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CLL – A Problem I was first diagnosed with CLL some nine years ago after a blood test for another reason, since when I have been lucky to have continued to live a full life thanks to the careful monitoring from Doctor’s Claire Hutchinson and Sam Burrows at Derriford hospital.  I say l have lived a full life, that was until 18 months ago when my right ankle and lower leg started to swell.  Thinking back I thought the swelling was linked to a problem of pain I experienced after a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show some 12 months previous.   Visits to my GP failed to find…

The CLL Support Association for the UKHas Published this advice for people with CLL

The charity Leukaemia care have updated their Brochures for blood cancers. These booklets can be ordered or downloaded from their website.Leukaemia Care Booklets Of particular interest may be:A to Z of LeukaemiaAll About LeukaemiaChronic Lymphocytic LeukaemiaCommon Side Effects Of TreatmentCar-T Cell TherapyThe Emotional Impacts of A Blood CancerRelapse with Chronic Lymphocytic LeukaemiaWatch and Wait

Although we had 16 attendees at our meeting on Wednesday, our numbers were down a little on usual due to a cough/cold bug going round, particularly affecting our members from Tavistock.Graham, who usually chairs and steers our meetings, sent his appologies, due to a persistent cough which he thought was infectious so didn’t want to endanger those of us with compromised immune systems.We welcome Michelle as a new member to our group. Michelle was diagnosed with CLL three weeks ago – January 2020.Lynn has just started FCR treatment. Although her WBC counts were not particulalry high, she had enlarge lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy) and an enlarged spleen (Splenomegaly). Apart…

At our meeting on Wednesday we had a talk by Prof. Adrian Copplestone. Adrian is a retired Heamatologist who used to work at Derriford Hospital and became a specialist in Blood Cancers. Even though he is retired, Adrian does not sit back, but is still working to make the lives of people with blood cancers better. He recently attended the International Workshop on CLL Conference in Edinburgh in September 2019.Adrian is also a tireless campaigner and fundraiser for the PDLF (Plymouth and District Leukaemia Fund The PDLF was set up to raise funds for additional facilities and equipment to supplement the NHS care within Derriford Hospital. They have…

The quarterly magazine from Leukaemia Care is available for download

Hey everyone We are one year old.In July 2018 we had our launch party and the Derriford CLL Support Group became official. We have met numerous time since then And on Wednesday 24th July 2019 we had our First Birthday Party. We started with sharing where we all were on our CLL journey.Then Dr Claire Hutchinson – one of the CLL specialist haematologists from Derriford, gave a talk on some of the new treatments for CLL Including details about Ibrutinib, Venetoclax and Retuximab. Always good to know that there are new treatments coming along that give us all hope. The we dived into the food provided by some…

Oh my word!! What a great day we had on Wednesday.  Julie and I did our skydive to raise money for Leukaemia, Muscular Dystrophy and VSO. With the help and support of friends, family, colleagues, the Whitchurch Inn and Tavistock Art Gallery we have raised, so far, over £3,200. Thank you all so much to those who have supported us so brilliantly. If you would still like to help us raise money for these fantastic charities, Google ‘Just Giving’ and search for Julie and Graham 007. Donating is easy from there on. Here is a sample of the photos from the day. Buzz Skydive at Dunkeswell looked after…

We will be having our first birthday meeting