Great news from Bulgaria

[aleksandra]

Hi again. We had a visit to the hospital yesterday.
The CT scan is clear - the lung is clear and the other too.
LDH is 212, referent limits 230-460
AFP is 1.44, referent limits <5.8
Still waiting for the bHCG.
Wish you the same good luck all!

[dadmo]

Congratulations on the test results, that's wonderful news. How's the baby comming along?

[aleksandra]

Our baby is nearly 7 cm, developing well, me too i'm going well. My sister's baby is almost 4,5 kg weight and 60 cm tall. He's very cute. :D

[dadmo]

Well you two have plenty to be thankful for this holiday season. Lately there has been a lot of good news on the forum.

[aleksandra]

Well, the bHCG is 3.03. limits 0.00 - 3.00 :(
I don't know what to think :(

[Larry B.]

Read the following from http://tcrc.acor.org/dictionary.html#hcg

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG), beta subunit - In adults, significant elevation of levels of beta HCG occurs only during pregnancy and in patients with trophoblastic neoplasms or nonseminomatous germ cell tumors. As a result, it is used as a tumor marker. Essentially, 100 per cent of patients with trophoblastic tumors and 40-60 per cent of patients with nonseminomatous germ cell tumors, including all patients with choriocarcinoma, 80% of patients with embryonal carcinoma, and 10-25% of patients with pure seminoma are diagnosed with elevated levels of beta HCG. The serum half life of beta hCG is 24 to 36 hours, which implies that elevated concentrations should return to normal within 5 to 7.5 days after surgery if all tumor is removed. Please note that the normal HCG level is usually less than 5 miu/ml. Also note that the HCG level can become elevated (falsely positive) due to abnormally low levels of testosterone or because of marijuana use.

Note the normal level less than 5 miu/ml (these varies from center to center), also low levels of testosterone or because of marijuana use can cause higher than normal readings. Being that you had an I/O, it may be as simple as low testosterone levels. Be sure that Doctor is aware of your concerns, and ask many questions about it. Best of luck, and try not to worry too much (I know, easy for me to say).