My Lab Results are Back

[donnyandcathy]

I had my blood drawn Tuesday, and the doctor called me this morning to let me know he was wanting me to see another doctor for more test.
My thyroid came back normal, and my Iron was fine, but my White Blood Cell count was low, and my Platelet count was very low, and when he compared the results to my past blood work, he noticed that my White Blood Count had been low, and that my Platelets have been getting lower each time.

With all my other symptoms he seemed concerned. So, we are leaving for the beach this Sat. and the Monday we get back, I have an appt. with a doctor to see what other test he needs to run to see why my levels are so low.

I am staying positive, and praying.

Anyone ever experience anything like this, and if so, what was the outcome, and how did you treat it?

I did have a MRI done last year when I had a back injury, and the MRI showed that my Spleen was enlarged, and had several small cyst around and in the spleen and liver, but they never addressed it. When I did a Google search on low Platelets and White Blood Counts, it said something could be wrong with the spleen???

I guess I don't need to try and "figure out" what's wrong until I see the doctor. I will enjoy the week at the beach with my kids and husband and deal with whatever when I get back ;)

[T-Bird]

Best of Luck Cathy!

Keep doing raw and maybe start up on wheatgrass juice if you haven't already as this is seemingly getting more serious.

[snoops]

Ditto what T-bird said. Let us know how it goes.

[katchmoleen]

Yes, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers and I hope you can enjoy the beach.

[Veronica01]

Hey Cathy you might want to do some research on blood platelet count and white blood cell counts of raw foodists. There is going to be a huge difference.

SAD eaters are the standard people that are tested to make generalizations for what is truly healthy.

We already know that the the RDA% are out of whack especially on a raw vegan diet, we go way over and under on many things when we eat natural foods.

We know that some people's body temperature drops when they go to a raw vegan diet as well by up to a few degrees.

Your immune system is stronger and functioning at a higher level when you're on a raw vegan diet than a SAD one.

So i would question if a standard american doctor is telling you to be alarmed by having a low platlet and white blood cell count. Almost everything modern medecine believes is healthy can be proved false with this way of living. Science is not always right when it's up against nature.

I don't remember where i read it, but basically when you stop overloading your body with processed food and toxins your white blood cell count is going to go down. The immune system is going to run as effeciently as it needs and you don't need mass numbers of white blood cells to kill off and fight toxins that just aren't there. I would really suggest researching the findings of raw vegan doctors and see what they say about this. I leant my 80/10/10 book to a friend so i can't say if Doug Graham talks about this in his book as i don't remember. But it does make sense as our blood tests won't be the same after we go raw vegan.

You may have some other issues, but always research for yourself before panicking and having a doctor give you a difinitive answer that upsets you and changes your life.

[sport]

Digestive Leukocytosis causes your white cells to go up and we (raw foodists) do not experience that so ours should be lower.

[Matthew182]

he noticed that my White Blood Count had been low, and that my Platelets have been getting lower each time.

Lower white blood count is found in people who are on Calorie Restricted diets, or even healthy raw food diets. It's because we have less inflammation going on in the body. Lower white blood count has been found to be associated with less heart disease, less cancer and much less all cause mortality. The normal references ranges are skewed becasue they take a sample of a 'healthly' normal eating population, who have higher levels of inflammatin going on in their body.

Low platelet count is also completely normal for someone eating a CR or healthy diet.

My own WBC was 4.0 and my last platelet count was 140 and this is at the bottom of the reference range.


THESE ARE POSITIVE SIGNS.

[artgirly4]

My motto for low blood count or any other dis-ease...stay away from white coats.

[snoops]

Having lowers counts is all very fine if you are feeling well. But didn't the OP say she hasn't been feeling well. A discussion with the doctor should include the fact that you are raw and that the numbers maybe skewed but if you are not feeling right you should investigate further.

[Bananna]

What are your platelet levels? Last I checked mine were 160k..which for me is doing pretty good. As a child, I dipped below 50 Often...and it wsn't good! They clot your blood, so I was having hours long nose bleeds, a lot of bruising etc. Not good!

In my case it was an autoimmune disorder, that I have largely grown out of, which is also normal for this particular disorder. ...it's called thrombocytopenia...maybe now that you know the name, you could look up possible causes for it.

