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My Dad has been on Aranesp for several weeks now (will receive his 4th shot today). I am not sure of the mg dosage, but we just started seeing a new doctor (a hematologist at USC), and she said that she was going to give higher doses of Aranesp and more frequently. I am not sure whether or not the increases to his hemoglobin would indicate a response to Aranesp or not...here's the history: his hemoglobin was 7.9 in May, then he got his first transfusion (3 units) in late June. Since then, his hemoglobin numbers (in two week increments) were as follows: 9.2 (right after the transfusion), 8.9, 9.1, 7.9, 8.5, and 8.3 (today). He is receiving 2 more units of blood today and another shot of Aranesp. I am just not sure what to make of these numbers! And, maybe we'll know more as this new doctor pushes more Aranesp more frequently (he was only getting a shot every 4 to 3 weeks or so). Does anyone have any advice/comments? On another positive note his platelets, which have also been low, have steadily increased since July: 29, 32, 42, 46, 58. The doctor told us after doing an initial review of his bone marrow test of a week ago that "his bone marrow doesn't look that bad." However, she said that her gut feel is that he has MDS. (His oncologist already made the MDS call several weeks ago, but we are getting, in essence, a second opinion from this new doctor.) I guess we'll know more when we get the results of the FISH test.
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