Today I had a CT Scan and blood work. My numbers are not great almost as bad as when diagnosed in 2009. I have appt with oncologist on the 10th to go over everything. I sat down with my husband and told him I wanted to sell our home and downsize to a more affordable home where we can pay our bills without struggling and be able to travel a little bit, we enjoy the outdoors so thinking of a travel trailer and do long weekend trips. I think it’s the first time since diagnosis in 2009 that I’m looking at this thing as a terminal illness and don’t want whatever years I have left to be struggling to make ends meet and hubby working 6 days a week at almost 68 yrs of age. I trust God and He’s got this, I really feel He is telling me to do this. I’m not giving up or throwing in the towel there’s a lot of fight left in me, I just want to add more fun to our lives.
CT Scan: Today I had a CT Scan and blood work... - CLL Support
CT Scan
Marti
Completely understand your situation!
My view,for what it’s worth, is that cll and ,of course, other life changing conditions make one think clearly about what is important in our lives.
In today’s world of hustle and bustle and instant communication we sometimes forget that life is for living. We spend so much time running around trying to make a living we totally loose sight of why we are doing it all and that is to be able to enjoy our time with friends and family.
My other half is still working full time at the age of 70 and whilst she enjoys her job and still gets a buzz from it she does come home very tired .
Having run our own business for years,like many others, we worked many hours and went 14 years without a real holiday just took a few long weekends. When I was dx in 2000 I carried on at the same pace for a few years but, like you, decided life was too short and retired to the golf course.
For the first 3 months I was totally wiped out! Spent loads of time sleeping due mainly to the fatigue of cll but also because I had been working at such a high speed for 20 plus years without a real break.
Having recovered I had to learn to relax and enjoy the slower pace. Having said that we do find a level of activity that suits us and like many retired people I have a full diary and really don’t know now how I ever had time to work lol.
All I can say is go for it!
Enjoy the change of pace!
It’s a marvellous feeling having time to do the things that are important to you!
Enjoy friends and family life is far too short !
Geoff
Going to tell you off. Do not think of CLL as a terminal illness. Oh yes. It might get you in the end but there’s a lot of life and living to be done.
Getting away in a trailer is oh so sensible as you can avoid people and situations if you wish.
It must be so hard to not have an NHS free system. We constantly complain about it but at least treatment of type that is limited is free.
So no terminal words, please.
Sounds like a lot of common sense. We are fairly new in this journey, but I have said this to my hubby. I think we get a different perspective on life and what matters.
There is a woman on cllforum.com who is living in her trailer, traveling around the country. You might want to check her posts. The one thing I would ask about is whether you need a permanent address to use for insurance purposes.