[Catl]

Hello Val702, just wondering how things are going with your Dad's treatment? My Dad starts his second cycle on Monday. He tolerated the first cycle well with little symptoms other than fatigue and pain at the injection sites. Not sure if it means that the treatment is working, but this week was the first time since December that his platelets actually increased slightly. He was at 9,000 on Friday, so they gave him a transfusion, was at 22,000 on Monday and 27,000 today. He has been requiring platelet transfusions every 3 days or so since January, so we were excited to find out he didn't need any this week so far. His HGb is still low though (at 79) so he will receive a transfusion tomorrow. I did buy him some papaya leaves tea last week which apparently helps platelet counts, so maybe it's the tea. I guess we'll find out soon enough next week when he has another blood test. Reducing the number of transfusions is apparently better for patients that will be having a transplant as there is a risk of developing antibodies with every transplant that could impact transplant/cause GVHD.