My 81 year old FIL was diagnosed with Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) 3 years ago. He is about to progress to chemo treatment. My MIL (8 year younger than FIL) is obsessed with step counts. My husband and I are terribly worried about him. We know she means well but the other day she walked him 8,000 steps during the hottest day (30c). She refuses to drive and they take public transit. My husband keeps saying he’ll drive to avoid my FIL from being compromised. MIL said he came home and slept all day. Stated he gets winded easily. On top of that they eat low calorie and a lot of processed foods.
Are we being over protective? We want to get a pulse check - make sure we aren’t over reacting.
Hi @Chellebelle a great big welcome to our forum.
This sounds such a difficult situation for you and your husband with his parents.
You obviously want the best for them.
Perhaps your father in laws medical team will be keeping an eye on your father in law as he progresses to chemo.
Perhaps all you can do is to keep the lines of honest communication and concerns going with your in laws.
I await others thoughts.
Please do keep posting, I find this is a safe place to say what it is feels like to be me.
Let us know how things progress for you all and be kind and really look after yourselves
Good morning @Chellebelle
Thank you so much for your post.
We are so sorry to hear about your father - in - law’s diagnosis of Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL).
If possible, perhaps speak to him about how he is feeling, if he feels well enough and that he has enough energy to walk about frequently then there is no issue with doing this. It is mainly about him being kind to himself and listening to his body. He may also find that if he starts treatment, he may have days where he will feel more tired than previous.
One of the main symptoms people experience with Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is fatigue, so there may be some days that he feels more tired than usual and it is okay to do less if he is feeling this way. Sometimes, it can be difficult to get the balance right as some people may not do enough activity which can contribute to feeling more fatigued, but also over exercising can lead to this too.
For example. if he needed a nap, or a day to relax, he could just go for a 5 - 10 minute walk and on other days could do longer if he felt like it, but although it is good to have goals, he should perhaps try not to put pressure on himself by aiming to hit certain steps everyday, it is more about how he is feeling on each day and his wellbeing than needing to hit a target of steps.
It may be worth speaking to his team/ clinical nurse specialist at his next appointment too, to see what they recommend in regards to his exercise, but usually as long as he is feeling well and not too exhausted by the end of the day/ throughout the day then this should be okay.
It may be useful to read over our page Fatigue | Blood Cancer UK as this has helpful hints on looking after yourself with fatigue.