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Bill,
You are correct that the bone marrow biopsy will be used to study cellularity (basically cell quantities). Cellularity, along with blood counts, is used to assess the severity of the disease.
Cellularity averages somewhere in the 40% to 60% range for a healthy 39-year-old so the question is how Jeff's cellularity compares. Newly diagnosed SAA patients (before treatment) can have cellularity of 20%, 15%, or even lower, so there's quite a difference.
The BMB is actually two tests: the bone marrow biopsy for studying cellularity and the quality of cells, and the bone marrow aspiration that extracts cells to be studied under the microscope to make sure there are no mutations.
Routine blood counts give you a good picture of how Jeff's recovery is progressing, especially if you look at the week-to-week and month-to-month trends, but the BMB/BMA results may give you confirmation that he's making a good recovery. Let's hope for that good news!
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