Herbalife 110

Mom is stable, but steadily losing weight. She is down to 110 lbs now - about 50 lbs less than she needs to be to keep her strong enough to survive. Her new craving is english muffins and mashed potatoes, both drenched in butter. You'd think the heavy starches and fats would put on weight, but not so far.

She is afraid. She does not want to die. As Western medicine is out of ideas, she is turning to homeopathic and "alternative" medicines. She tried something called Herbalife, which was supposed to be a vitamin-filled powder to help boost the nutrients in her system that she does not absorb from food. I didn't think this would work - I don't believe in things not tested, but beyond that, it didn't make sense to me that she should be able to absorb something from a shake if we know she doesn't absorb the same somethings from regular food. She tried it twice and took it to her liver specialist. Apparently, her liver phosphates are extremely high (above 1000), and this indicates that her liver disease is advancing. Also, the specialist urged her to stop the use of Herbalife and "educated her on the harmful effects" of it (quoted from the report they wanted her to bring to me). They said it has been shown to cause liver failure overseas and that the US has been urging people not to use it, but they can't do much more than that because it's sold as a suppliment and is not under the control of or tested by the FDA.

I ask her to drink almond milk, eat hard-boiled eggs, eat avocados....anything the nutritionist recommended to help her put on weight and get some good proteins and fats into her. She refuses and tells me she's doing everything she can. She is on less medication now than prior to being in hospice's care, but I think that's because her current doctor has neglected her hormone replacement and I do not know the effects of that. I've asked about this, but get no response, and quite honestly, it's harder to fight when you see the end of the battle nearing.

I took a pair of pictures of her a week or so ago. It seems to yank people into reality. For those who haven't seen her recently (even those of us who have...), it might be a rude awakening. If you would like to see them, post a comment with your email address. I will not approve the comment and your email address not be posted, but I will have it to send the pics. I don't want to post them here for anyone to see.