No Imaging Yet, but a Good Number

I just finished my third 21-day round on Mothers Day, and began another on Monday, May 15 (yesterday).  As reported earlier, with adjustments in chemotherapies the third round was far kinder to me than the second, which near about did me in. 

The question now is whether the adjusted treatments are proving effective against the cancer.  A CT scan scheduled for June 1 will tell a lot more, but the tumor marker that shows up as a protein in my blood has been trending favorably.  My baseline number for the CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) was 15.8 on February 15, 8.5 on March 20, 6.5 on April 10, and 0.7 on May 15 (I was told about that last reading just minutes ago).  I had been hoping that the number wouldn’t go up because of losing three weeks with no treatment at all, dropping the one chemotherapy, and lowering the dosage on another, but it has continued to drop dramatically.  I don’t know what it means, except that it’s good when that number goes down.  Thank you, Lord, and thank you friends for praying. 

I have developed a case of something called “arterial claudication,” probably an unusual manifestation of the peripheral neuropathy that was such a significant side effect of the chemotherapy we have since dropped.  It’s the pain I’ve been getting in the right calf and then thigh with exercise (for me, walking for about four minutes), that dissipates with rest.  It’s a blood flow problem caused by a narrowing of or obstruction in an artery.  We’re taking a “wait-and-see” approach for now, since the neuropathy in my hands has improved so well, but if it doesn’t improve the fix is to identify the place where the blood flow is hindered and surgically place a stent there. 

So praise the Lord with me that my CEA number has declined so terrifically, and pray that the scan on June 1 would also yield positive news.  And please pray for my leg pain – it would be great to be able to walk more than a couple hundred yards without needing to sit for a while.  Not that I want you to give up on praying for my complete healing, and, of course, that the test of faith in this trial will be passed by me, Robin, our family, and our church in a way fitting the Lord’s design in allowing it.