Your best tips for raw food safety post transplant.

@jolinda I heard back from my transplant team, this was their response:
“Fruit is fine for you to eat at this point. We recommend not eating fresh fruit/veggies only if your WBC level is very low (which yours in continually ok).”

I had included berries in my question. I think you may have misinterpreted something that @rosemarya said since she also was told she could eat them. Always better safe than sorry though.
Enjoy some luscious strawberries. It was sure a relief to me to know that I was not doing something that could be bad for me.
JK
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Hi Jolinda, during our last meeting with the ID specialist, we were told we could eat any berries SO LONG as we clean them well by a 1-2 minute cold water wash. We specifically asked about using vinegar and she said it was not necessary. I hope this helps.
On another note, we were told by a transplant patient that she makes everyone take their shoes off when they enter her house. Has anyone heard this advice from a transplant team staff? As we said in a previous post, we want to follow evidence-based practices and not hearsay.
Thanks.

@contentandwell what is the WBC cut off mine is low a lot and now im curious

@genocurt Hi on the subject of taking shoes off. We have done that for years and its interesting that my wife was just reading an article that suggests most bacteria comes in the house on your shoes to include a virius that put me in the hospital recently. Cdiff is its short name. It attacks the bowel and you get major diarrhea for weeks. Mine lasted a full month. The virus can only be killed with bleach and can live on untreated areas like outside dirt for up to 2 years. That part i found out from Mayo. So now besides taking my shoes off i sweep the floor near the doors at least daily.

Thanks, Danab. We have always taken our shoes off upon entering the house, but for different reasons. Here is information about C. Difficile from the Mayo Clinic. The major source of contamination with C. difficile bacteria is through "feces spread to food, surfaces, and objects when people who are infected don't wash their hands thoroughly". Here is the site: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/c-difficile/symptoms-causes/syc-20351691

Yes it always amazes me to see the number of people who don't wash there hands after using the restroom. I always have but i bet at least 50% don't. The main reason was not cdiff for us either. We just like a clean house. Also no footware at all on the carpets but we do have inside sandles for the floors. While in the hospital my room was gown up only and the room was cleaned twice a day with bleach. It was taken very seriously.

@genocurt As I said initially, the white vinegar wash was not something the transplant department suggested, but that I learned about later. Whether or not it helps for post-transplant patients I think I will continue doing it. I read it in an article about making berries last longer, the vinegar kills spores and the berries really do last longer before spoiling, so that in itself is a benefit, but it is good to know that just washing them is good enough, which is the same thing my transplant team responded this week when I asked them. It can't hurt.

@danab I went back and looked at my lab reports. This is apparently the range for WBC:
WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT 3.6 Thousand/uL 3.8 - 10.8 Thousand/uL

As you can see, mine is not quite within range but apparently, it is good enough.
JK

@genocurt and @contentandwell
After my transplant I met with a nutritionist several times at Mayo. She personally uses a vinegar/water spray for all her fruits and vegies and she never had a transplant. She considers it safe eating. In the Healing Home at Mayo for six weeks right after my transplant we all used a vinegar and water wash and soak. At home I used the vinegar and water spray for a year and a half and now I simply very carefully wash my fruits, including strawberries and my vegies. I also use a Norvex cloth with anti-biotic silver to wash them as well. One side is rough for the vegies and fruits have a softer cleaning surface. Currently I am 2 1/2 years out from my transplant. Just my story.

The cloth is anti- bacterial, anti-biotic. Duh!

@estrada53 Where do you purchase these cloths?