View Single Post
  #7  
Old Tue Apr 25, 2017, 01:34 PM
Amz904 Amz904 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 13
Hey lcl,

I was diagnosed with VSAA in December 2013, and received hATG+cyclosporine the first week of Jan 2014. The first few months were really difficult, and it was even worse getting my labs everyday and not seeing any real improvement. But don't get discouraged! You just need to keep reminding yourself that it is a slow process and just need to take it one day at a time.

Here's a chart I made of my counts from Feb-July 2014. I stopped adding to it since after july I was finally transfusion free and things have gone up hill ever since


WBC (range per month)
feb: >0.1-0.1
march: 0.2-0.4
april: 0.5-0.7
may: 0.8-1.1
june: 1.2-2.1
july: 2.2-2.9


ANC (what it was at the end of each month)
feb: 0.02
march: 0.10
april: 0.27
may: 0.59
june: 1.25
july: 1.74


RBC (units per month)
feb: 14
march: 8
april: 3
may: 2
june: 2
july: 0


Platelets (units per month)
feb: 9
march: 6
april: 5
may: 4
june: 0
july: 0

So around the 12 week mark (end of march) is when I noticed a positive trend in my counts. I definitely recommend keeping track of how many units of RBCs and Platelets your son is getting every month. For me personally, it felt like I was getting the same number every month, but when I actually counted I realized I was slightly improving every month. When my doctor saw my blood counts in May he honestly wasn't too impressed and wanted to go forth with a bone marrow transplant, but when I showed him how many less transfusions I was getting a month, he changed his mind and decided to wait and see for another few months. I'm so glad he did, since I'm doing great ever since!

Also I had one of my doctors tell me in the hospital, that slow responses can actually be a good thing since in his experience those with slower responses were less likely to relapse later on vs those patients whose counts recovered very quickly after ATG. Not sure how true that really is haha, but thinking about that kept me positive during my slow recovery

Good luck to your son!
Reply With Quote