Cheryl had her first full follow-up with Dr. Burke Wednesday morning (3/16/11). Her physical exam went well and she appears to be making good progress. Dr. Burke said that all of her abdominal and pelvic CAT scans looked good and discussed that the lung CAT scan does still show some loculated fluid (trapped pockets between the lung and pleural lining).
As we were wrapping up the appointment, he told the nurse that Cheryl needs to have a CA 125 check since the last one was performed back in January, shortly after she completed chemo. He told us that the result of this test would likely be lower than the 19 she had on the previous one.
After the appointment, I dropped Cheryl off at home and went on in to work for a few hours and then headed over to the church to get ready for the mid-week prayer service. Shortly after 5 PM, Cheryl received a called from the Dr. Burke's nurse telling her that she needs to come back in for another CA 125 next month since this test was elevated.
By elevated, she meant that it had gone from 19 to 97.9. Dr. Burke had the nurse tell Cheryl that the elevated level may be due to the fluid that remains in her pleural cavity. There can also be other causes for an elevated CA 125 which is part of why they want to wait the 30 days to do a recheck.
With this bit of information, we are not panicked but we are most definitely praying for this level to come back down to normal range. We thank you for all of your prayers along the way and ask that you continue to lift us up to the Throne of Grace.
Yes we will pray!
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