Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia - CLL

I read on someone's web site today this description: "I am battling Stage IV leukemia, and there is no Stage V." That is a factually correct description of my situation too.

I won't bore you by going over the long list of symptoms of CLL again. At the moment I also have a massive head and chest cold, or maybe it is the flu. Lots of very sticky, green phlegm and mucus, from the sinuses and also from the lungs. I don't know if it is viral or bacterial, but I am conserving the few antibiotics I have left, now that I can no longer go over to Juarez, Mexico and buy more.

Of course this is America, so being out of work I have no health insurance, thus no access to the medical establishment.

What I do know is that the combination of a bad cold or flu, and the leukemia is just almost more than my body can take. I barely have the strength to walk the 15 or 20 feet to the bathroom. I arrive heavily out of breath. Raising my arm and keeping it aloft while I brush my teeth is pushing the limits of my stamina too.

At the end of the CLL road, many people die from pneumonia. Even with antibiotics and proper medical care, the body's weakened immune system simply isn't strong enough to win the battle. I don't think that is what is going to happen this time, but heaven only knows.

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