hospital food

Kristin251

Expert
Messages
5,334
Type of diabetes
LADA
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Insulin
At DX of bs being 550 they put me on a low sodium diet with regular sugar jello. HELLO??
 

NormHowe

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Carer
can anyone tell me why a diabetic who has been coping with diet would be offered totally unsuitable meals e.g white pasta whilst in hospital and obviously trying to keep Bg down, tonight's menu was lasagne - while pasta, sandwich (plastic bread) or quiche ( egg allergy)? tia
I think they purposely make the food awful so you get better better just to get away from the bad food. My son was in hospital for 45 weeks and he got so fed up of the menu he was living on sarnies and salads. We had to take him food in just so he would get something different and eat.
They plate the food up before it is transported in hot cabinets where it can wait in there for hrs before it taken out to be dumped in front of you sweating and cooling under the cover. They want you to get better but anyone with who knows anything about food knows this is an invite to food poising and by making the food ineatatable your extending people's stay in hospital as they are not getting the right nutrition to be able to fight disease and sickness.
When my Mrs goes into hospital she has trouble controlling her sugar level and has more hypos than ever and often ends up having toast and jam in the middle of the night to bring her sugar level up.
It seems the people that should know more about nutrition and how a proper diet can help heal people are the worst offenders.
 

grannyx3

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I've only been in hospital to give birth to my three children (1979, 1981, 1988). The food was always late arriving on the ward and then microwaved in the ward kitchenette. Disgusting slop! My friends popped in at lunchtime with a meal for me having put together a rota, and my husband brought in my evening meal. Breakfast was a boiled or scrambled eggs and toast. When my children were on Special Care Baby Unit the sister in charge, who had type 1 diabetes herself, used to ring through my meal request to the staff canteen and go and collect it from them for me to eat. She had many arguments on my behalf and in the end, with the consultants support, it was arranged for the above to happen. The sad things is, that doesn't seemed to have changed. We are constantly being told by doctors/nurses the importance of eating correctly and keeping good control of your blood sugar. How crucial it is to avoid problems (they then proceed to try and frighten you to death by giving you a gruesome ending) but are totally incapable of providing you with correct diet options. I complained to our local hospital on my fathers behalf , about the poor care he was given during a stay. One mealtime because his bm was low they loaded him with food and decided not to give him his insulin! When I visited him and he told me that he fell unwell, I took his bm which read 32! Another time they 'forgot he was diabetic'! He was really confused one day on visiting him, I again did his bm 1.9. They had nothing on the ward to give him, so sent a nurse to another to another ward to see if they had! When she got back my dad was sat in his chair chatting away.......revived by MY lucozade and hypo snack. I got told off for administering 'substance that wasn't suitable for a diabetic'! I told them not to try and teach me how to suck eggs, I've been type 1 for 51 years. Nuff said ....I went on a BIG mission and actually got each ward a 'hypo box'.
 

pensionistamike

Well-Known Member
Messages
78
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Breakfast : 2 Packets of No added sugar biscuits and a litre bottle of water.

Lunch. A bowl of greenish liquid and a bun then a slice of something meaty and 2 Potato chunks.

Dinner. Half a hard boiled egg salad followed by bones with a fish attached and mixed veg ,a plain yogurt and more water.

I knew they were Diabetic meals because they had printed labels that said so.

Every cloud has a silver lining....at least the water was Evian.
 

carolm

Member
Messages
16
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
can anyone tell me why a diabetic who has been coping with diet would be offered totally unsuitable meals e.g white pasta whilst in hospital and obviously trying to keep Bg down, tonight's menu was lasagne - while pasta, sandwich (plastic bread) or quiche ( egg allergy)? tia
It's not just hospitals. Food delivered (the old meals on wheels) is done by private conract. My elderly aunt was tucking in to syrup pudding when the diabetes nurse arrived. My cousin's care home fed her on 4 lots of tea and biscuits, fruit was not allowed as it 'contained sugar'. (Both insulin dependent)
Sorry QA hospital, husband in A&E 22 hours confused after a fall. I had to stay with him. Food machines - flapjack was my best choice. Canteen, take away sandwich was cheese and onion swimming in some sort of muck. The other take out options were cereal bars, buns, biscuits, yoghurts or very expensive fruit. At least the very busy A&E staff gave me cups of tea. I was not diagnosed then, just probable. 3 months later the tests confirmed I was type 2.
Carolm
 

Chook

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Messages
5,095
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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A few years ago I was in the cancer ward of a Sheffield hospital - and it was absolutely stunning the dreadful food they were dishing up to terminally ill people. The first day I was there I was given the meal requested by that bed's previous occupant which was a big white plate with three blobs - one grey, one brown and one a sort of dirty beige with dark brown flecks in it - I had no idea what it was and it smelled very chemically - the alternative was a sandwich. Thankfully after several days of tests and an operation they diagnosed I didn't have cancer but something else that had similar symptoms so I had to stay put while they sorted that out (another operation).

