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Diagnosed in 2012 with a CEA of 1.0. Never higher than 2.77. There could be a lot of things going on here. I am hereditary with Lynch Syndrome.
Is it an indicator for recurrence? I hope not. I have a PET scan 11/25 and another CEA check. That will tell us a lot👍🤟💪
Fast facts:
CEA is a substance produced by colorectal cancer cells and released into the blood.
All colorectal cancer patients should have CEA testing.
Normal CEA level does not rule out cancer, as not all colorectal cancers produce CEA.
Decreasing CEA level during treatment is a sign that the treatment is effective.
Increasing CEA level over time may indicate cancer progression or a return of cancer after treatment.
Note to self … Increasing CEA level after successful treatment may be caused by cancer recurrence. If your CEA level increases during follow-up monitoring after treatment, your healthcare team will do more testing (such as colonoscopy, biopsy, or PET/CT scan) to confirm or rule out a recurrence.
After surgery mine went from a 4.8 to a 1.6. Then I started chemo 1.9. Durning and after it ranged from 2.94 and plateaued at 3.2. Cancer doc wasn’t too worried. But I don’t like seeing 3s. My next scan is next month (been 6 months) it pray it’s either still at 3.2 or lower! It am aware it can fluctuate but it’s nerve wracking! Prayers 🙏🏾
Hi Txbj1,
Yeah .. I’ve never been in the 3”s. Mine was never that high even before my partial colectomy surgery in 2012. Very odd, but I get a PET scan Tuesday and another CEA test👍🤔 I’ve been NED 7 years and hope to add to that👍.
I’ll post it when I know it.
Tom
Wishing you all the best for your PET scan on Tuesday. Please do share how you get on with the checks.
Will do. Thanks. Early start. Need to be there at 6:00 am. It’s an hour drive.
My instructions:
Do not eat or drink anything except plain water for 4 hours before your appointment.
Avoid candy, gum, mints, cough drops, or total parenteral nutrition (TPN)—water is the only exception.
Do not take insulin for 4 hours prior to your appointment. If you use an insulin pump, keep it on the basal setting—do not turn it off.
If you require medication for claustrophobia, please contact your ordering provider and bring the medication with you. Do not take prior to arriving for the appointment.
Plan to spend 2 to 3 hours in the PET department. Scan times vary from 15 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the procedure ordered by your doctor.
Some PET procedures may have different instructions. If you receive a call with specific instructions, please follow them carefully.
Wow, those are very specific instructions that I wouldn’t have expected. And it is a really early start! Safe travels for Tuesday too.
Yep … I’ll have to get up about 3-3:30🥱😳. I have a very specific eating schedule and that will get messed up. However, I can hydrate and I’m good at that, so that’s a win👍
Wishing you all the absolute very very best and keeping everything crossed for you 🤞🙏 Take care and again all the very best
Thanks Sooty712 … 🙏👍. I truly appreciate all the well wishes👍❤️
one of my friend is a prof in cyprus. He told me that my cea value may be high sometimes. I reached 10000 can you believe. You have to control other values before arriving to conclusion. Sometimes a small infection can raise it. Bile problems for ex. My cea value dropped after using cipro. I hope it şs as simple as that 🤗
I have not spoken with my doctor yet. I did the procedure and went home. I was home by 10:00. This looks to be good news.💪👍🙏 Nothing indicates cancer is causing the higher CEA. That's great to know.
The "patient friendly" explanation section is below.
IMPRESSION:
1. No metabolically active metastatic disease.
2. The soft tissue surrounding the SMA/celiac arteries and the low attenuation retroperitoneal lesion do not demonstrate FDG uptake above blood pool.
FDG uptake
FDG stands for “fluorodeoxyglucose,” which is the molecule of radioactive glucose (sugar) used for most PET imaging.
Cells in the body use this molecule for energy just like regular sugar, so it accumulates in tissues that are using a lot of energy (called “FDG uptake”). This shows up as brightness on PET images and is referred to as “FDG activity.”
Looking for FDG active areas helps to identify cancers and other problems.
I'm glad I got this checked out. At lease we know what is causing it isn't cancer.👍 So I move on and keep up with my annual surveillance procedures.
More anxiety 
Colonoscopy & CT scan
colon cancer worries
Pooping blood and blood clots, no pain. Help! 
