Went for my first 6 month check up, and unfortunately, I am getting kicked back down to the every 3 month interval again
All my bloodwork was good, EXCEPT for 1 of the 3 "tumor markers" they look for in my blood - my AFP (alpha-fetoprotein) was higher then what it has been historically, but still well within the "normal range". The normal range is 0-8, I am usually 3.1-3.4, this time it was at 4.2, so well over a 20% increase. The strange thing, I had/have "seminoma" cancer, which usually does not show up as an increase in AFP. Before surgery, after surgery, before chemo, after chemo, my AFP has been stable. So, either (hopefully not) I had/have a "mixed" cancer instead of a "pure" cancer, or something else is going on.
My CT scans were all stable, EXCEPT my liver has slightly enlarged itself since last December. The increased AFP mentioned above MIGHT tie into my slightly bigger liver. The AFP CAN go up IF something is going on with your liver. Since I have probably drank less then a case of beer since last December, pretty sure alcohol abuse is not the reason. I don't have any Hepatitis or Cirrhosis of the liver, hopefully not liver cancer. CT did not reveal anything else strange about my liver, except that it is "slightly bigger" then what it was last December. Your liver should pretty much stay the same size, as mine has over the last 4-5 years since all these CT scans started. No pain on my right side tummy, no jaundice/yellow eyes, no symptoms of any major liver issues.
My oncologist is going to consult with some other doctor's about the AFP/increased liver size and get back to me. If they are not too worried, I will go back in 3 months and do another full blood lab. Hopefully the AFP will be back to normal
The only thing that I can think/hope happened to my liver/AFP - A few weeks ago I had a wisdom tooth cut out of my jaw AND a cyst removed from my back. I was on some pretty strong anti-biotics for 3 weeks. MAYBE the anti-biotics slightly inflamed/temporarily damaged my liver and it has not fully gotten back to normal
This happened to one of co-worker's wife, she ended up in the hospital for a few days, BUT she also had other major symptoms.
The oncologist was NOT too worried (not as much as me LOL) about the increased AFP. He says he has seen this happen to quite a few patients this far out (2-3 years) past the last chemo. One check up it will be higher, then back to normal. I read a medical journal article about this, too. They were using seminoma testicular cancer people as the "test group" in a study of AFP in other types of testicular cancer patients, during the post chemo surveillance period. The journal mentioned seminoma patients had this happen well past the cancer relapse time frame, and the anxiety it causes:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6364670/
Anyway, I give this visit/check-up a "B" grade.
Seems like I am still good to go as far as the cancer goes, hopefully my liver gets back in shape by the next lab visit