Liver Transplant

[StarFire]

Anyone one out there in cyber RFTville know anything about liver transplants? My very dear DEAR friend just came home - he had a liver transplant 2 1/2 months ago and is doing very well. they are still adjusting his medication - but he looks wonderful...

I wanted to invite them over for a lovely raw meal - and he just told me the doctors told him he CAN'T EAT ANY RAW VEGETABLES??? whaaaat :eek: ???

now - he can eat fruit - melons, apples, stuff like that - but he cannot eat ANY raw veggies? that's so strange to me? He cannot eat grapefruit b/c apparently that has somthing in it that intefers with medication - okay - I understand that... but veggies??

he can eat lean organic meat - turkey, chicken, filet mignon, fish.... but no veggies...

He said it was okay - that he'd try to eat the raw meal in small doses.... but gosh I don't want to make him ill!!

anyone ever heard of such a thing? no veggies???

[Nurse in the Raw]

He can eat raw foods.....they just have to be washed very well and should be organic. The concern with liver transplants is that they (the doctors) feel that unwashed produce (both fruit and vegetables) pose a high risk for severe infection with encapsulated organisms for the first three months of a liver transplant.

They don't want you to eat anything raw or unpasturized or seed sprouts.

For example, in 1996 the US had a cyclosporiasis outbreak associated with imported raspberries. This can be deadly for all transplant patients. They just don't want to take a chance so they make a general statement about all raw fruits and vegetables, even if they are not a risk.

[StarFire]

thanks for explaining that stacie.... hmmmm.. maybe I will stay away from inviting them for dinner until he gets past his 3 month mark. I wash our veggies very carefully - but I sure wouldn't want to be responsible for him getting sick ... or... he likes fish - maybe dh can fix him some fresh caught ocean fish. We have friends that do deep water fishing and we can always get great stuff from them.

[luckitri]

Good answer Stacie! Thank you!