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Basically, and I'm speaking from an AA perspective, an ANC of .5 is the minimum you need to fight off infections. Most docs will pull white blood growth factors as long as a patient can hold an ANC of .7 on their own. All growth factors carry a risk and should only be used to get a patients ANC to a target level. In the case of SAA, it's between .5 and 1.0. John went a very long time with an ANC of .8 - 1.0 and did very well.
Unless there's another compelling reason to continue with it, I would challenge the doctor. As I stated before, there have been cases where cytogenics abnormalities can arise in the bone marrow as a result.
We have been dealing with some level of this disease for six year now and I am a firm believer that if you can do without a drug, the better off you are in the long run. I have found our doctors to take the "less is more" path also.
Again, this is just my opinion, but its worth adressing with the doc. (maybe the new doc). If I find any studies on this I will post them for you to read.
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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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