Hello,
Just wanted to make a health note here because I learned something when I saw my oncologist at UC Irvine Medical Center today. A month ago I had gone in to see the surgeon who did the resection of my duodenum and removed the original tumors. I had not seen him for almost two years! It didn't seem that long.
I used to go to see the surgeon after I had an Octreoscan done. Last year I got to feeling MUCH better in November after the Octreoscan was done, so I never got over to the surgeon. However, now I have not felt very well since May, so I wanted to get this doctor's opinion. I told him about the increased heat and flushing of my face and back, plus the earlier diarrhea, and he decided I should have another Octreoscan. Plus, he wanted an Chromogranin A done that day in the lab at the Cancer Center.
Now that is where it gets interesting. As the surgeon suggested, I had the Chromogranin A test in the lab at UC Irvine in Orange, California. I used to do that, but for a year I have been having my blood drawn at a Quest lab near my home. However, the Quest lab keeps sending lab results with CgA levels that are lower than normal. Also, Quest Labs use a different scale to decide if the Chromogranin is too high. My oncologist said it was like comparing apples and oranges. Today I found out that the Chromogranin A drawn at the Cancer Center was borderline high. And, as my oncologist pointed out, that CgA was drawn the day after I just had the 40mg Octreotide LAR. I should have had very low CgA because I had just gotten a big dose of my medication.
Therefore, I am going to go back to getting my Chromogranin A levels checked at the Chao Family Cancer Center. I will go in an hour early before I get my Octreotide LAR injection and get my blood drawn when my Chromogranin A level should be at its highest. This way we should be able to get reliable numbers with respect to my Chromogranin levels.
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