Bkoffman

LATEST ARTICLES ( 352 )

• CLL: Report From The Infusion Center

  It has been six weeks since my previous infusion of IVIG for my now well-behaved ITP and my platelets remain near 400,000, a very healthy level. Read more

  Posted on 17 August 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• More Comments on to Tell Or Not to Tell About Our CLL

  Here are three comments that tell a very different story about the risk of sharing the CLL news.Would that the world was different. Read more

  Posted on 16 August 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• Paid Opportunity to Be Interviewed About CLL in Manhattan

  

  I have been approached again to help with recruitment for CLL patients to be interviewed, this time in Manhattan.This is not a clinical trial, but likely more a... Read more

  Posted on 15 August 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• ASCO 2013: Dr. Sharman on The Biology of CLL Being Cracked with a Therapeutic...

  At the ASCO 2013 in Chicago, I had a chance to catch on camera some of the enthusiasm and optimism of Dr. Sharman.Dr. Sharman is the director of research at... Read more

  Posted on 12 August 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• CLL: More on to Tell Or Not to Tell

  The following personal note on whether to share our cancer diagnosis or keeps the battles secret was send by one astute and candid commentator in response to... Read more

  Posted on 10 August 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• George Duke Dies of CLL and None of His Fans Knew of the Battle Until His...

  

  "Jazz, funk and soul keyboard maestro George Duke (pictured) passed away at the age of 67. The musician reportedly battled chronic lymphocytic leukemia,... Read more

  Posted on 08 August 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• Report from My Scans and Lab at OSU

  I am back home at last after a whirlwind tour of three states in five days.My trip to Columbus for my OSU clinic visit at the James Hospital was enhanced by... Read more

  Posted on 26 July 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• More on Halting the Lenalidomide Trial

  The decision to halt the ORIGIN study was based on an analysis conducted in March that showed CLL pa­tients treated with Revlimid had a 92 percent increased ris... Read more

  Posted on 20 July 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• Lenalidomide (Revlimid) Associated with Excess Deaths in the Elderly

  Honestly, I didn't see this coming. The IMIDs (immuno-modulating drugs such as lenalidomide or Revlimid) are touted as kinder gentler and safer therapy for the... Read more

  Posted on 18 July 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• ASCO 2013: Dr. Wierda on Prognostic Factors

  The whole arena of prognostic factors in CLL is constantly evolving, but a few principles have remained constant over the years.1: Most, if not nearly all the... Read more

  Posted on 17 July 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• Flashback: I Meet My Donor in 2009

  This page, recently sent to me by a CLL friend across the country, is from the 2009 Annual Report of Ezer Mizion, a not for profit charity that among other... Read more

  Posted on 16 July 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• More Good Lab News

  Our EHR (the electronic chart of all the medical records where I work and get my care) is down again, but before it crashed, I was able to view most of my lab... Read more

  Posted on 14 July 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• ASCO 2013: Dr. Wierda Discusses Immune Therapies in CLL

  In this first of several interviews from ASCO 2013, Dr. Bill Wierda of MDACC discusses immunity in general (or lack there of) in CLL and how that relates to... Read more

  Posted on 10 July 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• Five Years Post "Failed" Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant

  

  Granddaughter, Amira at the July 4th ParadeThe last half of June and the first week of July are full of red letter days for me. Read more

  Posted on 05 July 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• CLL Support Group on July 3, 2013 at 4 PM at the Moore Cancer Center

  Please join me tomorrow at UCSD at 4 PM on the 2nd floor of the Moore Cancer Center in the "Commons" for my talk to the CLL support group based on my... Read more

  Posted on 03 July 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• Sydney Lilah Sowers

  

  Meet my beautiful very smart new granddaughter who is now about six weeks old. She was named after my late father and her great grandfather, both of blessed... Read more

  Posted on 02 July 2013 SELF EXPRESSION

• Immunotherapy for Metastatic Melanoma

  The big news out of ASCO 2013 was not about CLL, but about metastatic melanoma.ASCO is well known to be more of a solid tumor meeting and it lived up to its... Read more

  Posted on 30 June 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• More News on Ibrutinib

  The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is arguably the most prestigious medical journal in the world. It is not easy to get your research into its pages... Read more

  Posted on 27 June 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• The Biggest Mistake Patients Make

  This is a link to an interesting post.Even doctors are not immune to thinking anecdotally. Our personal mistakes and successes inform our future decisions and... Read more

  Posted on 19 June 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH

• Delays

  OK, it is not about CLL or cancer survivorship, but I am delayed again for hours at an airport. Second time to or from Chicago in two weeks. Hours of sitting... Read more

  Posted on 16 June 2013 COMMUNITY, HEALTH