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Feeling helpless
My father was diagnosed with MDS (RARS) in 2006. He is 73 years old. He has never had any type of treatment for his MDS. He seemingly does fairly well and for that I am thankful. He is seen by his hemo/onco doc twice a year and his blood is tested twice more each year by his family doc.
They keep telling him to continue to do what it is he is doing. RBC is low, white and platelets are well within normal ranges. A couple of his kidney & liver numbers are slightly off but no one seems to be worried about them.
He is retired, lives a simple life and keeps busy with family, friends and church activities. He can easily rest/nap when he feels the need.
Last night he told me that while out for the day doing various things he dozed off at the wheel, went left of center but woke in time to see that he was directly in the path of an oncoming car. Crisis was averted but I am now concerned that his tiredness is coming into play. He said his routine for the day was "typical". Labs were done last week and while we know he has MDS the numbers were not any different than they have been in the past. They do drop a smidgen every year or so but nothing significant. Doc has said that if he were a younger man, perhaps with a job he would need to have transfusions as he would not be able to function well with a more "normal" schedule.
I do not know and can only wonder if this is the start of things to come or if this was just one of those things that happened. Is it time to get serious (so to speak) with the disease and to help him to see (with a docs guidance) that perhaps he try something that would help his energy levels? He is the type of person that is just happy and content to be alive and feeling "well". He does not specifically understand his disease. He thinks any symptom he has (like being tired) is directly related to his age. He is happy when a number increases by 0.1 - thinking that he is improving despite the number being 3.5 below normal (for example).
Distraught and worried here. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated.
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