Hi Carole!
Like Cheryl I have RCMD and like her I only wanted supportive treatment during the first years. As you perhaps know the blast cells in the bone marrow are very important when you decide about chemo.
Do you have less than 5 % blast cells in the bone marrow - that means low risk MDS? Look at the algorithm from the journal Blood.
http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/...600&carousel=1
http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/124/18/2793
You can see that the lower risk patients with low HGB, WBC and platelets could try EPO drugs for the low HGB, G-CSF like Neupogen for the WBC and TPO-agonists like Promacta (not yet approved for MDS) before they try HMA like Vidaza.
In Europe Vidaza is not approved for low risk MDS - here they try other drugs like Thalidomide or Revlimid (about 30% of the patients will respond). The problem with Vidaza is that if the patient isn't responding or stops respond the patient have only few options like SCT or clinical trials left.
Hope you will respond to Vidaza if you start treatment!
Kind regards
Birgitta-A