Thank you @hopeful33250 for your interest in my situation!

I met with the surgeon yesterday and things did not go as I expected. Essentially, the surgeon, speaking on behalf of a group of surgeons, said that barring any complications or intervention by the hematologist or infectious disease doctor, should one of them believe a splenectomy necessary, he feels that I should ignore the cyst and just live with it. He said that even if it ruptured, it probably wouldn't be that big a deal because it is most likely not a hydatid cyst. This was contrary to everything I'd been told up to that point by other doctors. He also told me that he did not think that my low blood platelets were connected to the cyst.

It also seemed strange to me that the surgeon didn't know if one of the other doctors, the hematologist or infectious disease specialist, had already decided on a splenectomy. I was under the impression that he automatically had the final say, but that's not the case apparently. I did finally get the anticipated lecture on taking too much Ibuprofen, though!

Since I regularly feel pressure and discomfort in the abdomen, most frequently on the left side it seems, the next step is for me to get an endoscopy to see if I might have any GI issues. However, if they determine that the cyst is causing the pain, they may end up recommending a splenectomy.