 1 1/2 slice provolone cheese with mustard, one orange, one apple, one chocolate boost (he works 2pm to 10 or 11 pm so takes the boost if he feels tired), one granola snack bar, 8 rollos (chocolate covered carmel candies), 6 chocolate chip cookies or one package of two Little Debbie snack cakes)
My lunch is soup and a lunch meat sandwhich or two lunch meat sandwhiches or a bowl or plate of leftovers (varies)
I snack later during the day; chocolate, make homemade nachos, cookies, ice cream, etc.
DINNER:
Usually premade frozen dinners in bags, and steam fresh vegetables that I put too much butter on, easy to make and fast. One dinner and vegetable bag feeds 2 people, but I dish him out a much larger portion of both the dinner and the vegetables. (Remember dinner is when he comes home from work and after he relaxes for a bit so usually we are eating about 11:30 pm.
Then sometimes a snack after dinner; Ice cream, cheesecake, etc.
I am getting to the point I know I am unhealthy and am worrying about Tom's weight (He is over 350 at this point I know and 6' exactly and I am 5' 3 1/2" and 242.
So before I see my Dr. on Monday for treatment and have to ask him to see a dietician, thought I would ask for help here.
Thanks a bunch all and headed to lay down for a time ((((((((((hugs))))))))))
And in reply to a post someone put down on the colon cancer forum:
Shame faced ~ Sheila we do have vegetables with each dinner the steam fresh kind, easy to fix, I just have to stop putting loads of butter on them and learn to eat them the way they are and enjoy the taste and also buy fresh vegetables and use them before they go bad. Also I do try to do salads once in a while for dinner but the bag salads or the lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc do go bad most of the time before we are half way through them as we don't eat them as much and ranch is our favorite with bleu cheese the next in line for salad dressing so out they go and I am buying vinegrette dressing. Also am going to use your suggestions on buying fresh meat, lean chicken breast, lean turkey, etc and work more on actually cooking than using the store bought high caloric frozen dinners. And going to go to egg beaters and turkey bacon and wheat type bread, more rice also as a side dish (have a rice cooker so why not put it to use?) Also am going to work on other things as I went through our cupboards and am doing a shopping list.
Thank you for your help and ideas Sheila and if anyone else has any ideas before about 11am PST tomorrow let me know, they will be appreciated. (((((((((hugs))))))))))))
Okay back from grocery shopping and Tom is at work.
I woke up this morning before him and cleaned out the bad stuff from the freezer, refrigerator and cupboards (Donated some unopened stuff to a family with kids downstairs and to the right of us).
I made breakfast and coffee for Tom and then spoke to him about what I wanted to buy and how I wanted us to start eating starting Monday, he balked a bit but hey I was buying groceries this time so, my call (grin) and he knows the truth of us both having to lose weight and get healthier.
So, bought fresh vegetables and fruits, salad fixings, Turkey bacon, skinless boneless chicken breasts and skinless boneless turkey breasts, also bought some thin lean steaks, bought vinagrette dressings (low calorie), Egg Beaters and a bunch of other healthy things. I asked Tom to get me wheat bread but he apparently did not hear me so I didn't realize until we were home and I was putting away the groceries that he bought white bread.
Well I guess he can have that for his sandwhiches for lunch which I told him would now consist of two sandwhiches still but with one piece of lunch meat and one piece of provolone cheese instead of the two pieces each he was eating before, (he really didn't like that but I make his lunch so I am going to do what I need to do to make sure he also eats well) and one apple and one orange or another fruit, a banana and a snack bar, no more cookies, Little Debbie cakes or chocolate for either him or me.
I did tell him every Sunday we could have a treat like a small ice cream cup or a small piece of pie or something.
So tomorrow we are having a big nice Easter dinner and then Monday starts the healthy eating and hopefully I will have good news to report in not too long a time in us both feeling healthier and losing some weight.
(smiles)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)