| "God does not comfort us so we can be comfortable, He comforts us so we can be comforters." Anonymous Q. How is the post chemo recovery working? A. Different from my expectations. Thought chemo would end, blood counts would get back to normal and I would be running marathons faster. Instead, 2 months out and blood counts have continued to drop, the fatigue issue hasn't improved and the marathons have gotten slower. They say it could take a minimum of 8 months for the counts to be normal or maybe not until the leukemia returns. Average time of return is 4-5 years post chemo. But I am still doing 1-2 marathons/month. August 2011 Comment (New treatment for CLL): Check out his article. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/08/t-cells/ Q. So how has it been after chemo? I notice your marathon times have not come down. What is going on? A. The blood counts have been slow to rebound. Red cells, hemoglobin, white cells and lymphocytes are still way below normal. They are slowly returning at a rate that should have them at the low range of normal by July 2012. So still immunosupressed and fatigued. But still going. Q. I was recently diagnosed with CLL and wanted to get back into running. How has CLL affected your training schedule? A. CLL has not affected the pre-CLL times for the speed work of my training program. Just the times of runs longer than 1 mile. My blood counts are still way below normal after nearly 9 months since chemotherapy. So I am struggling more with the marathon than I was before the chemo. Hoping the red blood cell and hemoglobin numbers eventually get back to normal and then will see if running times improve. Comment: A new therapy provides hope. This is a website worth signing onto. It cost nothing to do so. http://www.oncologystat.com/viewpoints/commentary/PCI_32765_Is_One_of_the_Most_Exciting_Drugs_Around.html September 2012 Comment: It has now been over a year since the last chemo session (June 2011). The good new is that the abnormal lymphocytes have not returned. The bad news is that the counts of good lymphocytes, neutrophils, red blood cells and hemoglobin are still suppressed. So I am still anemic and immunosuppressed. And sometimes depressed :) Although I always feel fatigued, I still force myself to continue my exercise program and to run marathons. This is important not only for physical but for mental health. So don't ever give up or give in. December 2013 Comment: Check out this report and sign up free for the updates on treatments; http://www.practiceupdate.com/news/3929?elsca1=emc_enews_daily-digest&elsca2=email&elsca3=practiceupdate_onc&elsca4= oncology&elsca5=newsletter January 2014 Q. I was recently diagnosed with CLL. Any advice? A. Become as well informed about your form of CLL as possible. Cancer.gov is a great place to start. Many new cell markers have been discovered that have improved the ability to predict appropriate chemotherapy and outcome. Learn what these are. For example; some CLL patients are refactory to rituxamab. Therefore it makes no sense to use this protocol. The more you know, the better your discussion with your oncologist. If you are the least bit uncomfortable with your oncologist, get a second opinion. |
