can anyone help decipher blood results?

Interesting you mention that. I wonder about venison, elk, etc..

Wife, pork is okay if it's something lean like pork tenderloin.  Ham is okay except that it's very salty and you want to keep his diet low in sodium.  When restricting red meat, it's ordinarily connected to beef.  So he is better off with turkey/chicken and fish/shellfish, and even better with off with beans and other vegetarian sources of protein.

Hugs,

Connie

Early on my hubby was on a low sodium diet, and I avoided giving him red meat from things I had read. His GP only ever recommended the low sodium, saying red meat has not scientifically been proven to be a problem. Hubby and I decided that if he could get protein from other sources we would drop red meat.

But later his specialists were so concerned about his lack of protein, weight and malnutrition that they recommended that he eat red meat. Not every day, but as you would normally. While in Hospital, his meals are only low sodium, and he has shepherds pie, lamb dinners etc, as well as fish, chicken etc. They did bump up lactulose at the same time, which may compensate for some ammonia and HE issues.

The specialists also said it was better that he eat something that will help him put on weight, rather than continuously watch the sodium, so he was allowed to have gravy etc that I would normally carefully monitor.

Its all a terrible catch-22 as the sodium increases his ascites, increasing the tapping etc etc. A couple of days ago he was put on fluid restrictions of 1.5ltrs a day, to try and assist with ascites.

These specialists and nutrionists at the Transplant Centre have also recommended Resourse Protein drinks, fish and poultry, nuts, beans etc. He is now in a supportive care facility, recommended by the Transplant Centre for the care of their liver patients, that just cooks a normal salt-free diet. He has gained some weight and is looking the healthiest he has looked in a long time (although he is still jaundiced, has ascites, lethargy etc etc), mind you it could also be that he had a hair-cut which I think took 10 years off him!

He has only been there a short time, but I will be keeping a close eye on his bloodwork - all I do is compare the results to the last time, and look at those 'normal ranges' to see where he sits. If anything is vastly different (and we have seen that too) we have been lucky that the GP/Specialists have called him in (or he has already been there) to treat him, before we have even seen the results.

From our experience, to stay on the transplant list at his centre, we will be doing everything they ask of us, and if that means eating red meat from time to time, so be it. (Especially when I have no control over what they are feeding him in hospital).

Good luck Natasha. I know how hard it is to get anyone to explain the bloodwork, and I feel for you not having a regular GP or specialist to turn to. Lucky there is this forum, to hear lots of experiences. xx

Connie,
They are red meat, but do they make the liver work harder? Venison has virtually no fat marbling the meat. Does that make a difference? I doubt most nutritionists would have the answer.

The dietitian here might know. Several hundred are shot here each year, so maybe this has come up before. Spinach is great stuff. We eat it a couple times a week.

once again, many thanks for sharing all your experiences. goddess, im so pleased that your husband seems to be looking better and that he is getting great care. i think untill i get to talk to g.p. next week i will avoid the red meat untill then, just in case!. the meat suggestion was the only diet advice the g.p. gave us, he never mentioned low sodium or anything like that.
as for the clotting bloods i have another sheet from his full blood count but nothing that matches the letters you spoke about. on the list is; total white cell count; r.b.c; haemoglobin count; mean corpuscular volume; mchc; mch; platelet count; erythrocite sedimentation rate; neutrophil count; lymhocyte count; monocyte count; eosinophil count; basophil count; haematocrit; r.b.c. distibution width.
would any of those be clotting factor?
gosh i wish i was taking a med course now instead of law! hope you all have a great good friday!!xx natasha.xx
dany; i believe deep down he wont ever stop drinking, unless they admit him and then he cant!!.xxx

thank you, p.g. i shall go and have a look there now.xxx
hubby having a bad day today so maybe we will end up in the hospital before we get to speak to g.p.
hope you are all doing ok today.xxxnatasha.x

Thinking about you Natasha. Hope that hubby is improving...let us know how things are going.

Well speaking from a "southern" opinion, my husband was an avid deer hunter and we always have deer meat in our freezer....While I have limited and mostly eliminated his beef, I have continued to cook the deer meat, (not all the time though) and I havent' noticed it causing him any problems thus far. However, ours is ground up, and I use it in meat loaf, chili, spaghetti etc...and I don't fry it much. It is a whole lot leaner and seems to be easier on his stomach, also doesn't seem to cause any HE episodes.. He and I both get tired of chicken all the time, (fish is so expensive), so the deer meat is a tasty alternative.....

I think maybe it's an issue with the amount of fat found in regular beef.  Maybe that's why the leaner game meats might be better but still limited?

Ever try Quinoa?  It's supposed to be a complete protein from the grain world.  Really good and you can use it instead of rice.

We've tried a few different grains. I like the ones that have a chewy, as opposed to a mushy texture. One is some sort of Black Rice from Nepal or Tibet. Very good stuff and I'll get more when the store stocks it again. In the cold months I like to make polenta (yellow corn meal) to accompany entrees. Quinoa is barely edible to me and brown rice just a little better. I no longer eat much white rice. Wild rice and a rack of venison sounds like the perfect dinner.