good protein levels
Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:12 amMy husband asked me to post this, as he thinks it is a testament to the wisdom of this diet.
Three and a half years ago, our son, then 10, was diagnosed with AML (acute myeloid leukemia). He spent four months in the hospital getting chemo and a bone marrow transplant. Things went well for over three years . . .
And then in October, he relapsed.
He went through another round of chemo, and then total body irradiation, and finally, around the middle of Dec., had another bone marrow transplant. He is now 7 weeks out from the BMT, and the doctor and nurse practitioner are very pleased with how well he is doing. The doctor told me they normally reduce meds around day 100, but for our son, they are already doing it.
While he was an inpatient, the nurses and doctors were commenting regularly on how well he ate. The nurse practitioner in that unit told me she wished she could clone him.
And a few days ago, the nurse practitioner he is now seeing asked me about our diet. She said she knew we ate well, and that we didn't eat any animal products, and what has impressed her most is how good my son's protein levels are. She said many children don't eat at all after a BMT, or make poor choices ("Too many carbs," she said, lol), and they rarely see blood protein levels as good as my son's. But what she couldn't figure out, she said, is where we get our protein?
Giggle, giggle. Sigh.
I said that all food has protein, and that Americans consume more than they need to, and that the WHO recommends a lower level than we might guess. She wanted to know what my son eats, and we told her that he had just eaten banana bread for breakfast, would eat pasta with tomato sauce for lunch, and had had brown rice, stir-fried veggies and steamed sweet potatoes for dinner the night before. She said she just had to ask because his blood tests are consistently good, and she would like to pass along what we're doing to other patients' families.
I don't know if she'll actually share that info with anyone, because I don't know how many people would seriously consider this diet, especially when they're already so stressed by their child's cancer. But you never know. And she mentioned she would like her family to eat healthier, too.
I think we never know, when we share about this WOE, who might be ready to hear it.
Three and a half years ago, our son, then 10, was diagnosed with AML (acute myeloid leukemia). He spent four months in the hospital getting chemo and a bone marrow transplant. Things went well for over three years . . .
And then in October, he relapsed.
He went through another round of chemo, and then total body irradiation, and finally, around the middle of Dec., had another bone marrow transplant. He is now 7 weeks out from the BMT, and the doctor and nurse practitioner are very pleased with how well he is doing. The doctor told me they normally reduce meds around day 100, but for our son, they are already doing it.
While he was an inpatient, the nurses and doctors were commenting regularly on how well he ate. The nurse practitioner in that unit told me she wished she could clone him.
And a few days ago, the nurse practitioner he is now seeing asked me about our diet. She said she knew we ate well, and that we didn't eat any animal products, and what has impressed her most is how good my son's protein levels are. She said many children don't eat at all after a BMT, or make poor choices ("Too many carbs," she said, lol), and they rarely see blood protein levels as good as my son's. But what she couldn't figure out, she said, is where we get our protein?Giggle, giggle. Sigh.
I said that all food has protein, and that Americans consume more than they need to, and that the WHO recommends a lower level than we might guess. She wanted to know what my son eats, and we told her that he had just eaten banana bread for breakfast, would eat pasta with tomato sauce for lunch, and had had brown rice, stir-fried veggies and steamed sweet potatoes for dinner the night before. She said she just had to ask because his blood tests are consistently good, and she would like to pass along what we're doing to other patients' families.
I don't know if she'll actually share that info with anyone, because I don't know how many people would seriously consider this diet, especially when they're already so stressed by their child's cancer. But you never know. And she mentioned she would like her family to eat healthier, too.
I think we never know, when we share about this WOE, who might be ready to hear it.