Sigh of Relief

I’ve been quiet here since Dan’s Dr’s appointment. 

On Wednesday we were told that Dan’s CEA levels came back at 2.9.  His pre-surgery level was 2.1, three months ago it was at 2.8.  So, Dr. H suggested that Dan have a PET-CT scan, just to be sure the rising CEA levels are artifact and not the start of a recurrence.  CEA is CarcinoEmbryonic Antigen test.  CEA is secreted by embryonic cells, but level out in adults as you lose these embryonic cells.  Some cancer cells will secret CEA, so in some people, an increase in CEA will indicate tumor growth.

We scrambled around work schedules, and other appointments to get Dan in for a scan.  Dan didn’t want me to tell anyone because it was just precautionary, and nothing definitive.  Why have everyone else be on edge for nothing?  Being quiet was very hard for me.  I told my mom because I needed someone to know what was going on.

I’ll admit, I was really scared at first.  There was no warning.  Dan has been feeling great.  He’s getting his motivation back for MMA, and things were settling into normalcy.  Well, normal for us.  Not to mention, so many wonderful things have happened since Wednesday morning!  Our two good friends got engaged, and my friend Megan had her baby!  I was having a really hard time being happy and excited for everyone, with Dan’s health weighing me down. 

Plus, I caught a stomach bug and couldn’t get out of bed Friday.  But, by Saturday night, my viral infection was gone, and we were able to visit with my family for a Stephenson Clan bowling night.  By the time we were headed home, I realized I hadn’t thought about Dan’s health all night.  Sunday afternoon, Dan’s family came into town for a visit, and I felt great.  I was confident Dan would be fine.

Yesterday at 7am, we headed to the Simon center for Dan’s scan.  They put in an IV port and injected him with a radio-labeled glucose tracer.  The glucose will be metabolized and the PET scan will show any area in the body where high levels of metabolism are occurring.  In layman’s terms, tumors will glow. Then the CT scan, lets them look more carefully at the areas that “glowed.”  Dan was done by 8:45.  I was anxious for results immediately, but we had to wait.  I was a little scared, but I knew that even if something came back suspicious, we’d have to wait for a biopsy to confirm, so we were focused on being prepared for bad news, but really expecting the all clear.

Dan had an appointment with Dr. H to go over the scan results today at 8am.  As we were slowing getting up, Dan checked his e-mail and Dr. H had e-mailed him last night (after Dan bribed him with donuts), that the scan showed no signs of any cancer. 

Dan is still cancer free, and we now have yet another reason to celebrate tonight.  Today is a good day.