About Mom

We have been inspired by hope. Our hope has been to combat Chronic Lymphocytic Lymphoma (CLL) and see this dis-ease fall into spontaneous remission. If you're reading this, there is a good likelihood that someone close to you has been diagnosed with CLL. This blog has been created with the intention of providing hope for families who have also received this diagnosis.

(double click the link to see a good summary of CLL posted by the Canadian Cancer Society .)

Here is our "quick" story:

For nine years, our mother has been burdened by Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). And for nine years she has made many decisions with this chronic condition weighing in. With her permission, this is her journey of life style changes to share with others. You see, we have watched my mother's white blood count (WBC) gradually rise (and sometimes fall a few points) over the past 9 years. When we recently received news that her WBCs had reached a level where treatment would be necessary, we braced ourselves. Then, miraculously and suddenly, it fell 122 points. We don't honestly know what is yet to come. Could the counts suddenly double by the time she goes for her next round of blood work? It's possible. Or, could it possibly be that she is going into "spontaneous" remission? We don't know. Her doctors are curious and are not sure what to make of this sudden and significant drop.  And so, we begin this blog to document our journey and give people hope.

Mom hiking in La Rose Forest Conservation Area

There seems to be a prevalent fear surrounding the exploration of complimentary or alternative treatments. If it's not documented in a medical journal, or mentioned at a conference, then it is often dismissed. Understandable, as this "treatment" is not part of medical school training and studies are challenging to execute. I am grateful that mom has not closed doors and been open to complimentary treatment, all the while under the care of many trusted and caring oncologists. Recent events have inspired the inception of this blog and so I think that we will be playing "catch-up" in our attempt to explain our mother's progression with this condition using complimentary "treatments".

Posted by: Deb