Also...the numbers matter, you should familiarize yourself with the ranges. Like if your platelets are 180k last time and 150 now, and next time they might be up again...these are all low, but ok. I imagine the same is true with any blood count.

Just watch for bleeding, bruising and lack of clotting issues, that'll tell you it's too low for sure.

[donnyandcathy]

Thank you everyone for your encouragement and advice.

I will pray that going raw is what made my numbers drop, and that all this is nothing at all. But, I do need to follow up to make sure.

I have been raw since April 20th (this year) due to a lot of medical issues I was having. I did some research, talked with my naturopath, and agreed that going raw would only help me, and hopefully heal the issues I was having.

I have a GYN that is a "doctor" but he left his practice, so he could treat naturally, and get away from the medical field. He is one of two doctors that have been working with me for a little over a year. The other doc is a straight naturopath, and treats with supplements (you never leave his office without a bag full of supplements. Well, I wanted to get rid of all the supplements, and go with food nutrition to get what I was needing. That is when I went all raw.

There is a lot of things going on with my body, and I won't go into detail, because I'm trying to stay positive, and really focus on healing my body.
But it's not just the WBC and Platelets that are the problem.
The GYN doc has been watching my numbers to see what my body is doing, and how I'm healing.

Here are my numbers from my latest lab work....
WBC 3.9
Platelets 129
The labs before my WBC was 4.0
and my Platelets were 165
But my RBC was 3.7 which is low on the charts
The time before that they were Platelets 207 WBC 5.5

Also my Neutrophils are Low
and my Lymphocytes are High

So as you can see my Platelets went from 207 to 165 to 129
and the WBC went from 5.5 to 4.0 to 3.9

Before I went raw and was learning to stay away from regular doctors, and go the "natural" approach, I had a back problem, but was also having a lot of pain in my stomach area. They did a MRI and this is what the report said..

4mm cyst is present at the dome of the liver.
The Spleen is at upper limits of normal for size measuring 13.5 X 5.4 x 9.8
A 2cm cyst is present laterally and superiorly in the spleen as well as two additional tiny hypodensities within the spleen which are likely additional cyst.

They wanted to repeat the MRI a few months later to check to see if there was any change, but I did not want to go through another MRI. So now I'm wondering if something is going on in the Spleen or liver that is causing the WBC and platelets to drop.

When I was seeing the naturopath that likes supplements ;) He did the muscle testing, and said that my Gall Bladder, Spleen, Liver, and Pancreas were all being "challenged" That's when I went off all grains, and then moved on to all raw. I do not digest food well, I have a lot of stomach pains especially around my gall bladder and spleen, the pain can get really bad especially at night. It wakes me up, and it is very tender to the touch.

Even eating all raw, and watching my food combining, I still have a lot of pain, and have a hard time digesting a lot of the raw foods, so my food plan is pretty simple. In fact my body feels great when I eat fruit, and green smoothies, but when I try to do the fancy recipes, I pay for it.
So I know something is going on, I just don't know what or where.

I do want to use raw foods and lifestyle to make me feel better and cure anything that may be going on, but I also feel like I want to know what is going on so I can do the research needed to help me figure out the best way to attack the situation, and which foods I need to focus on to help heal the area that needs healing.

I have 4 beautiful children, and 1 awesome husband, and I want to stick around awhile with them :) So yes, some of you may say, "Stay away from the doctors, do not have any labs done, etc.." but when something may be going on, I don't want to be blind to it either. I want to know what is going on so I can figure out how to treat it. I will use the labs, and any other test that I may have done, and me and my husband will decide what the best treatment will be, not a doctor.

My dad has stage 4 thurman 4 cancer, was told he had it 2 years ago on June 14th.
He has not had any chemo, or radiation, in fact the only things the doctors did was a 13 hour surgery to reconstruct his spinal column, and remove the several tumors that were eating his ribs, kidney, lungs, and spine.

And let me tell you, if they wouldn't have done the surgery, he would have died within a few weeks. They said that his spine was ready to snap into at several places!!
So yes, doctors can be helpful, and yes they can be harmful.

