Chirley,
I suggest that you ask for your blood counts each time they are measured so you can keep track yourself and so you'll know whether your counts are low, critically low, or only borderline low. The more information you have about your condition from week to week, the better you can track your own progress and the more confidence you'll have about getting (and asking for) the right treatment.
I remember that you mentioned the possibility of a transplant, a couple of months ago (
here). It is worthy of consideration, since a transplant can be a true cure, but a transplant can also be a frightening prospect due to the risks. You can allay some of the fear by learning more about the process, to determine whether it offers you the best option.
There are a number of websites and organizations that can give you information about transplants. See the
Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplantation section of our Resources page. For information specific to Australia, you can talk to the
Leukaemia Foundation or connect with other patients at
Talk Blood Cancer.
When the doctor refers to "starting testing for bone marrow transplant" he may mean the HLA (protein antigen) typing required to identify potential donors who match you. Other than knowing your HLA type and whether or not you are generally healthy (other than the MDS or whatever it is), I don't know what other tests would be required. That's another question to ask your doctor.
The difference between a peripheral blood stem cell transplant (PBSCT) and a bone marrow transplant (BMT) would be more of an issue for the donor than it would be for you as the recipient. The difference has to do with the way the stem cells are harvested from the donor, either from their circulating blood or from their bone. Your treatment would be the same either way, and you would get the donor's stem cells through an IV.