Glad your numbers are increasing Shawn. Your platelets may also be compounded by your HIV status, which can cause low platelets anyway, and from medications, in addiction to a compromised bone marrow from your chemo and radiation treatment where the platelets, along with the rest of the RBC are produced, and may not be making enough or are being destroyed at a faster rate than they can be replaced, and have a cell life of 5-9 days. I have the same problem, but with my Hemaglobin, which is part of the RBC. I hear you on the platelets transfusion, and know whole blood is not good to get either due to complications, and even has an increase risk of recurrences in head and neck cancer, and was surpirsed to resd that a few years ago. I forget which one, maybe with platelet tranfusion, your RBC may drop or and need a whole blood transfusion. I used to get epogen/procrit shots too, which helps produce more RBC, but with active cancer or when the Hemaglobin is higher than 12, I wish, and if shots are given it can speed up cancer too, although I'm not sure about platelets is effected the same or the shots would work the same. I also see a local hematologist, most oncologists are I believe, but she is not my cancer treating doctor, and monitors my blood levels closely. A few times I needed blood transfusions when it was dangerously low, so needed to be hospitalized, and more a dozen times received the epogen (Lance Armstrong) injection lol, which are like $700 a pop, but it helps with the QOL.