ET triple neg and surgery - any experiences?

[intothewoods]

Hello,

My partner has ET triple negative and takes 1500mg Hydroxycarbomide every day as he had a very minor heart attack before diagnosis and platelets at 1.7m. He is 33 and diagnosed in Feb.

The meds are finally working and blood count is good.

He is having surgery on Wednesday on a previous unrelated wrist injury .

His brilliant Haem knows about it, and he has spoken with the surgeon and anaesthetist about his ET so all clear from them.

I’m just wondering if anyone here has had a general anaesthetic and surgery with ET and how the recovery was?

Would the surgery mess up his blood counts in a scary way or will they settle quickly? Is there any risk of another heart attack?

I suspect the answer is just ‘it’s probably fine if the bloods are under control’ but it’d be good to get some reassurance.

We’ve been through enough this year and it’s making me quite worried!

Thank you!

[hunter5582]

Some rise in platelet levels is to be expected. Anytime there is significant bleeding, tissue damage or inflammation the body is going to make more platelets. It is a natural response to injury. For those with an MPN, it can trigger reactive thrombocytosis, but this is temporary and the levels will fall as the body heals. I have had this happen most every time I have had any surgery or serious injury.

Something to bear in mind is that there is no real change in risk of thrombosis based on this elevation. Risk of clots is the same whether your platelets are at 500K or 700K. For some of us (me included) it is actually risk of hemorrhage that goes up when platelet levels get up above 800K. not sure how your partners body reacts as we each may respond differently.

Since he is on HU, it is unlikely that platelet levels will be terribly out of control. It is a bit unusual for someone his age to be on HU. Not sure what symptoms he was having to trigger the use of this particular med. Hopefully you were both cautioned about the proper protocols for its use and how to avoid exposure of the partner to the toxic effects of HU.

FYI - I am JAK2+PV . I have had three surgeries in the last 1.5 years. No incidents of thrombosis whatsoever. I did bleed quite a bit after one of the surgeries however. Pays to keep an eye on both possibilities.

Hope his surgery goes well.

[intothewoods in reply to hunter5582]

Thank you so much!