My Introduction
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Hi Julie!
Yes, this is a known possible reaction to the Keytruda. My doctor has seen it before.
Thanks!!
Iowagirl wrote:Matt…..Good to see your post. There’s the good news all the way through kind of neutral news to “What the heck” news in that post.
First…..CA19-9 continuing to go down….GREAT NEWS
Second…No evidence of disease…..GREAT NEWS
Third…..recurrence “might” still be there…..Still not bad….speculation that it is there at all
Fourth….High Liver Labs….possible auto-immune response to the Keytruda.
Question: Has that been a known response for others taking Keytruda in the past? It sounds logical. The Prednisone certainly sounds like a logical attempt to dampen that response. Hope that works and you can continue on once you get past this small hump.Hope the labs look better next week and that you don’t have to make the trip out to Mayo…and things can forge ahead with more Keytruda and continue to kill those beasties.
Julie T.
Matt,
Glad to hear continued drop in CA 19-9. That’s very encouraging.
The spike in LFTs could also be due to your body fighting something such as a cold as well. In November, my husband’s LFT’s jumped up and I got a bit panicky. Turns out it was due to fighting an infection. Also, it takes some time, if I recall correctly about a week, for the levels to return to baseline. With the repeated labs next week, the docs will want to see levels dropping. It’s not expected that they would be fully back to normal.
Looking forward to your next graph!
Debbie
Matt…..Good to see your post. There’s the good news all the way through kind of neutral news to “What the heck” news in that post.
First…..CA19-9 continuing to go down….GREAT NEWS
Second…No evidence of disease…..GREAT NEWS
Third…..recurrence “might” still be there…..Still not bad….speculation that it is there at all
Fourth….High Liver Labs….possible auto-immune response to the Keytruda.
Question: Has that been a known response for others taking Keytruda in the past? It sounds logical. The Prednisone certainly sounds like a logical attempt to dampen that response. Hope that works and you can continue on once you get past this small hump.Hope the labs look better next week and that you don’t have to make the trip out to Mayo…and things can forge ahead with more Keytruda and continue to kill those beasties.
Julie T.
Dear Matt, kind of a good news maybe news day. But, it seems you are in good hands and they will get to the bottom of this. I think CC little monsters love to play these games with you! Hope everything works out for the best. Speaking of games…..a BIG one Sunday night!………
This week I had an MRI to try to “see” and validate that the CA 19-9 drop since starting Keytruda is actually a good measure. Results are back and there is no evidence of disease. This is great news, but tempered a bit by the fact that my recurrence has only once been barely seen on a scan. It’s just too small and in a crowded area of my peritoneal cavity so it’s nearly impossible to see. I’m sure it’s still there, at least a bit, based on my CA 19-9 still being above normal, but the Keytruda is working to bring that number down and, therefore, killing the cancer.
On another note, I had labs this week too and my liver function test results (ALT, Alk Phos, AST, and Billi) were alarmingly high. Higher than they have been since my resection two years ago. They spiked in less than 2 weeks. The previous labs were all normal. There’s no sign of blockage anywhere so we suspect it’s an auto-immune response to the Keytruda. I’m starting prednisone (steroid) today to put the breaks on my immune system and will skip my dose of Keytruda next week to see if that helps. I may go back out to Mayo Clinic for an ERCP to make certain that there’s no blockage if the labs don’t look like they’re headed in the right direction when I get them checked again next Wednesday.
Brilliant news Matt! Looking forward to hearing more good news from you as well!
All the best,
Gavin
Love the news…..thanks for sharing. And…btw….the graph really helps me see the path this has taken …where you were and are now. Super.
Julie T.
It is perfect timing, for me. I couldn’t be happier!
Lainy wrote:Matt this is amazing! It is like a miracle and may the miracle continue!Time to share still more good news.
Today I just got the latest CA 19-9 results and it’s down to 151 from 160 three weeks ago. The Keytruda is still working.
I’ve now had a total of five infusions and will continue having them every three weeks until… Still no side effects to speak of too.
Here’s my history showing the continued drop:
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