Health update, 9/27/07

Yesterday, I made a brief visit to Dr. Grapski's office to pick up some prescriptions. While there, I had the opportunity to check on my ca19-9 levels, measured a week ago. The news is not good, I'm afraid: after my first cycle of Xeloda, my ca19-9 came in at 307. Three weeks later, after a second cycle, it measured 390. You'll remember that "normal" is at or below 35. Now, this could mean nothing. When I first took the carboplatin/taxol combo, starting in June of 2005, I had a similar spike after the first cycle, going from 240 to 420, before it started a steady decline to "normal". However, that spike was accompanied by a series of other effects suggesting the treatment was working. Primarily, the pain I'd been feeling dropped considerably, as I went from needing the suggested maximum daily dose of ibuprofin, to needing no pain relievers at all. This time, however, I've noticed no change (or if anything, a slight increase) in my pain levels.

We'll go for at least one more cycle before making any decisions on what to do next. I'll get a CT scan after this cycle, then we'll also do more blood tests, to see if my ca19-9 continues to rise. If it is determined that Xeloda is not working, it will be time to get creative. We have reached the end of using chemotherapy alone. We note, for example, that while the carboplain/taxol combo had stopped working in my liver, it was still working everywhere else. It is possible that we could return to that chemotherapy while using radiation on the tumors in my liver. That, anyway, is one option among those that will be considered once the results are in from the CT scan and next blood test. More to come on this by late October...