I was diagnosed in 2004 and my white blood cell level and new lymph node enlargemens have just landed me at Moffitt treatment center in Tampa FL.
I will begin treatment this week. Early stage diagnosis is key. Hang in there!
I have it too. The good news is the field is moving fast. I personally feel 13 years should be more than enough for a successful treatment. Go to a major cancer center and have it rediagnosed (my choice was M D Anderson, which I have found very satisfactory). Has he had his genetic markers done? For instance, one marker would indicate an average life expectancy after diagnosis of 25 years--basically those people die of something else. A wonderful website called www.clltopics.org will tell you everything you need to know and keep you posted on new developments. It really does matter where you get your treatment done. Be sure his local oncologist is a hematologist. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is another great resource, with very good hotline, online talks by major researchers in CLL (like my doctor). LLS has a service called First Connection where your father can be connected with somebody like me who has the same diagnosis and stage. Hope this helps. Don't be so down, Laura. Of course, it is important that your father do everything he can to be healthy--work out, eat right, get rest, avoid stress, no smoking, etc.
http://search.
medhelp.org/Search/search2.jsp?hitsPerSite=0&lang=en&query=Chronic+Lymphocytic+Leukemia
are all of the articles available at medhelp on CLL
http://www.medhelp.org/NIHlib/GF-452.html
is a good overview of all leukemias.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/CLL/Patient
is a good overview of treatment options for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.
Enoch Choi, MD