Sarah,
SAA is a rare, very serious, life-threatening disease. Before the 1970's (when ATG was invented) people with SAA would die from the disease within 6-9 months. That is how serious the disease is.
Because the disease is so rare, there many good doctors who know very little on how to diagnose and treat the disease. That is why it is so important to see someone who specializes in AA and hematological diseases. They will be
excited to see you because the disease is their passion and the patients are few. Usually these doctors can be found at universities or teaching hospitals.
Many other conditions can cause pancytopenia so the doctor should be running a ton of tests on you to rule out other conditions (B12, folate, iron, copper, HIV, parovirous, lupus, PNH, hepatitis, heavy metals, inherited conditions, etc.). It is only when you are negative for
everything else that they will consider it AA. Did they do this? Recent infections/viruses, drugs, and chemical exposures can also cause low blood counts, so they should have asked you about your history.
To be considered SAA, you would meet 2 of the 3 criteria:
ANC (Absolute Neutrophil Count) < 500
Platelets < 20k
ARC (Absolute Reticulocyte Count) < 20,000
I don't know your specifics but perhaps they are treating this as Moderate AA??
Here is an excellent reference on how AA is treated by 2 experts in the field:
http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/...o-checked=true
Also, there is a ton of information at the AA&MDSIF website, starting with the very basics:
http://www.aamds.org/diseases/aplastic-anemia
I don't know when your previous blood test was, but it doesn't look like much has changed since that one. Small fluctuations in HGB, Platelets, and WBC are considered normal. Those are small fluctuations. Your WBC is falsely elevated because of the prednisone. So don't get too excited about that! Perhaps the 950 is your ANC??? That is the number of importance here, as it determines how susceptible you are to infections.
I am not a doctor or in the medical field. I am a patient with AA/MDS overlap for 8 years (!) that has been successfully treated with immune suppressive therapy
I was also very active at diagnosis and didn't believe my doctor at first when he told me that I had to take this disease seriously! I continue to live an active lifestyle. So don't think that this is the beginning of the end!
Good luck and find that second opinion! You could try calling the US based AA&MDSIF to get their assistance with this:
(800) 747-2820, option 1