It is unsettling to have a ‘watchful waiting’ situation, isn’t it? Feels like a ticking time-bomb waiting to go off. But we can’t let that get the better of us. It’s not going to explode…it’s more like a balloon fizzing out slowly. No big pop!

You’ve already been diagnosed with CLL. The diagnosis of any disease is usually what impacts us the most. After that, we deal with the fallout. CLL is generally very slow to develop and as you’ve experienced, it is often found by accident through a routine physical, blood work or mammogram where swollen lymph nodes are discovered.

Your doctors are waiting to begin treatment because studies have shown that early treatment doesn’t change the course of the disease. So instead of going on meds sooner than you need them, they are delayed until your doctor feels they are medically necessary to stop the progression of the disease. As long as you’re not having any symptoms there’s no reason to treat at this time.

If you’re worried about the treatments, there are several options depending on the character of your cells. I know the word ‘chemo’ instantly strikes fear in a person. I’ve been through many rounds of chemo…it’s something we need to face head on if it’s required. My aggressive blood cancer was 4 years ago and I just had my checkup at Mayo 3 days ago…I’m in an enduring remission and feeling like nothing ever happened.
There is life on the other side of chemo. So I encourage you to just live life to the fullest every day and put this CLL on the back burner. Keep up with your routines. If you’re on a 6 month schedule for blood work, that tells me that your doctor isn’t expecting this condition to proliferate any time soon.
When was your last set of scans and blood work?