87 year old father newly diagnosed

[SHKA7]

Hi! I joined as my parents don’t have IT.
Dad has seen an Haematologist for a couple of years because of low platelets (58?) but they are stable and not going down.He’s not on any treatment for this but I managed to get him a GP appointment on 19/7 as he was exhausted. He was sleeping 12 hours at night but still unrefreshed. At worst, he couldn’t stay up beyond 7pm. Bloods were drawn, and GP got in touch with the Consultant as his Hb was 99. The plan was more bloods the following Tuesday and transfusion later in the week. 2nd set of bloods came back with the Hb at 109, so the transfusion was cancelled. Message relayed via the GP was that it was ‘an issue in his bone marrow’ and transfusion not appropriate. The Consultant’s plan is more watch and wait and take new bloods in 4 months time.
He has been diagnosed with MDS and I wanted to find out if this is a typical/acceptable approach in an otherwise healthy 87 year old. I’ve done some reading and it seems that risk level for progression cannot be determined without a bone marrow biopsy. Is this correct? While he and the family appreciate that aggressive treatment is not appropriate or wanted, are there any treatments which would help him feel better?
The GP is now on holiday but before I speak to him again, I hope to hear of others’ experience with an elderly patient. Dad wears hearing aids and struggles on the phone, compounded by one ear completely blocked with wax. When that was removed yesterday, an infection was found behind it so his hearing is still very compromised. Given all of that, I need to find out what I can as he can’t.
Thank you for letting me join and I would really welcome any information. Susan.