Rituxan

I saw my hematologist today and received a couple of surprises. First, my Hgb was 11.5, the highest that I have recorded. Unfortunately, my platelets were also the highest at 1050, up from 359 just last Friday. White cells and Factor 2 for clotting have remained unchanged. So I need to increase my anagrelide which I just reduced on Friday as well. It is very surprising that the platelets would increase so fast, but may be affected some by the Levaquin antibiotic that I am still taking for the pneumonia.

The doctor also said he has one more thing to try, Rituxan, which is normally used to treat non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Seems like there has been some success for treatment of autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) as well. He is still waiting for more blood tests taken today before moving ahead, maybe next week. If Rituxan does not work, a BMT in the September timeframe is the next alternative. I am investigating further.