Hey Vicki!
I'm not real smart about the way that iron, B12, Folate, and copper get involved in the production of blood cells, so I'm not actually sure if deficiencies in any of those can louse up your whites as well as your reds. Maybe Marlene will weigh in; she's really smart about minerals and vitamins and such.
There was a real good conversation about sedation and BMB on marrowforums
here. The bottom line seems to be that everyone agrees its a pain in the butt
but some folks find it much more traumatic than do others. Personally, it's not problem for me. But it is a definite problem for some folks.
If you've been reading about MDS, you know that most of the literature says therapy-realted MDS can be more serious and stubborn than de novo MDS. But I am nearly certain I read an article just the other day that provided some pretty good evidence to contradict that bit of accepted wisdom. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find it right now, and searching PubMed didn't turn up anything. If I find it, I'll get it to you.
The course of MDS seems to be highly variable from person to person, but the key to figuring out whether to do anything about it, and what, is really the BMB results. That will tell you the extent of dysplasia in your cell lines, any chromosomes out of whack, and your blast count (which is probably comfortably low, since your counts aren't that bad).
If the BMB shows that you have MDS, and your hematologist isn't an MDS expert, you might want to find one -- before setting out on any course of treatment. With your counts, there's no reason to rush into anything, and you'll want to make sure you are well-informed about and on board with whatever treatment is being recommended.
I'm sorry to hear about your fatigue, which has to be doubly challenging for a personal trainer and fitness instructor.
Take care!
Greg