Monday, April 13, 2009

AT WAR WITH THE CHEMO!

So the chemo continues to destroy my red blood cells along with the cancer cells , which in turn makes me anemic, and more tired....becomes a viscious cycle I will be trying to stop. After much ressearch I have found a couple iron fortified cereals (smart start and post grape nuts trail mix) that contain 90-100% of RDA for iron...Spinach, red beans,lentils with rice, and some of the "health drinks contain 10-15% of RDA's, and Whole grain flax seed bread contains 15% of RDA's...yes I know red meat especially liver has alot....but I just can't deal with the liver....so Since I previously have been getting 100% of my RDA of iron yet my RB counts keep dropping I obviously need to get above and beyond the RDA for iron.

I will hopefully find out from a dietician how much extra I will need and of course we have to make sure I'm getting enough Vit.C which aids in iron absorption, and that milk products (cereal with milk) are not inhibiting the iron absorption....never thought chemo wars would be so complicated! But if we can figure all of this out it will hopefully help others in the future!

Stay tuned!

3 comments:

  1. Laura,
    Check out the April issue of Medicine & Science & Exercise. It has a study on breast cancer and fitness that should interest you. It's not a big study, but it should give you some more encouragement! Talking to the dietitian is a good idea. There is a lot more to red blood cell development than just iron-like B12 and Folic Acid for EPO production and production of the red cells, themselves. (Learned a lot when I had kidney failure and was so anemic I had to have 2 transfusions of red platelets and an EPO shot in the gut-never felt better in my life for the next two weeks!) Before that my legs felt like lead, I would black out every time I got up from sitting (it would pass) and I didn't want to do anything much, but around here that's not an option. I thought I had the flu or something or it was just old age. Hemoglobin was down to 7+ and I was still walking 2 miles a day! Long story, any way, Good luck with your research. I'm sure you already know a lot of this stuff. S

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  2. I forgot a couple of words in the April Issue; it's Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Mental lapse! S

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  3. Hi Laura,
    I don't know if you remember me.... I'm Karleen Bascom Hammitt's niece. Aunt Karleen told me about your challenges and now Aunt Susie is on Facebook and posting links to your blog so we are being updated.
    Praying for you....
    from our family to yours!
    Julia Bascom LaShure

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