Two days ago, my doctor's office left me a message to say that my tumor markers were all normal. Normal? Did that mean stable or actually normal? I didn't want to bother the nurse with a call to find out the exact numbers since I knew I could access the results online through EvergreenHealth. This morning they finally posted the numbers. 2.3 for my CEA marker! You probably remember that anything over 3.0 is high. My numbers dropped over a point (from 3.5) in these two months! All my other marker tests are well below normal. Praise God!
I think that, with an uneducated guess, I was having constipation-related problems in my colon which produced the marker. When I met with the nurse practitioner before my colonoscopy, she suggested I add water-soluble fiber to my diet. I protested that my diet consists chiefly of nuts, seeds, fresh fruit, vegetables and other high-fiber foods. She countered that sometimes our bodies need a different kind of fiber to do the work, so I tried the most natural, non-sugary fiber powder I could find. My bowels have been very happy ever since. They did have a few days of trouble when I had to take out all high-fiber foods and supplements from my diet, but once the colonoscopy was over, everything has been going smoothly (pun intended) since then. So, while the colonoscopy was not in itself a necessary torture that I endured, it did produce the results we needed in a round about way: normal CEA marker.
Tomorrow I go in to have my thyroid checked. Another day. Another doctor.... At least for now I can celebrate good news!
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