It's up to each individual person to make their own choice on what to do once a concern has been addressed.
None of us "really" know how we would react if we were told we had a serious problem, or if we had a disease like cancer. It's very easy to say "Well I would never....."
But when you are really faced with a serious situation, and it could mean life or death, does any of us know what we would really do??

For example we have a friend that is a young mom of 5 small children.
She was just diagnosed with "Acute Myelogenous Leukemia" 2 weeks ago. Now this is a family that is very health conscience, eats all natural/organic, uses natural home products, supplements, and has only seen a doctor when she was pregnant.
Even her parents tell other people how to live their life healthier, and to eat better. So this really through them for a loop!!

She became sick at the beach, starting running fevers, and feeling really bad, her husband took her to a clinic, they gave her an antibiotic, she didn't get better. By the time they got home from the beach she was really getting sicker. They saw a doctor where they lived when they got home that Monday, and the blood work showed something was wrong, they did more blood work and it was changing so fast they knew something bad was wrong. They admitted her to the hospital, and there they diag. the Leukemia.
What was she going to do, walk out and say no I don't want your help?
She has 5 small children, and she is only in her early 30's.
She needs a bone marrow transplant, and the type of Leukemia she has is the aggressive type. The only way to beat this and live is through the transplant.
This is what I'm talking about, she would have said a month ago, "If I get sick or something comes up with me or my family we are going natural all the way,"
But when it happened, her thoughts changed, because it's scary to think about leaving your family behind.

I'm not saying do everything your doctor says, and have just any test ran all the time "just in case" something could be wrong.
I'm just saying don't judge or get upset with people when they are trying to do the right thing for them, because you never know how you would really react if you were put in that situation.

I am leaving for the beach tomorrow, and I will not have access to a computer till next weekend. I will miss everyone, and miss checking the boards everyday, but I will catch up when I get home.
So if anyone comments on here, and I don't respond, don't think I'm ignoring you ;) I will get back with you next weekend.

Ya'll hold the fort down while I'm at the beach :p

You should see all the fresh organic produce I have waiting to be "packed" I have my BlendTech, Food Processor, Coffee Mill (for flax and Chia not coffee)
and a ton of other goodies that I'm bringing. It looks as if I'm going to be gone a month LOL. I hope the produce makes the long trip. I have 2 big coolers waiting to be filled in the morning.

Hopefully I can post pictures when I get back.

Thanks again for your concern and advice.
Now off to the beach......
Cathy

[T-Bird]

Cathy,

Get a hold of Steve meyerwitz (sp?) wheat grass book. Amazing case stories of recovering in there.

Could be good beach reading!

[donnyandcathy]

Thanks T-Bird, I will look that up now, and maybe find it on our way down. I'm sure there are book stores between Georgia and South Carolina :D

[artgirly4]

You need not explain nor justfy your position on your own health care. Its your body.

I profusely apologize if I sounded unfeeling. I only spoke for me and how I deal with stuff. However I have no major health issues. If I sounded unloving I am truly sorry Cathy.

I love life and do all I can to maintain it. If ever it required I go to the med porfession to set a bbroken bone or whatever it may be, I would be right there.

You are exactly right,we never know what we might do when faced with a huge health challenge.

Do whats best for you. Your body s the best health care provider there is. Best to you in your tests and finding out what you are dealing with is the first thing!

[Sugar Snap Pea]

You are wise to seek medical advice. Seriously, not all medical people are out to scam you, and sometimes we need more than just proper nutrition can provide. Good luck with everything! :)

[donnyandcathy]

artgirley4 No need to apologize, you nor anyone else has offended me or need to apologize.

I just want a place to where we all can come and get support, and advice, but also a place where we can make a choice and not get "in trouble" (I'm not saying anyone made me feel in trouble in this post).

I don't have many friends that know about alternative medicine and raw foods, and I would love a place where if something is wrong, I can come here and say this is the situation, what are some things that would benefit and help the situation. And then I can take what may work for me, and give it a try.

We are walking out the door to head to the beach. I may or may not be able to get internet when we are there, so I may have to wait till next Sunday to reply or post.

I have 3 coolers packed with Yummy produce :D

Love,
Cathy