[dfantle]

Hi SAA Mom, many experts say it can take up to 6 months before it is truly known if the ATG was successful. So, keep this in mind over the next few months, just in case his progress is not very apparent.

In addition to the irradiated & CMV negative red cells for transfusions, these should also be leukocyte reduced to minimize a chance of a reaction.

I was very reactive to platelet transfusions so had high doses of Benedryl & some tylenol before every platelet transfusion to help eliminate reactions. Also, there are 2 possible types of reactions, that I know of. The type that I had which just required the Benedryl & Tylenol, and an antibody reaction. The antibody reaction is much more rare and this is when the blood center looks for single red cell or platelet donors. Even with all the reactions I had, I never had an antibody reaction so was still able to use any donor platelets. (With any reaction I had, my clinic always ran an antibody test during my reaction to be certain)

Also, I had an unrelated donor stem cell transplant this year & even though I had received 77 red cell transfusions and even more platelet transfusions, I had no issues with the transplant.

Best,