BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Cancer Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Anyone here have any experience with CLL?
My dad was diagnosed a few months ago.

It is a very difficult disease because there are so many different blood markers that determine if you can live for five years of for twenty years with this.
I considered myself medically knowledgeable, but this is so complex.

It also threw me to have my dad be diagnosed with this - we were speechless to hear the diagnosis.

Just want to know if anyone wants to share their thoughts, experiences.. thank you.

Hey BillieCat! I was browsing through other topics and found this one...

My Father in law has CLL, and initially his doctor told him he would probably die of something else before the CLL got to him. (He's over 70.) HOWEVER, he was also recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma...so the two cancers are kind of screwing up his system. He's doing chemo now, but to be honest, I'm not sure which cancer it is for. They had initially told him that his CLL was at such a stage that they couldn't actually do any meds for him, becuase it was 'dormant'...but now, the lymphoma kind of threw a wrench in everything they thought they knew.

BUT, if it were just the CLL, I think he could have gone a good 20 years with no problems. His father also died of CLL(though they swear it's not hereditary) and he had it for quite a while before he had any ill effects.

Hi Rogue:

Thanks for your comments.
It is a strange disease, as you have wrote as well that some die from it, some live with it.
I guess your father-in-law's father's death from CLL was at an advanced stage? I just hope that the new treatments they have now would have prevented that.
I have wondered if Lymphoma is more typical in people with Leukemia. All this is mind boggling to me, especially since it is my dad and I love him so much.

Keep me informed and good luck to your father-in-law.