Besides making sure I don't get exposed to germs in the house and the other places I go to, mum also has to make sure the food I eat doesn't have any bacteria in it especially when I have a low white cell count or Neutropenia. I have to follow a Neutropenic Diet.
According to the dietitician at SDMC, I have to avoid these:
1. Takeaway/hawker meals that are precooked and kept warm
2. Food from opened cans or bottles that has been opened for a while
3. Food from damaged cans or bottles
4. All bakery products that are more than 2 days old and not stored in the fridge
5. Products reheated more than once
6. Pre-prepared sandwiches
7. Dried fruit
8. Undercooked/raw products
9. Products more than 1 day old
10. Raw nuts and seeds
11. Uncooked coconut/coconut milk
12. Uncooked vegetables/ any vegetables/fruit with blemishes, bruises/ raw vegetable juices
13. Fresh fruit juices that has been prepared and left aside for a while
14. Fried ikan bilis that is more than 3 days old
15. Dried meat
16. Uncooked, processed and cold cut meats
17. Unpasteurised milk
18. Soft cheeses
19. Cheese topping on pizza, lasagna and bakery products
20. Yoghurt, sour cream, cream products
21. Unboiled water
22. Fruit juice and beverages from stalls and hawkers (sugar cane, young coconut, cendol)
23. Soft serve ice cream, sundaes, commercially made ice cream, cotton candy
24. Mayonnaise, tartar sauce, salad dressing and kaya
25. Raw honey
26. Opened bottle of chilli sauce/ketchup unless cooked together with food
27. Ready made sambal from hawkers
28. Yellow mee/noodles and yee mee
That's quite a lot of stuff. It's sometimes difficult to avoid all of them. But I guess we have to try our best.
Chemo patients with Neutropenia also need to avoid crowded places, people with cough and flu and other infections, cuts, flowers and plants as they may be a source of fungal infections, and should ideally eat a high protein diet.
The dietitician recommended a milk formula called Pediasure for me, she said that it has the highest amount of protein compared to other formulas. So mum bought some for me. But I don't like it as much as my usual milk. But mum said this milk is much better, especially since I don't have much of an appetite at the moment.
I asked why I couldn't drink my usual milk. Mum said the factory had burned down, just like how the Vitagen factory had burned down last year. It couldn't make any purple-flavoured Vitagens for a month.
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