Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone
Terrified of the Road Ahead Venus and Mars surprised by Vulcan Currently, I am sitting in the parking lot at YTN, reading medical journals on PDAC. I am curious what the journals suggest an elevated CA-19-9 level (the cancer marker) might mean. Jenny's is stable at 2349 (normal reading is >37). Hers was under 1000 at diagnosis, and crashed as low as the 300s in initial treatment, before beginning its ascent in late October. It more than doubled from 331.2 in early October to 792.4 at the next session. It dropped below 1000 a couple times since then, but the trend isn't encouraging. Amongst the literature I perused, I found this, "Rising CA 19-9 values mean the tumor is growing." That statement is too strong. Other things can cause the number to go up, an obstructed biliary duct, for instance. The worry for me is of all the examples listed as reasons CA19-9 may be elevated, none were things Jenny has. I'm not a medical doctor, so I don't know what t...