My husband was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia back in 2005(right before our wedding). Up until today, we were in the "watch-and-wait" mode, going to the oncologist every 3 months for blood work and every 6 months for CT scans. He also had a bone marrow biopsy & aspiration done once, about a year ago.
Well, today's visit was anything but "normal". For starters, my husband's WBC count dropped, from 54000 all the way to 37000. I realize these jumps & dives are typical for CLL, but his count has never gone down more than 2000-3000 at a time. On the contrary, it has jumped 18000 in a 3-month timeframe, and I think it was noted at his last visit in October. Second, while listening to my husband's heart, the doctor seemed to take extra, extra, extra, extra, extra looooonnnnnngggggggg. When he finally stopped, he made some brief comment about detecting an irregular heartbeat, but then moved on as if nothing was wrong. My husband has never had any cardio issues before and this comment about irregular heartbeats set off bells in both our heads.
But here's the most concerning part of the visit, and my true reason for posting: While checking my husband's lymph nodes and spleen today, the doctor became very concerned & alarmed when palpating the spleen, stating "it's very, abnormally enlarged". According to the latest CT scan on file, which was done about 6 months ago, my husband's spleen was enlarged at that time, too. But the doctor wasn't able to palpate it on physical exam back then. So now he ordered for my husband to have CT & PET scans done this week. He also mentioned that my husband may have to start chemo(w/Fludorabine) ASAP, getting it every day for one week/month, as well as blood draws every day while on chemo.
Has the leukemia reached a "point-of-no-return"? How much time does my husband have? How serious is the splenomegaly? Will it get better? Worse? What stage does this put my husband in? Will he need chemo for the rest of his life, once it's started? Will he have to be hospitalized every month while he's getting the chemo? Will he have to get a VAD, like a Med-port, PICC, or Hickman?
Thanks, ahead of time, to anyone who replies. I'm just a very scared wife right now........