CLL and Diverticulitis

[Gman2]

Hi everyone, I just turned 70 yrs old and started the O and V treatment at the end of Sept 2021. I found out I had cll Feb 2019 when I had surgery for diverticulitis. I saw in a post yesterday as well as in the past that a number of us have a history of diverticulitis. My blood work started off with a WBC count of 11 which is just 1 point above normal. The wbc count slowly elevated and was around 68 when treatment started. Of course, my lymphs were off but I never experienced the classical signs-night sweats, fever, infections etc. I did however develop what appeared to look like mosquito like bumps behind my ears as well as skin blemishes near my now almost gone hairline. I also had a great deal of sciatic pain that was so bad I resorted to radio frequency therapy. Unfortunately, that did not help at all. I made an appt to see the physician at MD Anderson 8/2021, who diagnosed me when my skin color changed and my nose began to turn purple. I had no reason to complain about wearing a mask. I probably saved the public from some trauma. After I started the infusions and venclexta this past Sept. I noticed improvement in my skin and the leg pain slowly diminished as the MD Anderson physician and the hematologist treating me thought that it might. The issue I currently have is some significant joint pain in 2 fingers in my left hand as well as some diaherrea that occurs a few hours after taking venclexta. Sorry, for the long post but I don't often see many indicate the kind of skin issues I had and wondered if I am an oddball. I was also wondering about a connection between diverticulitis and cll. Everyone on this boars has been great and so supportive and helpful that I cannot thank everyone enough. Best wishes for good health to everyone. Gerry

[lankisterguy Volunteer]

Hi Gman2,

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Your story is very familiar to me - I'm 74 and have all the medical issues you mention.

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Other members have them also:

Here is the list of 30 times Diverticulitis was mentioned: healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

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And 11 times for Diverticulosis: healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

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Skin Rash gets 247 past postings: healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

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Our archives has over 950 postings that mention skin issues and CLL:

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

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The NIH has several papers suggesting that CLL itself leads to skin issues, as noted here:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/174...

SNIP: "Cutaneous lesions occur in up to 25% of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). These can be caused by either cutaneous seeding by leukemic cells (leukemia cutis, LC) and other malignant diseases or nonmalignant disorders. Skin infiltration with B-lymphocyte CLL manifests as solitary, grouped, or generalized papules, plaques, nodules, or large tumors.....The most common secondary cutaneous changes seen in CLL are those of infectious or hemorrhagic origin. Other secondary lesions present as vasculitis, purpura, generalized pruritus, exfoliative erythroderma, and paraneoplastic pemphigus. An exaggerated reaction to an insect bite and insect bite-like reactions have been also observed".

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I suggest you have a good cancer oriented dermatologist do a full body inspection of your skin every 6 months (we get skin cancer at 5x to 8x more often than non-CLL people- and the only way to detect it early is get an expert examination) and helping treat your sores will be part of that care.

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Len

[Gman2 in reply to lankisterguy]

Len, thank you very much for taking the time to provide such a comprehensive reply. You have been a wealth of information for all of us and it has been very helpful in understanding our illness and dealing with it. I saw in a post that you were from NYC. I grew up in Greenpoint. Thank you and best of health. Gerry

[lankisterguy Volunteer in reply to Gman2]

Hi Gman2,

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Actually I'm from rural Lancaster County PA, my wife is from Sheepshead Bay and lived in Manhattan until I met her and I keep dragging her across the Hudson River into that unmentionable state of New Jersey. We are 30 miles West of Manhattan now in one of the rail commuter towns that has many Wall St. types since the late 1800s.

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We both keep singing Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road "You can't plant me in your penthouse. I'm going back to my plough."

lyricsfreak.com/e/elton+joh...

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Len

[wilhoitaz]

G manI am also 70-had diverticulosis -blood when sitting on toilet led me to determine that I had CLL-Diver had nothing associated with CLL -a poppy seed can get stuck in a tight corner of digestive track --not black and white-lotta of gray

[Gman2 in reply to wilhoitaz]

I agree-a lot of gray. Just seems like many of us were diagnosed with diverticulitis or had gastrointestinal issues.

[Psmithuk]

This is true for me, too.Chrisx

[kidney55]

I'm 71 with Diverticulitus and random pain in left or right knuckle of usually one finger