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Posted by Maria on October 31, 2009, 7:49 am
Well, panicked may be a better description. It woke me up at 7:00 on a Saturday. Some of you will remember that a few weeks ago my mother had a suspicious mammogram that they were going to look at in six months. I was a little worried then, but not terribly, as we all know how it can be with shadows and false positives, etc. The fact that they were waiting instead of going to biopsy was encouraging to me. So, I worried a little but I put it aside.
On Monday, she went for a routine checkup. Well, they did blood work and ordered a CT scan at her request (she's been coughing a lot lately and she, like me, tends to worry until she knows there's nothing to worry about). The blood work was not encouraging at all. Basically, her diabetes is beginning to affect her kidneys and her liver, and her diet has begun to affect her heart (triglycerides are 228).
But the really scary number is the tumor marker test that she requested they run. I know that tumor marker values are sometimes NOT valuable, but sometimes they are. She told me her tumor marker was 7 and immediately I was thrilled, because I thought anything under 39 was considered normal. It is--for ONE test. They told her that the normal value for the test they conducted was .5 to 2.5 (I looked it up and a high value is usually indicative of colon cancer, which she had six years ago--diagnosed with Stage 3). They also told her to schedule the CT scan for as soon as possible. She's going to Florida late next week so she has the scan scheduled for the following week.
I'm asking you for prayers for my mother and any comforting thoughts you can offer me. My mother and I have always had a rather unique relationship. She is the cornerstone of my life. We kind of have a love-hate relationship but either way (positive or negative), she has a HUGE impact on my life. HUGE. I can't imagine my life without her. I know I am getting WAY ahead of myself but the blood work and the tumor markers both have me panicked.
For my friends on facebook...if you want to respond there, please do so by private message rather than on my wall. My sister is a friend and I don't want her to know I talk about family on here.
Thank you all....and I hope you are at peace.
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