My husbands platelets are down to 21 and he just had blood transfusion 2 weeks ago. Going tomorrow for another one. He had been getting them once a month plus getting Procrit injections weekly for almost 3 months now. He has Mets to bones since Nov. 2016. We are so scared that he’s towards the end of the journey and don’t know what to think. Anyone else out there with experience of this problem?? Thanks for reading and any suggestions are appreciated.
Platelets down to 21. Mets to bone. - Advanced Prostate...
Platelets down to 21. Mets to bone.
What is his treatment history?
Actually basically everything there is radiation treatments in the beginning in 2006, docetaxel 7 treatments, cabazitaxel 7 treatments, mitoxatrane, Provenge Immunotherapy all 3, radium 223 all 6 treatments, zytiga, keytruda for a short bit, Then also eligard injections. There but be something I’m forgetting. We went today and they gave him platelets. Diagnosed Dec. 2005 metastasized to bone in Nov. 2016. So far just a bit of aching in his neck he says that comes and goes. He’s almost 79 years old now.
Has his doctor said if there is bone marrow invasion?
Sounds like he's had just about every treatment. The only ones I can think of are Xtandi and LU-177, but he would have to have good blood counts for that.
What is his doctor saying at this point?
Bone marrow helps produce platelets and also the immune system. I don't know how extensive it is, but there could be an issue with that. One of the gold standards for problems involving the marrow is a marrow transplant. However, you can't have bone mets for that procedure.
My dad had bone mast cell invasion and it was messing up his immune system and blood counts. Like Gregg said, the only next step might be more chemotherapy. However, the issue is that chemo is less effective with lower platelet counts and it doesn't sound like the bags are holding him very long. I'm not even too sure that someone would give him chemo with that low of platelets. I'm sorry.
Scrams,
My suggestion is based on my 8 years of experience. Diagnosed at 70 as a Gleason8 in 2012, metastases to my pelvis led to immediate ADT, no surgery or radiation. Eligard and Casodex were administered until fall, 2016 when we moved to Florida and I started Lupron only; however, I started IP6 in 2015 after reading Dr. AKM Shamsuddin’s book on “IP6 and Inositol.” Get the book at Amazon and the powder at Allstarhealth.com. Read my old posts on this subject and private message me on how to take an appropriate dose.
Stay with us and keep posting (Bless you for being a caretaker)...
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Sunday 08/23/2020 12:43 PM DST
I have no answers. Best of wishes.
My husband's platelets were down to 20,000 with no prospect of further treatment. He had a splenic artery embolisation and within a week his platelets shot up to 204,000. He had it done at MD Anderson, but it is not a major procedure, so I'm sure it can be done elsewhere. He came home the next day. I think it depends on what is causing the low platelets, but he has bone mets also. Please let me know if you would like further info.
Wishing you both good luck. I would keep following the MO you trust. Keep writing when you can, we are all battling the demon.
Thank-you so much for your kind words. His platelets have went up some now and he’s only having to have infusions monthly or every other month now. His PSA was up to over 4000 but this past week down to 2450. But he’s now developed hurting in his shoulder, back and right hand. He had a X-ray done yesterday and has a small fracture in his wrist. Up until now he’s only had little aches here and there and then they were gone.Best wishes to you and your family also.
Take Care and let’s all keep fighting this ugly disease.