Self Assessment - How are you coping, Really?

MacMillan have just issued a really good guide to Financial Supports and Benefits. It is an interactive programme, and while you can decide to go further and send your details to MacMillan, you do not have to. But there are other, perhaps more important reasons for doing the quiz.

We all ‘make do’ in our lives when we are ill. Whether you want to claim or not, this programme will let you know just how many areas where you are compromising.

 I was surprised by the effect that CLL was still having on my life, even though I have started to recover from treatment. Many of us are hard on ourselves when we feel it is difficult to contribute to our families or to society. Using this interactive guide you can find out if you can occasionally be justified in taking life a bit easier. Here is the link; http://www.macmillan.org.uk/HowWeCanHelp/FinancialSupport/BenefitsMadeClear.aspx

Rituximab; Mabthera.

NICE has approved the use of Rituximab, a monoclonal antibody, in combination chemotherapy for first line treatment of CLL in the UK.

 

19^th January, 2010: The Scottish Medicines commission ruled that Scotland is the first part of the UK to recommend Rituximab with any suitable  chemotherapy combinations for CLL patients, not only those having first line treatment but second and subsequent treatments. This improves the patient’s chance of a deeper, longer remission. Practically speaking, it means that patients who are not fit enough to have FCR, a very demanding treatment, may have Rituximab added to the therapy their medical team feel it is appropriate. NICE intends to rule on second and subsequent treatments in April, for the rest of the UK.