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[Speedscreed]

I was informed yesterday that my CLL was in its infancy, so w/w for me. My late father was, and very recently my elder sister is, similarly afflicted, so I have advice on hand. I read a book by Ken Ong, re:- the prostate, so am eating lots of greens, some raw. Exercise every morning anyway, so am doing my best to stay fit. I also work full time, but will curtail this shortly. I have the funds to travel, such a shame.!!!

[cajunjeff]

Welcome to the forum. If you are recently diagnosed, I would give yourself time to adjust to the diagnosis before making any major changes with your work and play plans.

I was diagnosed five years ago and immediately began considering retirement and building a bucket list. I still work full time. The bucket list wasn't all that bad an idea as it turns out. I was travelling everywhere after my cll diagnosis and before before covid. I have lots of trips still planned, Greece among them.

Cll can be a very manageable illness for many of us, if not most of us. And I am not saying do not curtail work plans, just do it if its best for your enjoyment of life, not because you have cll.

[Speedscreed in reply to cajunjeff]

It's not a recent diagnosis, its been 24 hours now..🙄

[Speedscreed in reply to cajunjeff]

CJ I watched a very interesting Ted talk from 2014, entitiled Can you eat to starve cancer. If youve not seen it, well worth a watch..

[AussieNeil Administrator in reply to Speedscreed]

Sorry, but I don't see how angiogenesis - the growth of additional blood capillaries for solid tumours relates to blood cancers:

ted.com/talks/william_li_ca...

[J1015 in reply to AussieNeil]

You are right. You can’t starve CLL.

[newyork8 in reply to J1015]

How about feeding it to death with steaks and ice cream?...I'll let you know.

[J1015 in reply to newyork8]

I think steak and ice cream sounds like an excellent idea!!!

[cajunjeff in reply to Speedscreed]

Li’s talk has made the rounds on cancer sites. How nice it would be if we could eat tomatoes and stop our cancers.

I think eating foods, usually fresh vegetables and fruits, that have known anti cancer properties is good advice for everyone, even more important for us. I think Li’s talk has merit in promoting healthy eating. I do not think there is any evidence though that eating any certain food stops our Cll cells from dividing.

How fast our Cll cells divide and how hard they are to kill is mostly a function of what genetic version of Cll we have. Cll can grow very slowly, which is good. Hopefully you have an indolent variety, but even if not we have wonderful treatment opportunities that can let many us live normal lives with normal life experiences.

[LeoPa in reply to Speedscreed]

Hi, even if the presented method does not work for CLL (who knows, maybe there is a pathway we don't know about) it may still help preventing or managing a secondary cancer we are at heightened risk of, right? If you give it a try, don't forget to post what if anything it does to your CLL. This way we can all learn something new from each other's dietary experiments. Doesn't look like anybody but patients have a vested interest in finding a dietary (read:less expensive) solution to the problem. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Sunfishjoy]

Glad you are well and hope you stay ww for many years. Do I understand correctly that three members of your family have been diagnosed with CLL? I ask because my father had it in the 1990s and suffered a lot before dying in 1995. I know that we are ever so fortunate to be managing this disease when there are now so many promising treatments. Thing is, all the doctors have told me there’s no evidence for a genetic link. But then there’s your family and mine. Just curious if you know of any research about this. I have daughters and grandchildren. Hope they will be spared.

[AussieNeil Administrator in reply to Sunfishjoy]

Sunfishjoy and Speedscreed,

About 10% of CLL is thought to be familial, as explained here:

cllsociety.org/2018/06/fami...

This is the mentioned clinical study into familial CLL

dceg.cancer.gov/research/cl...

Then there is this study, which found a higher incidence of Monoclonal B Lymphocytosis in blood relatives of those with CLL, which eventually led to a higher incidence of CLL

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

Sunfishjoy,

I don't know if your doctors have actually done any testing to check if your CLL is familial, but irrespective, I would suggest that sensitively mentioning to your daughters and grandchildren that they are at a slightly increased risk of developing CLL, or in fact another blood cancer, could help them help their doctors look into this possibility earlier, if they begin to exhibit any suspicious symptoms. Thankfully, should there be any familial cases, the continuing great improvement in treatments is very reassuring.

Neil

[Sunfishjoy in reply to AussieNeil]

Thank you. That’s very helpful. I will mention it to them but I think I will wait until Covid is over!

[Phil4-13]

You sound very positive and wise. Update us on any points that can enhance our health. Sandra😊