I have been diagnosed with cll/sll for 4 years now. Chemotherapy was not successful and now on 2 years of venetoclax and Rituximab in the UK. Has anyone been in a position, due to incurable cancer, to cash in life insurance and pensions? Due to also having MS and bot responding to chemotherapy - hope this treatment will work but unsure. I want to cash in my policy and make plans. Any advise is very welcome. Many thanks.
Cashing in life insurance and pensions - CLL Support
Cashing in life insurance and pensions
I don’t think anyone here can advise you. I would ask a financial advisor, who will go through your situation carefully, for their advice. Good luck
Hi Betty, you might want to contact Macmillan Cancer Support who can give advice on financial matters including pensions and insurance etc. Here’s the contact details;
macmillan.org.uk/cancer-inf...
Newdawn
Thank you!
You’re on a highly effective treatment Betty. I’m just finishing Ibrutinib & Venetoclax treatment and have reached undetectable levels in both my blood and bone marrow. You could too so don’t be selling up and spending up just yet! That money may need to last a very long time! 😉
Best wishes,
Newdawn
Fantastic news!! I just feel like I only have 2 years while on this treatment- due to going through chemotherapy and in treatment again 14 months later. My consultants are amazing but I wonder if I'm just kidding myself this is going to work. So I'm looking at options.
Good evening… let’s use the 2 years your referring to. That give you 2 years of other new meds in trial or coming out very soon that may cure you or buy you a 10-20 years more. I wouldn’t give up on the future meds coming down the pipeline.
John
Betty,
You are in a fragile emotional and physical state right now but that can and should hopefully improve.
Talk to your CLL Specialist and a good financial advisor before doing anything rash.
Jeff
I've been treated with venetoclax, one if the fIrst In The UK in combination with retuximab. January 2018 after first line failed. I'm still fit and healthy with blood counts in normal ranges. My consultant described venetoclax as the Farari and he was right.Don't know whether you had a FISH test but if chemo wasn't really effective you may have 17p deletion as I have this is known to he difficult to treat but venetoclax has been found to be highly effective in these cases.
There are other treatments in the pipeline. When I was diagnosed in 2016 the historic data gave a prognosis of 30 months but there was not enough data for the novel reagents that had recently come on line. Things are much different now.
Think carefully before carrying out rash decisions and talk to your consultant and a financial advisor in the end it is your decision but take more note of your oncologist. The whole thing is a big unknown and a gamble either way but we must be optimistic as things really look good.
Take care stay safe
Hi Bettyba, I am currently in treatment and wanted to make some changes to our family trust. I spoke to our financial advisor and he brought in an attorney. The Attorney told us, because I was in treatment, that he was going to film me answering some questions to show competence. I was absolutely shocked. He told us in the event that the trust down the road is challenged because I was in treatment, we had video showing my competency.
I would strongly advise you to consult with a financial advisor to help you as you navigate through this. My husband and I were absolutely shocked that because I was in treatment and made a change to our trust that someone could challenge my competency. The reason I am telling you this is for you to understand that a professional person has seen so many things and should be well versed in doing not only what you wish, telling you the pros and cons about your decision, but also making certain that your wishes are adhered to and are carried out.
I am very sorry that you are going through this. I am hoping that you have the best possible outcome.
Sandy
Please don’t despair Betty. Many of us need to think of having CLL like having type 1 diabetes. We need our treatment like a diabetic needs to take insulin daily. I eventually failed the chemo FCR I had in 2010. I then failed on ibrutinib and venetoclax and now LOXO over the past 12 years. I have had a really good quality of life and have been forced to accept treatment as reality. I am enjoying my life and accept my mortality as everyone must. I am looking forward albeit with some trepidation to my new treatment trial. Be positive and have faith that there will always be new treatment options down the road. We here certainly understand and are all in this together. Love. Tony
Great attitude! May I ask what type of trial you are going into?
LP-168. It’s another BTK inhibitor but binds covalently and non- covalently. I’ll probably start in a month. The LOXO was a really great drug with virtually no side effects. It should be approved as Pirtobrutinib I believe. It is going to help many of us. I’ve had 20 great months on it before starting to relapse slowly. Good luck. Tony.
Hello bettyba
Do not abandon hope, you may need to keep your life insurance and pension intact for your later use. Blessings.