Finding a hematologist

I have recently been diagnosed with ITP and I'm looking for a different hematologist. I find communication difficult with the dr I was referred to and have seen twice now. My counts are between 50-80 over the past months and were first flagged low about a year ago at 130. I was told to ignore it. I went back in for fatigue about a year later and they were 64.I have a history of lyme disease and my lyme dr thinks I am having a babesia flare up (heart palpitations, night sweats, nausea). I started antibiotics for that and the count went up but now I have a bruise and a few red spots on my leg. My immune subclass 3 was low on lyme drs recent labs, along with low NK 57 cells. I don't know if this relates at all to the ITP. My question: For hematologists to advise on ITP are university centers a good choice? I live in Greenville SC but travel to Duke with my son (has Autoimmune encephalitis)so I could look there. Emory/Atlanta are not too far and Charlotte is an hour away. Can anyone share experiences of a good hematologist in these areas?

Don't overlook Augusta: the Medical College of Georgia is there. Dr. Cindy Neunert is a leading pediatric hematologist, a well published researcher, and was lead author on The American Society of Hematology 2011 evidence-based practice guideline for immune thrombocytopenia . Her office could probably recommended someone very good in adult hematology.

It's much closer than Atlanta or Duke!

Both Atlanta and Augusta would be about a two hour drive from Greenville. Years ago, my daughter was under the care of the MCG (now GRU) pediatric hem/onc group. They were great. A medical school/teaching hospital is a great place to start when looking for a hematologist. Since you obviously must travel for your son's care, I am sure it would be more convenient if you could stay local in your care for ITP and Lyme. Have you tried the USC School of Medicine and Greenville Hospital System right there in Greenville? There is at least one group of hematologists affiliated with GHS/USCSOM. I scoped this out a while back, just in case I needed to know, because my ITP kid (now grown and in remission) is near Greenville. I don't know any of the hematologists, but I'm sure you could ask your primary doctor about a referral and get a consult to see if you like them. In SC, hematologists can be found through the Board of Medical Examiners at www.llr.sc.gov . Click on licensee lookup at the upper right. Choose medical from the drop down, and enter a city name and the captcha code in the box to find the hematologists in Greenville. There are quite a few. Hope you find one with whom you can build a good relationship.

Norma