18

I had a pretty good appointment today.

Some good news - my tumor marker number continues to go down (!!!) My CA125 is now at 18. That is the lowest it has ever been since I started. After my first surgery, it dropped to 19, but it never went below that until now.

Most importantly, there is NO NEW ovarian cancer growth (!!!!!!!!!!) :) That is the best news! I was always good at growing new cancer while on chemo. It is good to know that my body isn't currently cultivating new tumors.

My doctor did say that the cancerous nodules that were there on the last scan are all a little larger (by millimeters). However, she thinks that is from inflammation caused by the vaccine working and attacking the cancer. That theory does make sense to me, because my arm is still inflamed too (from the vaccine shots). So, we are just going to wait and watch - which have never been strong points of mine.

Of course I wanted to hear that everything was smaller, or non-existant. ;) I guess I am just learning that everything isn't always as 'cut and dried' as I would like it to be. I want a certain answer, or outcome - but that is just not the way it works.

I have another appt next month - but no further scans planned for now. That is nice, because I hate the stress that having scans causes me!

Until next time!

Its been a while...

since my last post! Sorry to take so long to update. We have been busy though, and cancer has been (mostly) the last thing on my mind.

My last doctor appointment showed my CA125 as plateaued at 20. I wish it had gone down, but I'm very happy it didn't go up! ;) I have a CT scan tomorrow, and then find out the results of that, and another CA125 on Wednesday. I can't say I'm not worried. However, I have had no significant pains, and I feel just fine. Hopefully, that is a portent of good news to come (fingers crossed...)

Another thing that helped take my mind off of cancer, was our fabulous, wonderful, refreshing, invigorating, and fabulous (I know, I'm repeating myself!) vacation to Alaska! WOW. What a beautiful place!



Here is a picture of me and my favorite husband in Glacier Bay. The image does not capture the color and beauty of the place very well.

We saw humpback whales, orcas, moose, grizzly bears and their cubs, caribou, and Dall sheep (white sheep that live in Denali). We stayed in a cabin by a rushing creek, that lulled us to sleep at night.

We saw Denali (also known as Mount McKinley) which often is shrouded in clouds. In the pic below, it it the tall whitish mountain towering over the others. Again, the picture doesn't really capture its magnificence. The dark mountains in the foreground are like the Rocky mountains. Denali - the tallest mountain in North America - significantly towers over everything else.



It was light out essentially all night. It only got as dark as a typical sunset. The only thing I missed was seeing stars - you just couldn't see them there with all the light.

I highly recommend taking a cruise through the Alaska Inside Passage - and then going on to Denali National Park. It is the most beautiful vacation I've ever taken.

I should update again soon!