I received platelet transfusions three times a week between 1985 and 1990 and then, the ATG that I had in 1987 kicked in, just in time for my cancer diagnosis in 1990. I had some transfusions for the surgery then and in 1991. Then in 1995, I was found to have an array of antibodies to all transfused blood that was not my own. Before 1985, I had platelet transfusions sporadically, but quite a lot of them around the time I had my son by C-section in the mid-'70s. Just after the surgery in 1991, I became refractory off-and-on to platelets, but afterwards, the antibody prohibition reared up and that put the final "finis" on transfusions for me.
If there's any way you can hold off on unnecessary platelet or RBC transfusions, it's better to go that route. I can't have any more transfusions at all and that's why I can't have another round of ATG, although it's "indicated," according to my current hematologist. I wish I hadn't had "protective," "just in case" platelet transfusions for a couple of extended trips to Europe in the '80s and '90s. That was stupid on my part. Eventually, most people who are long-term transfusion-dependent get their lifetime's allotment of transfusions, and then, that's the end of hanging out and schmoozing in blood banks...
With best regards,
Margaret