My father has myelodysplasia and sees the doctor every friday...and has received frequent transfusions. It seems that the meds that he was on aren t working and his red blood cells are dying even more quickly. a week ago Friday his count was 8.2 and he got 2 pints of blood on Saturday. Last Friday his Blood count had fallen to 8.7. How low can a persons red blood cell count fall before they are at significant risk of heart attack or stroke or other major concerns? My dad is thinking he will wait til Friday for his next check up...but I think he should go in on Tues or Wednesday because his counts have been falling faster than previously.