[Sally C]

My husband and I just came back from NIH last week. He had a scheduled bone marrow biopsy as part of the MDS/Promacta protocol.
A British doctor with ties to Johns Hopkins did the biopsy. He started by first taking the bone sample before he aspirated the marrow. This caused quite a stir with the staff in the room as they always aspirate first. He explained that it was a bit controversial (I really don't understand why other than it's just the way it's always been done) but he believed in another year this would be the standard way of doing biopsies. The reasoning behind this is the thought that aspirating first could result in emptying the marrow of cells and therefore getting a false hypocellular reading.
As an aside - Don had been transfusion dependent since 1/09 for red cells and platelets - approximately 60 transfusions in '09 and 60 in '10. He has only needed one red cell transfusion since spring of 2011, which was in Oct. His red cells reached 11 at one point but he is firmly staying in the 10+ range. His platelets are hanging in the high 40,000's to low 50,000's which is quite a record for him. We don't have the results of the biopsy yet but the NIH doctors aren't expecting any surprises due to the marked improvement in his counts. He has tolerated the daily 150mg. Promacta very well which he started taking in March, 2011.
God Bless,
Sally - wife of Don - MDS Int. 1