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Unfortunately, they don't look at subtle changes. John, as far as we know, always had low normal platelets and borderline anemia. We too were told that it was probably normal for him. I don't think a BMB at that time would have shed any light on what was going on though. Nine months prior to John ending up in the hospital, he had a physical and was told he was healthy. We noticed a shift in labs from the past year and thought it odd. However, we were dismissed because it was still in a normal range. Those lab results which were odd, had no direct connection to SAA, but it was a indicator that something was going on. In hindsight, he should of had labs run again in 3 month but we didn't push it. Would it have changed anything? Probably not. Except that we wouldn't have been in crisis 9 month later.
Moral of the story: look for trends and don't let them dismiss them. They may not be able to treat because your counts are OK, but at least you can keep a close watch on everything.
If you can, put together a spreadsheet of all your lab work over the past 3 or 4 years and take it with you.
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Marlene, wife to John DX w/SAA April 2002, Stable partial remission; Treated with High Dose Cytoxan, Johns Hopkins, June 2002. Final phlebotomy 11/2016. As of July 2021 HGB 12.0, WBC 4.70/ANC 3.85, Plts 110K.
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