When I had my recurrence, the only thing that alerted me to it were the return of symptoms and a CA125 level rise. My CTs and PETs were all negative. It wasn't until I had the emergency gallbladder removal that it was found. I hope this isn't what's going on with you, Laurel...keep in touch.
Rhonda
I was told that some times when you have a recurrence that you can experience some of the same symptoms that you had before you were dx but just not quite as extreme.
I am sorry to hear this but I do hope that you enjoyed your vacation.
Chris
Sorry you have been feeling tired and bloated at times. From what I understand, we usually see a rise in ca125 when it comes back. Here is an excerpt from Ledermann et al (Eds.), Clinical Management of Ovarian Cancer:
"The serum marker CA125 is a reliable tumor marker to monitor the response to treatment in ovarian cancer and to detect early progression.....
During treatment and follow up a rising CA125 level is, in the majority of patients, the first indication of relapse.
A retrospective study has shown that when CA125 was used in combination with conventional examination, progressive disease was diagnosed in 73% of patients by serum CA125 alone, and in 92% by combined use of CA125 and pelvic and physical examination."
In addition, studies that you can find on PubMed indicate that in the majority of recurrences there is a rise in CA125.