Scan results are good

My CT scan results were essentially unchanged from before, which is good news.

They are still watching a few very small nodules in my lungs, which have not grown, and are probably not cancer, but they can’t tell for absolute sure. They are too small to biopsy and are likely just scars from some sort of lung irritant, like the time I had pneumonia when I was a child.

There are also still cysts in my liver, which is fine as long as they are just cysts and not cancer. Some people just have liver cysts for no apparent reason. My theory is I’ve taken too many over-the-counter painkillers, like Tylenol, for a lifetime of migraines. I made that up, so don’t quote me on that. But I know that stuff isn’t good for you. At any rate, as long as they’re just cysts and not cancer tumors, it’s fine and don’t need to do anything about it.

They also did blood work. My white blood cell count is still low and slowly dropping; they don’t know why, but they are now thinking that it may just be normal for me. I would be more comfortable if I could see an up and down pattern. They were low before we discovered my cancer, rose slightly after treatment and have been slowly dropping since. My doctor says not to worry because even though my white blood cell count is low, the differentials (the percentages of the different kinds of WBC, such as neutrophils and lymphocytes , etc.) look fine, and apparently that’s what matters. I’m not entirely convinced, but worrying won’t help anything.

My CEA (Carcinoembryonic Antigen), which is a general cancer marker and not particularly accurate – is still very low (low is good). It is ever so slightly rising over time, but well within expected variation. I would like to see it moving around up and down, rather than just slightly up over time, but it’s still very low and considered fine. Again, I don’t like the pattern, but the absolute number is quite good.

My doctor is going to look into doing a new blood test called Signatera. I had read about the new test, but assumed I couldn’t do it because it looks for DNA from your own particular tumor. Well, my tumor was taken out over 2 years ago. I assumed we were too late to do this new test. But apparently it is standard to keep a bit of everyone’s cancer tissue after surgery. Seriously – they store everyone’s cancer somewhere forever?! My doctor in Tucson is going to contact my doctor in Boston and get that info. Then once they have the DNA from the tumor that they took out of me two and a half years ago, they can look for that same DNA currently circulating in my blood.

Here is more information about the new test: https://www.natera.com/oncology/signatera-advanced-cancer-detection/

Our first signatera reading probably won’t actually tell us much because it won’t be zero. There’s always a few cancer cells floating around. We’ll need to see what it does over time. We just want the amount to be stable – not climbing. Climbing can indicate that the cancer has established itself somewhere and started growing.

Bottom line: they did not find any cancer, yay! Caveat: it’s never simple or straightforward. We are not out of the woods yet, but it is still looking good. There is no treatment we need to do right now; we are just watching and waiting. My next blood test will be whenever they are ready to do the new signatera test, and my next scan will be in 6 months.

To send Kristina a comment, email turning51bykristina@gmail.com.