CancerCompass message board discussion started by AttorneyAnn on 4/25/2008 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,23428,0.htm Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Does anyone have any advice on what to do to keep up the hemoglobin count during chemo when eating red meat may be difficult? Also, what are the best ways to ward off the danger of dehydration? Gatorade?? Thanks for the help. AttorneyAnn Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi Ann,I don't know what to do about the hemoglobin. Fortunately that didn't drop too low during treatment. We did use pedialyte-yes the stuff for babies and toddlers-to ward off dehydration and to keep Daddy's potassium level up. His potassium levels were always low and the liquid potassium they wanted us to put in his tube made him nauseated. The pedialyte was an answered prayer for both problems.Good luck! GeorgesGirl Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi Ann - I was always pushing water and Gatorade or Powerade. They were more interesting since there were a bunch of different flavors and he always complained about how awful water tasted from chemo.  Saw Chrysti mentioned Pedialyte. I seem to recall a Dr.along the way saying Gatorade was the same as Pedialyte and less expensive, but it's another option. Not sure about the hemoglobin either. Pat eats more red meat than I would ever have imagined, but it can be really hard for some people to tolerate.  We had no problem with blood counts during 2nd and 3rd rounds of chemo while we did Tong Ren, but the first round included numerous shots of Procrit due to low counts. As an offbeat side note, we were in Colorado recently, and I wasn't altitude sick at all for the first time ever. Before we left, I started doing tongren to stimulate my red blood cell production.  I decided if low blood oxygen causes altitude sickness, and the body's natural response is to up it's red blood cell production to make us feel better, I would experiment and try raising it ahead of time.  Maybe it was just a coincidence that I never got even a slight headache.....Pat on the other hand never got a handle on the altitude, and panted the whole time we were there with the thinner air.  Wish I had better advice for you.  It's all so disorienting sometimes.  Your sister must appreciate your efforts to help.  Good luck with it all. tongrenhealer Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT