Three weeks ago, I had my usual dose of Avastin at the Royal Marsden. I’m so used to the routine now. I go in on Wednesday, have my usual checks including my Ca125 (the marker used for ovarian cancer) and then the IV Avastin goes in. The next day I find out my Ca125 level. Up until now the levels have been pretty stable. It becomes a bit like a challenge to me – to hear that the number is as low as it can be. But that week my Ca125 went up from 12 to 24. I was forewarned that an increase might happen because at the time I was on antibiotics for an infection. However, when I heard the number over the phone it took all of about thirty seconds for me to spiral into a panic. This was despite me knowing full well that a Ca125 of 24 is still considered normal. It was also despite me knowing that a Ca125 levels naturally fluctuate AND that a Ca125 level is responsive to an infection in the body. That’s a lot of evidence to suggest ‘NO NEED TO PANIC’. But logic didn’t seem to work as well as I hoped. My fear about Cyril finding his way back is often at the forefront of my mind and so hearing something that was out of my routine caused me to not think clearly. I should probably mention at this point that the panic happened while I was wearing a superman t-shirt (the irony is not lost on me). However, I was in a very special place at the time. I was in the reception of Chai Cancer Care waiting to have a counselling session. The staff there were amazing, they held my hand, spoke to me calmly and made sure that by the time I left Chai I was calm. Below is a photo I captured of myself in my superman t-shirt prior to the panic attack taking place!
I was back the Marsden the following day for an unrelated appointment and the team did everything they could to reassure me. If I’m being honest, all I wanted was for them to do the test again as soon as possible in the hope that the marker would have gone down. I know now that was anxiety talking and that their plan to ‘keep to the plan’ was the best decision. Checking the marker while I was still on antibiotics (and likely to still be harbouring infection) would probably give an inaccurate reading. I was also reminded of the fact that nothing had really changed. My Ca125 was still very much in the normal range. I was also reminded that my body is not robotic, and that levels will go up and down and although I have no control over it, I do have control over how I choose to deal with this. So instead of talking about the marker, we talked about focusing on how I keep myself relaxed and take some control over anxiety when it comes to my health.
That night I also realised something else. I am far too attached to my Ca125 level. I know why. From my very first chemotherapy session, getting the level has been such a positive indicator for me that chemotherapy and surgery was working. Each week I would get a print out with my markers and the drop each week was amazing…. It went from the thousands, to the hundreds, to double digits and sometimes even single ones. I was winning! Knowing that number kept me going. A Ca125 rise and resulting anxiety was also not new to me. It has happened before, a few weeks after my surgery (as I was told it might). At that time, the team also had a hypothesis. They thought it was due to some residual fluid on my lung from the surgery and sure enough the level went back down to where I wanted it to be the following week.
But this time was different. I have been so reliant on the number for so long and because I was so aware of feeling stress and anxiety about it, it left me wondering whether I needed to have a different sort of relationship with my Ca125. So over the last few weeks while I was waiting to get my levels checked again, I tried to keep a note of my thoughts and feelings about Ca125 as a way of finding out how to best make these changes. There was also another function to this. To encourage me to do more things that would keep me busy and distracted which for me has always been a great tool for managing anxiety.
I’ve put in a few of my notes from the last few weeks:
27th May 2017
Today I tried to focus on keeping busy and making myself feel good. I had brunch with my friends, followed by afternoon tea with a friend, had my hair cut and then spent the evening with my boyfriend. Keeping busy definitely helped but it didn’t completely take the Ca125 fear away. For example, as I was having my hair done I kept looking in the mirror and found myself fighting with Cyril. The conversation went something like this:
“Laura, while you’re sitting there enjoying your blow dry, I thought I’d remind you that your Ca125 has doubled,” explained Cyril.
“It is still within normal range,” replied Laura.
“But are you sure you feel okay?” asked Cyril.
Laura didn’t reply. All of sudden it seemed like she was experiencing every symptom under the sun.
(This type of conversation happened a lot that day so each time it started I would try to imagine walking away from it and engage in something else)
28th May 2017
I’ve definitely worked hard to keep my mind off tumour markers today. I find the more I do the less Cyril pops by. Retail therapy and a visit to the nail bar helped. I’m reminded of a quote I read once: ‘Life can’t be perfect but your nails can be’. I picked a glittery colour this week so I can look down as my nails and smile. I’m going to try to remind myself to look at the glitter every time I start thinking I have a symptom because when I think rationally about it, I know it’s the anxiety talking.
