An update

I have been feeling OK, though my WBC is still very low, and my hemoglobin and platelets are below normal.

I suspect that there is something awry with my stem cells. They are not producing enough of most everything. This is called marrow failure, which is a term that describes what is obviously happening, but explains nothing beyond that. Little is known about marrow failure, except causes. Radiation is one big killer of blood-forming stem cells (hematopoietic stem cells), chemical poisons are another. A third cause is...chemotherapy! In other words, FCR.

It is possible this would have occurred on its own, since CLL allows more cancers to grow unabated. But since my counts crashed on the fourth cycle of that toxic regime, it's definitely linked to FCR.

Folks, please think about avoiding FCR if you can. Reserve it for when you have relapsed and are looking at a stem cell transplant. The combination of the 'F' and the 'C' (fludarabine and cyclophosphamide (cytoxan)) apparently are a potent producer of marrow failure, aplastic anemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). All of these are killers (six months to two years). Knowledge of these cancers is about where CLL was in 1995. It's terrible.

There are many other options out there. I made a serious mistake, being encouraged to try it by MD Anderson and seduced by the high complete remission data, etc. But everyone eventually fails FCR, and then the prognosis is 'grim'. Learn from my lesson.

Meanwhile, Dr. Kipps has been silent. I've been sending my blood numbers to them down in San Diego, but I've not heard anything. I am going to be prepared for an MDS diagnosis by making an appointment to see a doc at Stanford, where they have an MDS center, and a robust (as far as I know) stem cell transplant center.