We deliberately avoided buying any home closer than 1/4 mile to high voltage lines, but my wife used her half of our electric blanket for years (mine was off) so she got nightly doses for decades. She was diagnosed in 2002 with CLL>

BMT is easier to type than “bone marrow transplant”. Sorry if I wasn’t clear!

Harley

I brought my concerns, along with documentation supporting the accuracy of MRI, to my oncologists, who consulted with the medical center’s radiologists and then agreed to go with MRI instead of CT for my surveillance. In our discussions, I learned that my lymphoma doc was very comfortable reading CT films, but not so much with MRI (perhaps another reason that CT is more frequently ordered). Also, as Chaya points out, the MRI is more expensive than a comparable CT (at least on my EOB’s).

The potentially harmful side effects of CT contrast are fairly well-known, but there are also serious possible side-effects from the gadolinium contrast given with MRI. After my baseline MRI, we decided to forego any more contrast, as lymph nodes are apparently very easy to pick out on either CT or MRI without it.

If it was just one or two scans, I probably would not have bothered lobbying for an alternative, but the prospect of more than 12 scans in less than 5 years motivated me to do something.

I do not believe that exposing folks with compromised immune function to mutagenic agents like ionizing radiation is a good idea unless the benefits clearly outweigh the risks. One only needs to review the literature detailing how we fare with skin cancers to arrive at this conclusion.

It is also interesting to note the differences in attitude between my GU and Hem. docs. The GU guys have a treatment protocol that is 95% effective, even though it can involve fairly harsh radiation therapy, surgery, and/or platinum-based chemo. When I raised my concerns about CT radiation with the GU staff, I was initially rebuffed and my concerns dismissed. It was my Hem-Onc who first entertained my concerns and followed-up with the others, who then acceded to an alternative imaging modality. I attribute this difference to the fact that CLL has no “cook book” solution and so requires a much more thoughtful and individually-tailored approach.

I was recently looking at CLL Topics and rereading information and noted that this was the anniversary of PCs passing. Heartfelt thoughts go to you and your daughter and her family.

Endicott Johnson’s in Dormont, PA did the “cool” X-Rays on my feet to see if my shoes were fitted correctly when I was a child. I don’t know if this contributed to my CLL diagnosis or not.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if we made a grid of all the ways we were exposed to carcinogens and came up with a reason for CLL? Then, perhaps we could also have an impact on finding a cure or preventing more cases from appearing.

Stay well!
Stephanie

Chaya, Thanks for all of the info on CLL. I really enjoy your articles. I especially enjoy reading all of the COMMENTS. I usually understand what the comments are about, but I somehow missed something on Harley,s comment on June 28th, 2009 at 8:23 am. What does BMT stand for ?

Thanks for any help you can give me.