I'll add some experience with Mrs, since 2006.
She has never had "normal" ANC, particularly ANC -> WBC ratio, which is typically 50%, so a white of 3000(not bad for a leukemic) should have an ANC of 1500. Mrs has not been above 700 ANC for...ten years now. We've had months of sub 100 ANC with a 2600 WBC.
This was considered traumatic at first, lots of stuff was done to try to counter her low counts, Gleevec breaks, Neulasta monthly, and Neuopgen as needed, etc. Each Gleevec break time her PCR would rise fairly quickly from undetected, so breaks weren't all that helpful. Neulasta is awful, Neupogen is not much less awful and is actually not indicated for leukemics. It would help her counts for sure, but the physical cost was just too high.
2010 we combined one of our trips across the country with a stop in Portland OR to see Druker. His opinion was that she was of that small number of people that just don't fit what is "normal", and that the numbers used to indicate "normal" on a blood panel have absolutely no basis in medical fact.
Further work with some docs outside Philly ended up confirming those ideas, that we use these numbers as a starting point, not as a concrete reference.
So we are in 2017, she has never had decent ANC ever, has not gotten sick as a result, and we just muddle through knowing she is one of the oddballs that is not ever going to have "normal" numbers without a detectable PCR.
She has been off Gleevec since September and this Thursday we meet with onc to either stay off TKI longer or start on Sprycel at low dose and work up. 11 years of Gleevec has been enough for her, it is time to try something different.
The bottom line is that no matter what her ANC does, we will be happy if she can maintain a decent PCR without the constant sickness that Gleevec brings, and we are hopeful that will happen, even if she is just super low PCR without PCRu.
Druker made it clear to us, followed by the three oncs we've had since, to not let her counts lead the way, to let PCR lead the way and what works to keep that as low as possible is what we need to do provided she is not in need of massive transfusions or anything. The reason for her continued low counts has been checked and re-checked and studied and they can't come up with anything. Our current onc is fine with an ANC of 200, so we are too, since there isn't much we can do about it.
None of which is the same as low platelets, we get that. But it is an indicator that sometimes we have numbers we use because we don't have anything else to use, but not everybody fits those numbers.
Good luck with it and hang in there. PCR is what matters, the rest can have stuff done about it.
rct