Hello.
My name is Kim.My husband is now 33. He was diognosed with CLL 3years ago. He had flu-like symptoms at first that lasted very long. Once we found out it was CLL he started going through chemo treatments. He went through 5 sessions. It has been over a year now with no chemo but he is starting to feel bad again. He has a doctors appointment in a week.
Now, this is weird... My husband's half sister was diagonsed with ALL when she was 3 years old. She is now 22 years old and in forever remission.
Iam wondering if this is hereditary? My husband and I have a 3year old daughter and are worried it may be passed onto her.
My husband was working at a local newspaper outlet as a printing press operator. We were told that if you work around printing materials like this that there could be a chance of contracting cancers. We think this is how he contracted CLL.
Well, I hope I have not bored anybody here with my story.
My prayers go out to everybody.
~*~KIM~*~

ALL is quite different from CLL, and your husband's quite young to be diagnosed with CLL.

For children with leukemia, hospitals usually do DNA analysis in order to make an accurate diagnosis because there are several ALL sub-types. Your sister-in-law's DNA results may still be on file.

Considering the family history [and if you really want to know], ask your family doctor for a referral to a genetic counsellor. Genetic counsellors [often M.D.s] may suggest a DNA analysis for your child but usually just discuss the probablitity/risk.

I found out that "Benzene" is a major contributor to Leukemia. Has your husband worked around Benzene before?

Jay

[This message has been edited by moderator2 (edited 05-02-2002).]

MY PARTNER DIED 3 YEAR AGO WITH CML AND HIS DAD DIED OF THE SAME,,BUT MY GP SAYS ITS NOT HEREDITORY BUT U CANT HELP WONDERING AS I HAVE KIDS ASWELL.

Hi.. I am new here and was reading about leukemia because my dad(built homes) died in 1986 from AML and only had flu like symptoms for a week prior. The doctor told him if he would of gone one more week without help, he wouldn't of made it. Secondly, my girlfriends husband came down with ALL(as I understand,common in children)at the age of 30yrs.old last Oct. and he recently had a bone marrow transplant and doing great, but what I found odd is that he too worked in as a printing press operator since he was 18yrs. and his dad died of Lymphoma(not sure on spelling)when the boy was 7yrs.old..but also worked in the same trade. I too worry about hereditary means because of my six kids but then again..you never know..I just found that chilling on trades.. I will quit blabbing for now..

[Did your husband have enlarged spleen or liver when he underwent chemo the 1st time?

i believe it has to be some hereditary my grandmother died of cancer when she was 47 my moms brother died of it 3 years ago and my mother was diagnoised with lymphomia luekemia 7 months ago and i now am being tested i have one more blood test in april last blood test showed everything borderline

[QUOTE=~*~Kim~*~]Hello.
My name is Kim.My husband is now 33. He was diognosed with CLL 3years ago. He had flu-like symptoms at first that lasted very long. Once we found out it was CLL he started going through chemo treatments. He went through 5 sessions. It has been over a year now with no chemo but he is starting to feel bad again. He has a doctors appointment in a week.

Hi Kim,
How did your husband's doctor visit go? And a question for you, if I may, how high was his wbc when he started receiving chemo?
I am 38 and my doctor suspects CLL due to my WBC being high for the past 9 years but hasn't referred me to a specialist. So I was just curious how high his WBC was before they started trmt.

Thanks

In reading this thread I'm wondering if printing is one of the occupations that has ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (2-butoxyethanol) or something from this family of chemicals. If so, and I do suspect so, there is a possibility that CLL and leukemias and similar cancers are caused by this chemical.

Enlarged organs as spleen and liver and gall bladder ... are often common place too. There is compensated hemolytic anemia starting up, if so, but because the bone marrow compensates for the loss of red blood cells, the counts can come in OK or borderline & usually nothing more is checked.

Could you ask your doctor to check the 'retic' ratio? and find out the size and shape of the red blood cells? For these who have shared, when did the fatigue set in? (That might be an indication of when this chemical exposure became too much) Also dark urine, chills, pale color, etc

i am also curious on wbc count my red and wbc count are both going up i have to many red cells and thick blood have had flu symptoms long time and very tired most of time bones hurt

Hi,

In reading this thread and in doing over 2 months of "obsessive" research on leukemia because my girlfriend was diagnosed with AML 2 months ago, I found that BENZENE is a KNOWN carcinogen that causes leukemia. They say anyone working in gas stations, printing shops, etc. are exposed to chemicals that contain benezene and that is probably the direct cause of their leukemia. I know of a guy who worked for a gas station and had AML but he's been in remission for 5 years now. He has a lawsuit going with Mobil. I also found out that leukemia is NOT hereditary but other cancers are.

