Time to start waiting and watching

11/02/09
My appointment with the oncologist was today. It was nice to sit down and have him answer questions, but of course as I drove away, many more questions came. The most common question I have had people ask is this: If you know you have CLL, why not start treating it right away? Dr. Te said that through clinical studies of CLL patients, it has been proven that immediate treatment does not increase life expectancy. Because of this, why start pumping chemo in and make me sick when I am not feeling sick. So in short, I know I have the disease. But until it starts moving and growing, I can just live life and enjoy it. I'm OK with this. There is one more blood test he took today that may give some insight as to how fast it is progressing. So I'm expecting that result in a few days. He told me symptoms to watch for such as extreme fatigue, night sweats, fever/chills, loss of appetite, weight loss. But if I don't have trouble with any of these, we will continue to wait. My next appointment with him is in 3 months. So during those 3 months, I plan to carry on with life as it is; maybe with better perspective, however. Life is sweet, I plan on enjoying it! Thanks for everyone's concern and love. It makes a difference.