Saturday, January 20, 2007

Day +172 Hemoglobin and Multi-Vit w/out Iron

WBC 9700
ANC 8000
Hemoglobin 10.4
Platelets 310k
Weight 12.3

His hemoglobin is fine today. The doctors cannot give me a straight answer about his periodic low hemoglobin. One doctor says it's the GVH skin rash suppressing the bone marrow, therefore, the red blood cells cannot keep up with production. Then the other doctor says it is due to the different blood type of the donor. God knows, so we keep asking and praying Him!

I did some research on low hemoglobin. There is something called Pernicious Anemia or Vit B-12 deficiency. With it comes: low hemoglobin, low hematocrit and elevated MCV (low red blood cell count with large-sized red blood cells). This describes David's blood tests! Treatment is Vit-B12 shots. I brought this up with Karen and Dr. Argawal. Their response: bone marrow transplant patients are different, a shot might make his arm inflamed and infected, the elevated MCV is common amoung those who received chemotherapy and can remain elevated for years!

OK. I was so tempted to call Dr. Neustaedter, David's natural health doctor (I still think I will call) but there are so many things David cannot take b/c of the possible interactions with his meds. It's very frustrating. David takes a multi-vitamin without iron (he cannot have iron b/c the blood transfusions he occasionally gets are chalk full of iron!). The only one I could find was a chewable at Trader Joes and it's pathetic! Good News! I found a liquid children's multi-vitamin at Whole Foods. Look at the difference:

TRADER JOES   NUTRITION FOR KIDS BY CHILDLIFE  
Vit A (as retinyl acetate) 2,500 Vit A (retinol palmitate) 850 IU
Vit C (as ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate 60 mg Vit A (beta carotene) 850 IU
Vit D (as cholecalciferol) 200 IU Vit C (ascorbic acid) 135 mg
Vit E (as d-alpha acetate) 10 IU Vit D3 (cholecalciferol) 275 IU
Thiamine (as thiamine mononitrate) 0.7 mg Vit E (d-alpha-tocopheryl acetate) 20 IU
Riboflavin 0.8 mg Thiamin (thiamin hcl) (B1) 2 mg
Niacin (as niacinamide) 9 mg Riboflavin (ribo-5-phosphate) (B2) 2 mg
Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxine hydrochloride) 0.7 mg Niacin (niacinamide) (B3) 10 mg
Folic Acid 200 mcg Vit B6 (pyridoxine hcl) 2 mg
Vitamin B12 (as cyanocobalamin) 3 mcg Folate (folic acid) 135 mcg
Biotin (as d-biotin) 150 mcg Vit B12 (cyanocobalmin) 6 mcg
Pantothenic Acid (as calcium pantothenate) 5 mg Biotin 65 mcg
    Pantothenic Acid (d-pantothenol) (B5) 7 mg
    Calium (lactate) 55 mg
    Iodine (potassium iodine) 50 mcg
    Magnesium (lactate) 15 mg
    Zinc (gluconate) 5 mg
    Selenium (selenomethionine) 35 mcg
    Manganese (gluconate) 1.5 mg
    Chromium (polynicotinate) 7 mcg
    Potassium (citrate) 14 mg
    PABA (para-amino benzoic acid) 1 mg
    Inositol 20 mg
    Choline (bitartrate) 20 mg

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aimee,
Just checking in on you all! I hope David's hemoglobin goes back up and stays there! You're such an awesome mom, and all of your children are so blessed to have you!
Please give David a big hug from me and Ethan!

Love,
Andrea Marley

Anonymous said...

Great work finding a better supplement!