Update - Ca125 and heart

[Cheryl4677]

It’s been a week of ups and downs. The good news is that my thrombus in my heart has dispersed on warfarin. Heart size is back to normal and the ejection fraction which measures the hearts pumping ability is almost back to normal too! A dramatic improvement. I’ve been told I can stop the warfarin.

The not-so-good news is that my Ca125 has gone up again to 279. My oncologist has suggested that as I feel so well that we wait six weeks and review, possibly do a CT scan to see how the land lies and if chemo needs to be restarted.

On that basis I’ve booked a week in Tenerife to build me up for the winter. Going next week! I can’t wait. Just got to get some insurance cover which will be fun!

Went to a lovely wedding for my niece this weekend a danced the night away. Suffered a bit the next day but lovely to have a few hours without thinking about medicines appointments etc etc

Take care. Thoughts with those of you having a difficult time.

Cheryl X

[Petrolhead]

Excellent news on the heart front. Enjoy the holiday. 🍷🕶☀️

Fay

[Cheryl4677 in reply to Petrolhead]

Really looking forward to it. Thanks.

[Lindaura]

Oh dear,

It is great that you are taking a holiday and feeling healthy enough to enjoy it.

I don’t know why they make us wait six weeks, but DO INSIST on a scan. Get it booked in so you are ready for your next Onc appointment.

Sometimes infections can cause your CA-125 to rise, but when this happened to me, I waited 2 weeks and had my GP run the test again, which showed a doubling of the figure, so I was pretty sure it wasn’t a glitch and got myself ready for a recurrence and another round of treatment.

I just think it is better to keep ourselves informed.

When the time came, I was ready for whatever my Oncologist had to say.

I wish you a happy holiday and the best of luck on your journey,

Laura

[Cheryl4677 in reply to Lindaura]

I think I’ve been prepared in my head that treatment will be needed soon. The CT will hopefully show where the recurrence is and we can start the ball rolling again. The Ca 125 has been creeping up since the heart problem so we thought it might be inflammation. Let’s see if it starts to come down but I doubt it somehow. Thanks for the advice Linda.

My Ca125 has gone from 19 in Dec, 46, 50, Feb/March, 169 July (after the cardiac problems in April), 229 August - 279 October. At the very beginning when diagnosed it was 4360!

[Lindaura in reply to Cheryl4677]

Thanks for that. Very similar to myself,

But what caused the heart failure? That’s usually a heart muscle problem, right? Was it a blood clot (a nasty side effect of our IV cancer) or just attrition from sickness?

When my daughter was anorexic, heart failure was the symptom that shook her up and got her healthy again. Her heart muscle was starving!

Most of us have suffered near starvation while in the depths of the disease.

Right now, I am eating like it’s going out of style! On Caelyx, food tastes only slightly different and I am over enjoying what I have decided to eat.

Mostly sliced tomatoes on Sainsbury’s Quinoa & sesame toast and vegan mayo. For some reason, sliced tomatoes settle my stomach. There’s lots of protein in quinoa so I feel secure. Only slightly worried that I am getting fat!

Bon Voyage,

Laura

[Cheryl4677 in reply to Lindaura]

I don’t think they really know if the heart failure and left ventricular thrombus was as a result of radiotherapy I had for breast cancer in 2010. My oncologist doesn’t think it’s the chemo.

I’ve got a healthy appetite too! Grew lots of fresh veg in our garden and I love that but had to watch I didn’t eat to much green stuff while on warfarin. High vitamin K.

Loved the fresh figs too. Weight has gone up a bit and sometimes tummy is swollen but feeling well. Our tomato harvest was huge and really tasty little yellow tomatoes popped in my mouth like sweets.

It’s good for us to enjoy eating as nothing tasted as it should during chemo and my mouth was so sore I had to avoid all the fruits I love.

I’ll post an update when I know how things are progressing.

Take care.

Cheryl