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Mary,
I'm glad to hear that you want to learn more to help your husband. Knowing his blood counts is a good start, as is watching them over time to notice any changes.
Patients typically can't understand all the medical language in bone marrow biopsy reports (although Marrowforums members can sometimes help each other decipher them), but at a minimum they can be the basis of a conversation with the doctor, who can explain what they mean for the patient's care.
If you have any questions at all, go ahead and ask the doctor. Helping you and your husband understand what's going on is part of the service doctors should provide.
Is your husband having symptoms of low red cells, such as unusual fatigue, headaches, or shortness of breath, or the unusual bruising or bleeding that low platelets can cause? I say "unusual" because he knows what's normal for him.
With counts that aren't dangerously low, an absence of symptoms is likely to make "wait and watch" the best strategy, so it doesn't surprise me that his doctor isn't recommending instant treatment. Even if your husband's red cell count and hemoglobin get lower, a red blood transfusion might be all that's necessary. The aggressive therapy for MDS that you read about in some of the threads here is not what doctors use for an 88-year-old for whom they would likely do more harm than good.
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