|Richard Warburton, Coos Bay, Oregon| In 1999, Richard Warburton
had his prostate removed as treatment for prostate cancer. At
that time, his surgeon realized his lymph nodes were enlarged
and he was diagnosed with indolent chronic lymphocytic leukemia
(CLL). Leukemia is a cancer that disrupts the normal development
of blood cells. Inside most of your bones is a soft spongy
material called bone marrow where blood stem cells (immature
blood cells) are made. A blood stem cell becomes one of two
types of stem cells: myeloid or lymphoid, which mature into
different kinds of blood cells. Myeloid stems cells become red
blood cells that carry oxygen to and from the tissues in your
body; platelets that help your blood to clot to control
bleeding; and infection-fighting white blood cells known as
granulocytes. Lymphoid stem cells become lymphoblasts, which
mature into B lymphocytes (B cells), which produce antibodies
that identify and destroy bacteria and viruses; T lymphocytes (T
cells), which fight against viruses a