Feeding fresh eggs to cancer patients

[rcav]

I have a friend with a little boy who has had cancer for 4 years. He recently have been through VERY AGGRESSIVE treatments that have left him very thin and weak. I would like to give him some eggs from my chickens, which are high in Omega 3's, etc.-but is there a danger of contamination from chicken feces? Of course I would clean off the eggs, but his immune system must be shot- I don't want to endanger him further...???Any ideas?

 

[chicken-wish]

I would say that you should start with high doses of vitamin C, and lots of fruits and veggies with some nuts and beans for protiens. This will aid a quicker immune system reboot. As far as eggs go I would give him a few here and there, but if your worried about the bateria residues, I would try giving him his Omega 3's via fish oil first. I sure hope your boy starts feeling better soon.

You will both be in my prayers.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Does the mother intend to feed the eggs raw?

Have her wash the shells carefully before breaking the eggs, cook the eggs, and consult with the child's doctor about it.

You'd have to be very unlucky for home raised eggs to be a more likely source of bacteria than store bought eggs. Battery barns aren't all that healthy, so unless you are a very negligent caretaker, your birds are going to be healthier than the birds who produce the store eggs.

You can have the NPIP tester out to test your flock. It is either low cost or no cost, depending upon what state you are in. That will give you an extra degree of assurance.

Best wishes for improved health for the child.

 

[Carolyn]

You could clean the shell of the egg before you use them, then boil the egg for 45 seconds before cooking it. That is the safest way to prepare mayo which uses a raw egg. Since this child should probably be eating cooked eggs you could use the egg in most any recipe. This said, I think it would be an over kill. Using cleaner eggs, washing right before you cook them and cooking until the the white is completely set and the yellow partially set should be far safer with backyard eggs than with store bought eggs which are older, come from multiple sources which house large # of chickens and are then washed together destroying the bloom and risking cross contamination. If you keep your nests clean, home grown eggs are usually pretty clean. There are specific food items that are forbidden in cancer patients and others with low immunities and the doctors usually give a list of foods to avoid. Some of them may actually be considered safe if home grown with precautions such as not using pesticides.

 

[CarolJ]

I just saw this thread - and even though it's three weeks old, I wanted to reply. My granddaughter went through cancer treatment and there was a period of time when her immune system was zero - she was exceptionally vulnerable to any bacteria/germs. Children at that point can't have salads or fresh fruit because of the danger of bacteria in fresh produce. Sounds crazy - they can't have healthy fresh food - but that's the reality of cancer treatment. Anyway - fresh eggs are okay - just wash them with an anti-bacterial solution (bleach or something like that) - rinse well and dry. And then the parents will cook the egg before giving it to the girl. However, eggs are such a mild food - she might be able to tolerate eggs when other foods might not be appealing to her. Chemo/radiation does crazy things to people's food preferences. And with severely compromised immune systems, they can't eat things that would be perfectly fine for the average person. I remember when my granddaughter was in the hospital during the worst of chemo, she wanted me to bring her scrambled eggs. It was the only thing that appealed to her at the time.

 

[Chick named Lola]

I have a friend who is battling AIDS, her immune system isn't zero yet but it's obviously not great. She's had no problems with backyard eggs.