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Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS): how to increase red blood cells?
Blood Cancers & Disorders | Last Active: Sep 1 6:47pm | Replies (101)Comment receiving replies
Her appt is in 2.5 weeks. No mention of blast anywhere that she could find looking back. I am going with her to the oncology appointment. My oldest sister & I are compiling a list of questions because little sis doesn't ask any. The blast is one of my questions. Any suggestions on other questions to ask is appreciated!
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@pathilt. I’m glad your sister has her siblings watching out for her and if needed will be her advocate to get an appointment sooner. It’s not my intent to alarm any of you but as someone who has had a serious and aggresive blood cancer 5 years ago, I’m concerned about the low blood numbers your sister has right now.
Her hemoglobin has dropped down to 8 within a short span of time. My guess is she’s feeling really crumby right now and has about zero energy. She has a greatly reduced amount of red blood carrying oxygen in her body.
Generally, the threshold for needing a blood transfusion is a hemoglobin level below 7 to 8 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or lower. So she is knocking at that door.
With her white blood count down as well, her immune system is compromised putting her at a greater risk for any infections whether viral or bacterial, food borne or fungal. So it’s important for her to be wearing a mask around people to avoid getting ill and no gardening. Frequent hand washing and antibacterial hand sanitizer will be helpful.
It might be a good idea to check her temperature. If she has an elevated temp of 100.4 or over, she needs to call her oncologist office right away.
Some questions you might ask her doctor:
What type of myelodysplastic syndrome do I have?
Will I need more tests?
What is my prognosis?
What is my risk of leukemia?
If I need treatment, what are my options and what do you recommend?
I have other health conditions. How can I best manage them together?
Are there restrictions I need to follow?
Are there brochures or other printed material that I can have? What websites do you recommend?
Those are just a few ideas along with the question you’ve mentioned about asking if there are any blasts discovered in her peripheral blood.
Blasts are immature blood cells that are not usually present in circulating blood. If they are found in the blood, it can indicate that the production of these immature and ineffective cells are out of control and crowding out healthy cells.
With all of her numbers substantially lower, I’m curious, what is her platelet level?