A blog of sadness and reality

[andrewschorr]

My colleague Carol Preston writes a tribute to a CLLer we met, who gave us hope and inspiration, and then, sadly, passed away too soon: blog.patientpower.info/2014...

[zevkalman]

Sad story.

It is also unfortunate that ibrutinib came too late to spare him the chemotherapies he had to endure. As you wrote: "Apparently, years of CLL and treatments had taken too harsh a toll. AJ developed Richter’s transformation, a CLL patient’s worst medical nightmare."

Perhaps ibrutinib should be used more readily in CLL patients, firstly in place of chemotherapy to avoid the emergence of existing clones, and secondly to bring down the number of available monoclonal B-cells in the body, since the emergence of a new clone is stochastic: if the number of monoclonal B-cells is small, the probability of the emergence of a new clone from these cells would be correspondingly less.

[RemingtonSteele]

I just read his tribute. It reminds me of how vulnerable we are. I'm at a loss for words.

[Newdawn Administrator]

A sobering story of quiet heroism and endurance, fortitude and lost opportunities. His family and friends must be suffering horribly at the loss of this brave man for whom the possibility of less toxic treatment came too late.

I'm so sorry to all who feel his loss because as a community his passing touches us all.

Newdawn