Tumor markers

Last week at my Dr.'s appointment, he drew my blood as usual and they checked my tumor markers. A couple days later we called to find out what they were.

My markers went up and I felt defeated.

For those that don't understand. Tumor markers are different proteins found in the blood that tumors send out.  When they are up, it can indicate cancer. When they rise, it indicates that either there are more tumors or that the existing tumors are growing larger.

I felt so frustrated that my cancer is growing and why do I have to keep doing what I'm doing for another month if it's not working?

After talking with Dr. Esplin and some google searches and some reassurance from a group I belong to on facebook, I felt better.

Apparently, tumor markers don't work in everyone, so sometimes they're not very reliable.  Sometimes tumor markers rise at the early stages of treatment (for whatever reason)

Sometimes tumor markers rise for other reasons.

Dr Esplin told me not to panic just yet. Scans are the best indicators of what is really happening. He said it's too early to tell and to breathe.

Sigh, okay I'll wait.