← Return to Low WBC, Low Platelets, Low RBC, Large cells - is it always Leukemia?

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Profile picture for asarnesejr @asarnesejr

I talked to my Hematologist today instead of Aug 11th. He has diagnosed me with Low Grade MDS.

WBC 1.5, Platelets 75, Neutrophil .7

No blasts in blood, 2% blasts in bone marrow.

His plan is to not to do anything until it goes from Low Grade to Intermediate Grade or
AML.

Is this the best approach? Is there anything available to raise my numbers or to keep this disease from progressing? Please, I am very upset and confused.

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Replies to "I talked to my Hematologist today instead of Aug 11th. He has diagnosed me with Low..."

This is good news! I know the ‘wait & see’ approach can be scary. But your MDS may remain low grade. If it progresses (that’s ‘if’) then there are treatments available. I’m intermediate MDS B2. Because of that, I will need a stem cell transplant after 4 rounds of Dacogen.
Take care of yourself & try to manage your anxiety. There is nothing we can magically do to change our blood numbers. But I believe in the mind-body connection. Our bodies respond better when our minds are at peace. Try & relax. Did your Dr say how often your blood will be monitored? Take comfort in knowing you will be monitored & thats all you need right now.

@asarnesejr I wish I could put my arm around you and try to get you to relax. I have followed all of your posts and am glad you spoke to your Hematologist and received your diagnosis. Now your journey begins, all is not lost. I am unfamiliar with the term "low grade." Typically the Dr's refer to us as low, intermediate, or high risk. There are different types of MDS. I have del 5q. I started out as low risk. Your results from your initial post showed low RBC. Your hemoglobin and RBC counts are very important. When they drop to a certain point your Dr will start you on treatment. At some point, you will probably talk to a transplant Dr. depending on your age. At this point take some time to wrap your head around all of this. I recommend you go to mds-foundation.org and read the information on mds. There is also an ipss-r or IPSS-M calculator there which you can use to calculate your risk category. Simply input your bloodwork results, any genetic or molecular changes, and blast percentage. Congratulations on the low blast count, that is very good news!