All Clear

I met with the hematologist again on Wednesday, and everything is fine.

This doctor seems to really understand what it's like to be patient, because the first thing he said when he came in the door was "Don't worry, it's all good news."  None of that long preamble while you're sitting there waiting for them to go to the point. Much appreciated.

So, basically he looked at my blood and said that nothing looked like cancer, and that it is most likely an immune response related to my AS.  My platelet count also went back up a bit again, which is good news. The technical diagnosis is ITP - idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, which basically just means a low platelet count for an unknown reason, thought to be caused by the immune system destroying platelets.  However, my counts aren't low enough to be dangerous or even to cause any symptoms, so no treatment is necessary. He said we should just treat my current level of platelets as normal for me, as a person with an auto-immune disease, and my other doctors can keep an eye on it in the future. He thinks that I should be fine to start Enbrel, even though it can also lower platelet counts.

So, that's a relief. I have an appointment with my rheumatologist today, so hopefully I'll get the all clear from her and start Enbrel next week.

Thanks for the prayers and support everyone!