No one knows what causes different forms of leukemia but benzene and its derivatives or properties and radiation CAN cause leukemia. Also, using dark hair dyes for years can cause lymphoma.

Please always read the labels of EVERYTHING you buy and eat and look for anything that sounds like benzene. If it contains that, runnnnnnnnnn.

Digressing from the subject for a moment, avoid BHT and BHA as those additives can cause stomach cancer in animals. I imagine with the high rate of stomach cancer, these additives can be the cause. BHT is found in a lot of foods, especially pepperoni so please read all the labels. If you can't pronounce the ingredients, don't buy the product!

Many, many times the flu symptoms are actually a way your body is warning you of too much of some kind of chemical exposure. Can you think back to what you were doing differently when they started up?

And if they are continuing (one person shared that he had flu symptoms 24/7s for a whole year!) then maybe the exposure is ongoing too. This is a warning sign to evaluate what is in the products you are using at home and at work. Or even if a new person has come into your life (There is also such a thing as second had solvent exposure)

Is there any way your doctor would refer you to a specialist in blood? (Hematologist) This is a very complex specialty - knowing what's going on in your blood

I found that BENZENE is a KNOWN carcinogen that causes leukemia. They say anyone working in gas stations, printing shops, etc. are exposed to chemicals that contain benezene and that is probably the direct cause of their leukemia. I know of a guy who worked for a gas station and had AML but he's been in remission for 5 years now. He has a lawsuit going with Mobil. I also found out that leukemia is NOT hereditary but other cancers are.

No one knows what causes different forms of leukemia but benzene and its derivatives or properties and radiation CAN cause leukemia. Also, using dark hair dyes for years can cause lymphoma. Thank you for sharing. Benzene also causes aplastic anemia, meaning that the blood should show an inhibited ability to produce all 3 types of blood cells: red, white and platelets. The friend from the gas station work (which agreeably is very hazardous ... why do you think they have switched to so many self-service auto fill stations in gas stations?) should see if someone else who worked there has the same health problems. One person's testimony is not enough, but 2? ... or 3? ... a thing can be established & many people may be helped.
The blood problem should be there also... underlying the leukemia.

This other chemical I share on, 2-butoxyethanol, causes a LOT of health problems, the whole 'array' of 'gulf war syndrome' symptoms, actually. AND it causes a hard to diagnoses hemolytic anemia which underlies all of them. The red blood cells are dying off prematurely and being replaced with immature, low functioning red blood cells. Size and shape of red blood cells and ability to store and utilize iron may also be a part of what should be looked into. (Liver and kidney and central nervous system damage and endocrine problems are the 'package' of harm from this chemical added on to the blood damage ... which is the often overlooked cause of fatigue in the USA today)

Children of those exposed to 2-butoxyethanol are at higher risk for leukemia and tumor of the brain, per the World Health Organization. You will note that the USA didn't keep track of brain tumors until about 1977 -

Lastly I had a friend who was exposed to some kind of chemical after getting a permanent. Her voice changed & never came back to normal (One of the signs of too much of some kind of chemical)

i am seeing a rhematolist my wbc went from 7.2 to 9.6 my rbc went from 4.45 to 4.75 my platelet went from 400 down to 365 my ck levals are high my hematocrit are high and my mpv is low but no one is saying anything i am alway so tired and bones hurt and wake up with brusis im stumped

Can you remember what you might have been doing differently when the flu-like symptoms started? When it is NOT the flu, and lasts for awhile, you may be coming into contact with some type of chemical that is just too much for your body. It is a sign to take an inventory & make some changes. (Stop the exposure to whatever chemical you're dealing with)

What kind of work do you do?

For the fatigue ask the doctor if you could have a 'retic ratio' the next time you get any blood work. Also, do you know what size and shape your red blood cells are? One often overlooked cause of fatigue is compensated hemolytic anemia in which your red blood cells die off prematurely, but the bone marrow makes up for it by making more (You then would have too many IMMATURE red blood cells in proportion to the mature red blood cells, that is.) In your case, you are getting too many? ... or are they still in normal range?

I did read about thick blood when looking up information on pernicious anemia recently. (vitamin B-12 deficiency where body can't utilize it even when taken) One article on that topic said eating liver daily helped one man's mother live to be 83 ... and she had this disease when she was 40.

