White count ups and downs after transplant

[BrianFlaigmore]

Hello, right now I am +60 days for a MUD BMT and I feel really good. I have been able to exercise quite a bit, but not overdoing it. Today I found out that my platelets are up to 108,000 and hgb is at 10.3. I haven't needed a transfusion since I was discharged (so grateful for this ). But my white count has fallen four consecutive CBCs, it was two weeks ago at 2.9 and now it's down to 2.2 (Neutrophils are at 45%) Is this a common occurrence post BMT? Thank you for any information!

[Neil Cuadra]

Congratulations on doing so well, Brian.

If there's one rule about post-transplant blood counts, it's that you can't count on continuous progress. It's more common to have ups and downs day by day and week by week even as you make progress month by month. It's hard not to think of every increase as a sign of success and every decrease as a sign of failure but it's the longer term trends that matter. That's true even if you drop low enough to need an occasional transfusion.

Around 65 to 70 days after my wife's transplant (from a matched unrelated donor, like yours) her white count dropped from 7.5 to 3.4 and we really panicked. But it turns out that many patients experience a drop around this time; we just didn't know to expect it. Sometimes it's a sign that your medication dosages should be tinkered, but sometimes it resolves without changing anything, which is what happened to my wife within weeks.

I think you are on the right road and I hope the twists and turns don't slow you down!