[Bob]

No, we are not at an MDS Center of Excellence. I believe UCLA medical is the one near us. My mom belongs to Kaiser. Would you happen to know the approximate cost to get a second opinion? We were told that her symptons are "consistent with MDS". Dr. gave us an IPSS score of .5 based on the fact that all 3 of her blood cells were low. I haven't been told of an "funny looking cells" which is why it still concerns me if Vidaza is the right treatment.

My mom was on an arthritis drug about the same time her platelet started to drop. In Aug/08 her platelets were 220. In Sept./09 it was 78. That is when they took her off the arthritis drug. But in Dec/09 platelet down to 24, Jan. 1 2010 down to 20. End of Jan. down to 12 and last week when we checked it went up to 14. If the arthritis drug was the cause, how soon after being off of it could we expect the platelets to come back?