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Old Tue May 10, 2011, 08:57 AM
Marlene Marlene is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Springfield, VA
Posts: 1,406
Nutritional testing

Hi Laura,

Here's some info on what we did with John. I will scan copies of some the results and email them to you so you can get an idea of what type of info you'll receive. Please know that they are very personal and destroy them appropriately when you are finished with them.

I will post another message later with more info on B12 and the other supplements John takes for "energy". Until then, this should keep you busy.


Organic Acid urine test; copper/zinc profile (got valuable info on Vit C, B5 and glutithione)
http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/home/eng/home.asp


Stool Test: This is an important area to look at and fix. GI health effects so many aspects of overall health. Unfortunately, we found this somewhat confusing in that we did not like the doc we were working with at the time and stool tests check for anti-bodies to things like parasites. If positive, it doesn’t mean you have it now. Just means you have antibodies against them and that at some point, you may have had them. I wonder how many antibodies John has from others due to all the transfusions especially since they transfused white cell (very rare thing to do) when he was in the hospital. I think we still need to focus on this but have slacked off. Based on the results, he may benefit from a gluten free diet since the test indicated potential sub-clinical intolerances. He does use probiotics daily and eats lacto-fermented cabbage and pickles to help keep the bad bacteria in check. We should probably re-test now that he’s off Exjade. That drug really messed with his GI track.
http://www.diagnostechs.com/TestPane...rOverview.aspx

Red Blood Cell Elements (test result were good on this)
http://www.doctorsdata.com/tests_assessments_info.asp


Here’s another Lab that to look at for nutritional assessment. We have not used them but this may be something to start with.
http://www.gdx.net/product/10051


We use them to monitor John’s testosterone. Since he’s on a bio-identicle transdermal cream, saliva is a better indicator of testosterone status. They also do Vitamin D testing. You can order these yourself.
http://www.zrtlab.com/


Many insurance plans may cover part of the testing. They don’t cover any of the saliva testing. So you may have a higher out-of-pocket expense. Since you GP is open to helping you sort through this, my guess is that she will have no problem ordering some of these for you. They are pretty simple....blood, urine and stool....and can give you some good insight as to how to approach your overall health. I know it’s complicated because of the transplant and most docs don’t know how to integrate nutrition as a tool to improve health.

IMO, my priority would be to do the stool analysis and nutritional test first. I found that when they wanted to look at everything at once, it got overwhelming. I feel that if you start with the fundamentals and fix those first, then other things will self correct.
__________________
Marlene, wife to John DX w/SAA April 2002, Stable partial remission; Treated with High Dose Cytoxan, Johns Hopkins, June 2002. Final phlebotomy 11/2016. As of July 2021 HGB 12.0, WBC 4.70/ANC 3.85, Plts 110K.
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