Where do your bones hurt? And when did this start? (Sometimes this can happen when blood starts to be made in the peripheral organs like the liver & spleen instead of just in the bone marrow.)

I had not heard of a Rheumatologist before; but since you have questions on your blood, do you think you could be referred to a hematologist (specialist in blood)?

i would like to go to one because cancer runs in our family big time my grandmother died from stomac cancer my moms brother died of lung cancer and my mother has cll i am not working havent been able to in couple years my blood work is boarder line im not sure what hemoltic is my hemoglobin was 14.5 now it is 15.3 what is a retic ratio is there another name for it

You should have some of these symptoms, as well, if you don't have enough mature red blood cells:

Chills
Fatigue
Pale color
Shortness of breath
Rapid heart rate
Yellow skin color (jaundice)
Dark urine
Enlarged spleen

And even these concerns (Central Nervous System)

Central Nervous System damage showing up sometimes as
Loose your temper easily?
Short term memory loss
Difficulty concentrating
Personality changes to 'grumpy' - Extreme Irritability
All the time Depression
Suicidal Tendencies

AND, then if it is 2-butoxyethanol caused, this chemical also targets the kidneys and liver (Blood damages causes elevated liver counts; but the chemical may also be harming the liver & then the counts would be down - A wash?) In other words 2 things could be going on at the same time making an accurate diagnosis more difficulty for either. Elevated bilirubin levels are a sign of the red blood cell's dying off early; the opposite would be true for liver concerns?

The name of the test I am referencing is the Reticulocyte Count
And ask for the comments of the lab technition. What is the size and shape of the red blood cells?

& if that is out of normal range, check more:

Present an abnormal blood picture showing: Erythropenia
Present an abnormal blood picture showing: Reticulocytosis
Present an abnormal blood picture showing: Granulocytosis
Present an abnormal blood picture showing: Leukocytosis
Likely to Cause Fragility of Erythrocytes
Likely to Cause Hematuria

thank u i will ask for the comments everytime i ask for copy of something i get all but that as far as the symptoms i have them all

Sometimes it's not that something is hereditary ... as we are experiencing the effects of exposures from past generations AND we are having our own exposures.

For instance, a grandfather shared that when his 3 grandsons were born the doctor was very concerned about something odd in their blood and nearly did a complete transfusion on the youngest. This man has the 'gulf war syndrome' symptoms and when he was about 20 he was doing the job of drilling for oil. He says he does remember seeing the 'ethylene glycol' on some of the products he used.

Now, this ethylene glycol monobutyl ether was invented in the 1930's and by World War II was in widespread use. My father was a Fire Control Technician, a Chief in the Navy. And I was born at the end of WWII. Dad had the responsibility of maintenancing the guns, etc. (Oh, oh that could mean these kinds of chemicals were in use, then, too) He was said to have died of a heart attack; however, this chemical can feign a heart attack: rapid heart rate, enlarged organs, including heart. Well, dad couldn't stand to hear a baby cry and was on a pretty short fuse, moreso than before. If I were to see what was in his medical record (maybe there would be some tell-tale signs there)

So, it is time that this chemical is tested by CDC for the peoples groups already harmed and there are many. Painters to start with. I think the US Coast Guard bioremediation monitors could be found, too. They had more exposure to this chemical than the actual workers. (Oversighting the Exxon Valdez oil spill 'biorememdiation' workers, 1989) One such Coast Guardsman shared that with all the symptoms he has had, what he is the most concerned about is the fact that he has zero sperm. He has been unable to father children.

Look on the internet for 2-butoxyethanol. There is lots known, but the USA says they don't know about cancer and reproductive effects in people. OK, test people, then! The World Health Organization knows more than we do and they have some solvent studies that are interesting. I believe they can be found on the internet, too.

As I've said before, I believe this chemical has been harming our people for decades; and it escapes diagnosis because so many things are going on at the same time, the regular checks just don't tell the whole story.

When there is chemical poisoning, I think it must give a lot of false OKs as there are so many organs & systems affected that the test results cancel each other out.

i refered myself to a cancer doctor today because i am tired of the doctor games treating everything but what i need done wheather it is heraditary or not i have things going on that are not right i did work in a factory for 9 years making seats and the chemicals they used on materail was bad i know to workers i worked with that died of lung cancer my grandmother died of cancer my moms brother a couple years ago my mother has cancer also she has that rheases factor blood and i have it also i have been seeing all kinds of doctors for over a year i have good insurance and i wonder if thats why they keep running all wrong test got fed up with it and finding my own doctor now thank u for info