Monday, February 18, 2013

Mayo Lab Results

We live in an interesting world - lab results from Mayo Clinic are on-line already - I only just got home from Rochester.  The neck ultrasound results are not on-line yet.  Here's blood work:
Calcium 10.0.  Normal is 8.9 - 10.1.  This is high normal and highest it's ever been since we started testing - but unchanged since October.
Parathyroid Hormone (controls calcium) 110.  Normal is 15-65.  This is the highest it's ever been - explains the high calcium...it's up since October yet Calcium is holding steady.
Needless to say, these two results are not great...but could be worse.  The Endocrinologist will determine next steps - my guess is more "watch and wait."  So long as we keep that Calcium in the normal range, no need for neck surgery and that's my goal.
Creatinine is high normal at 1.0, this is fine.  Phosphorus is 3.2 - normal, and this is fine.  This means the high calcium is not impacking my kidneys.  I don't see Vitamin D results - not sure if not tested, or just not available on-line yet.
As for thyroid cancer numbers - some good news!  My TSH is down to 0.9.  The Endo is aiming for 0.5ish so he'll likely prescribe more Synthroid (yuck).  My free T4 is normal at 1.6.  There are no Free T3 results - so not sure if he didn't test it (if not, I'll be annoyed) or if it's not posted on-line yet.  Tumor Marker of Thyroglobulin is less than 0.1 - that's down from 1.2 before ablation!  This is likely partially due to my TSH being lower but more importantly it's an indication that the ablation is working!  My Tg antibodies remain below 20 - they always have been - meaning that the turmor marker test is meaningful.
As for the neck ultrasound, I only know what I saw on the screen during the exam.  I clearly saw the cancerous lymph node that was ablated in November.  It was plain as day - peanut shaped and all.  I even asked the tech if that was the one.  Yup.  I have no idea if it changed in volume - no scale for me to measure against while lying down on an exam table.  But, when she turned on the doppler, my untrained eye did not see any vascularity - i.e. no blood flow.  This is a good thing.  But, this is not the doctor's interpretation, so I'll have to wait on the official word.
I see the doctor (or plan to see him) Thursday.  But we are expecting a bad storm accross the mid-west.  So, we'll see if that gets rescheduled.  Of course, I'll keep you all posted!