29th May 2017
I woke up feeling calm today. I then thought I could feel pain in my stomach and that was it. Panic set in. I manage to stop it getting too bad by talking about it with my dad. So perhaps there’s a strategy for helping me deal with Ca125. When I feel the panic rising, talk to somebody. The conversation took about two minutes and helped me come back to reality. That reality being that there is currently nothing wrong with my Ca125 and I have no symptoms… other than being hungry in the morning. So going forward I’m going to remember that talking to somebody when I sense anxiety arriving helps. This will most definitely mean repeating myself, but I’m well known for this already so people probably expect this anyway.
6th June 2017
I met a new friend today. We got on so well that it was like we were meant to meet each other. We are on very similar BRCA cancer journeys (at the same age), and seem to think and feel lots of the same things. Meeting her made me realise that I am not on my own with struggling to deal with the bumps in the road post treatment and it felt great to be able to talk to someone who knows these bumps.
7th June 2017
Today was one of those days where I doubted my decision to get some distance from my Ca125. Anxiety was the flavour of the day and I got consumed by a red mark that I noticed on my breast and without much thought, I instantly decided it was breast cancer. Writing this now, I know how much that was anxiety talking and not me. But at the time all I wanted was reassurance. So I went to the GP this morning, and she very quickly able to assure me that I was fine and we both agreed that this was anxiety talking again. We thought about what I could do for the rest of the day to keep anxiety away.
8th June 2017
Today something I spoke about with my counsellor has stuck in my mind. We were talking about how up and down I was feeling because of my Ca125 and the power it can have over me. She reminded me that I must try not to let anxiety get the better of me because if I do, lots of other things will pass me by. I’ve seen over the last couple of weeks just how crippling anxiety can be physically and emotionally. And it can be responsible for things I never even considered, like my eczema flaring up around my mouth. It’s not easy to remember but I’m trying to remind myself that the more time and worry I give to Ca125 anxiety, the less attention I can give to other things. Like eating ice cream (which I went to do this evening). Ice cream and chats with one of my closest girlfriends was the just what the doctor ordered.
9th June 2017
Today marks one year since diagnosis. It’s especially important for me to try even harder than usual to put the low moments of the last few weeks to one side. Today needs to be about celebrating how far I’ve come in a year and how lucky I am to be able to say that. When I begin to feel anxious today I’m going to remind myself that this time last year my Ca125 was 3,052 and at the moment although it did increase, it’s still normal range.
It has been important for me to mark this day because of how lucky I am to be able to and so along with my sisters and a few friends I attempted to pole dance. And I had the best time! I suffer from a lot of body ache now as a result of treatment and/or menopause but the extra ache from the class was definitely worth it! I think a few more classes are needed before I can even remotely look like I know what I’m doing but I’m going to keep trying!
14th June 2017
Today was Avastin day. It’s been three whole weeks. I was nervous but also relieved – there is something very comforting about stepping through the doors of the Marsden. The doctor examined my stomach, my bloods were fine and the team reminded me again their theory is still that the infection was the reason for the rise. The plan was to wait for the marker result this week and only if it was out of normal range I would have a CT scan. After treatment my dad and I had our usual post Avastin burger before heading home. That afternoon my doctor called to tell me that my Ca125 had gone back down from 24 to 11. I instantly felt relief rush through my body.
I started writing this blog a few weeks ago because I knew that I wanted to keep track of how I was feeling and what I was doing to help manage the anxiety. After hearing that my markers were back down I’ve realised something I didn’t anticipate a few weeks ago. I think that perhaps this experience needed to happen to help me realise a few things. Firstly, that I was becoming too attached to an arbitrary number. I have to remember that the number doesn’t have the same meaning as it did when I was on chemo because regardless of the number, it is still in the normal range. Secondly, it can be very easy for me to get so caught up with a change in number to the point that I forget that it is also about listening to my body and looking out for symptoms that I have come to know so well. When anxiety is present, that becomes much harder to do because of all the symptoms that anxiety brings on itself.
And lastly, I need to remind myself that this is probably not the last time my Ca125 marker will rise. Just like a break up (think Ross and Rachel), my Ca125 and I will be the sort of couple who are on-again, off-again, again, again. I’ve thought about whether I make the decision to not find out my marker level anymore but instead just ask my team to tell me if it’s ‘normal’ or ‘not normal’. I think I’m going to try that soon to see if it helps me to disconnect from it and reassure myself that I do actually know what is normal for my body, instead of fixating on a number going up and down. But whether that works or not, my Ca125 will still be in my life and I want it to be because it gives me hope and encouragement. But I know now that we need a different relationship and that it’s my responsibility to make the changes. So today I’m raising a glass (actually it’s my water bottle infused with lemon and mint as I don’t drink) and the toast is to the end of my relationship with my CA125 but the start of our friendship.
Finding Cyril 