Hi lindajo, My husband did have his spleen removed in May 2003. He had severe ITP, and dr’s thought that the spleen was destroying his platelets. He was also taking high doses of NASAIDS at the time for rheumatoid arthritis which also destroys platelets. The cause of the ITP.was never determined The spleen appeared to be normal after it was removed, nothing unusual about it.The only criteria seemed to be the blood counts, it was thought that removing the spleen might fix the platelets,that didn’t happen. He went down hill very quickly after that surgery. He had a brain bleed soon after( stroke like symptoms). And was dx with MDS in Sept. I would think long and hard before considering splenectomy. It’s a major and very painful surgery. Terri’s husband had radiation treatments for enlarged spleen, which seemed to help.
Take care, Ellie
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