Aside from enlarged lymph glands, more so in the abdominal area, my symptoms have been minor. Dr is now suggesting treatment. Which one ?

[Soflajoe]

My counts have been high, but not to the point that I would consider a red alert.

Because of lymph node growth in size in my abdominal area and the concern that it could affect the bile duct, my dr wants to start treatment; however he wasn't certain as to which one. Either Ibrutinib or the retuxan + bendamustine treatment were the 2 choices given. Diagnosed over 2 years ago and presently on w&w, I have experienced enlarging and then decreasing of lymph glands in neck. My cat scans assert that there is a progression in size throughout. Dr claims that the R&B will take care of it and yet a bottle or ibrutinib showed up on my doorstep. I am voluntarily withholding any treatment until someone can sort things out to my understanding. And then the major question is- will any treatment prolong my life expectancy? When first diagnosed I was told that it would be a long time before any treatment was necessary, and now here I stand, confused ! The pains that I had in my abdominal area, soon after eating are gone. The neck lymph glands in my neck have reduced in size to where I feel they were 2 years ago.. Once again, Confused !

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero]

I would get a second opinion from a doctor with a depth of knowledge in CLL. In the U.S. you can perhaps find one fairly close by, but some patients often need to travel for a second opinion.

Most, CLL doctors will work with your local haematologist, two heads are better than one, and perhaps this confusion can be cleared up.

The link below may help...

acor-cll-help.wikispaces.co...

Also see...

cll-nhl.com/p/cllnhl-doctor...

Will treatment prolong your life?... probably, but there isn't any longterm data on ibrutinib past about 4 years in a few patients, there is perhaps more data on bendamustine/rituxan BR.

~chris