Hi Peggy! Welcome to Mayo Connect. You are in excellent hands with the care teams at Fred Hutch. That clinic has been at the forefront of blood cancer research for decades.

I know ‘watch and wait’ can feel like you’re listening for the other shoe to drop but with blood cancers such as WM, changes don’t just happen over-night. Many blood related issues can take years to progress to a point of requiring treatment, if ever.

It can be hard to shake the thought of ‘what if’ this happens…well, mind games and distractions are useful for moving past that. So I hope you’re able to take comfort in the fact you have a great team who will monitor your labs, following any trends that might show up on the numbers and will be ready with a treatment plan…if or when it’s required. In the meantime, since you’re not having symptoms, nothing has really changed since your diagnosis, except your knowledge of an ‘underlying condition. If my past experience can be of any help, please just keep living your life ‘like they left the gate open’ and adopt the ‘if/then’ approach…IF something changes, THEN I’ll deal with it. Worrying about things you can’t predict just causes undue stress. If you’re living in the great Northwest, it’s such a gorgeous area. Nature can be healing so I hope you’re spending time enjoying walks with Mother Nature. ☺️

Just curious, since you aren’t having any symptoms with your WM diagnosis, was this discovered during a routine physical?