My poor husband was worried sick about me, on top of working his normal shift pattern then he was then chasing around Sheffield (a place we don't really know) trying to find something suitable for me to eat before visiting then going home to walk the dogs, etc. The most suitable thing he could find was hot rotisserie chickens (from Morrisons) and prepacked bags of salad - some of which I saved for breakfast and lunch the next day - it got very same-y but at least I wasn't worried about my BG on top of everything else.
 
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Guzzler

Master
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10,577
Type of diabetes
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Diet only
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Poor grammar, bullying and drunks.
Why is everyone against carbs? I'm type 1 but have a lot of carbs, my blood sugar is fine.
We are all different with differing tolerance levels to carbs.
 

Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
When my mother was hospitalised last year, she stated 'severely lactose intolerant' and was given some lovely looking scrambled eggs. Only problem was they had made them with milk... fortunately she could taste it, and stopped after one mouthful - which was still enough to trigger an unpleasant reaction.

Mr B and I have had a preparatory conversation about food should I ever be hospitalised (you can't always plan ahead, can you?)

My Food Care Package shortlist is basically Low Carb and Gluten Free:
- cold meat (I love the idea of your Rotisserie chicken @Chook )
- sliced cheese
- bags of salad, cherry toms, coleslaw
- double cream or greek yoghurt
- berries
- nuts
- 70% cocoa solids choc

Of course, the poor man would need to visit every couple of days, I've no assumption I could borrow some fridge space at the nurses station.

The problems would really start if he was ill himself and I couldn't use the dear man as a GoFer.
 

Mplyon

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Type 2
can anyone tell me why a diabetic who has been coping with diet would be offered totally unsuitable meals e.g white pasta whilst in hospital and obviously trying to keep Bg down, tonight's menu was lasagne - while pasta, sandwich (plastic bread) or quiche ( egg allergy)? tia
The same happened to me but I was only offered a sandwich so I had nothing to eat it's a good job I was only in hospital for a day
 
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pensionistamike

Well-Known Member
Messages
78
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Prawn Cocktail or a Dozen Oysters.......Fillet Steak with all the trimmings......Black Forest Gateau with cream or Apple Crumble
finished off with Coffee and a large Brandy.....then the Anaesthetic wore off......back to reality.......cheers......
 
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Chook

Expert
Messages
5,095
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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People who think they know everything.
When my mother was hospitalised last year, she stated 'severely lactose intolerant' and was given some lovely looking scrambled eggs. Only problem was they had made them with milk... fortunately she could taste it, and stopped after one mouthful - which was still enough to trigger an unpleasant reaction.

Mr B and I have had a preparatory conversation about food should I ever be hospitalised (you can't always plan ahead, can you?)

My Food Care Package shortlist is basically Low Carb and Gluten Free:
- cold meat (I love the idea of your Rotisserie chicken @Chook )
- sliced cheese
- bags of salad, cherry toms, coleslaw
- double cream or greek yoghurt
- berries
- nuts
- 70% cocoa solids choc

Of course, the poor man would need to visit every couple of days, I've no assumption I could borrow some fridge space at the nurses station.

The problems would really start if he was ill himself and I couldn't use the dear man as a GoFer.

Planning ahead like that is a very good idea. :) I think I'll borrow your list (plus the rotisserie chicken)

The fridge issue was actually a huge problem - I was hospitalised in the middle of a heat wave and I was not allowed to keep the chicken or salad in the fridge or anything else in the fridge.
 
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Kristin251

Expert
Messages
5,334
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
We could always bring in coolers with ice and hide under the bed haha. Then hubbies would only have to refresh the ice. Even if the ice melts it stays cold a long time.
 

Glucobabu

Well-Known Member
Messages
248
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
during my mammoth hospital stay, the nurses told me that all food, including sandwiches came frozne from Swansea as that was where the company that won the tender operated and then defrosted at the hospital - my hospital was in East London. When I cottoned on about ordering halal options it was largely because these were supplied by local curry houses
Sounds familiar to me when I was in my local London hospital. The food came in a cling film sealed plastic plate which had been defrosted whole in a microwave with everything inside zapped to a mixed slurry. Being a vegetarian, I could never tell which vegetables made up the mush I was supposed to eat, with no taste or texture. It always looked the same despite the fanciful menu they show you! And the portions were minuscule compared to my fellow inmates who were non vegetarians as if veggies need less food! When I asked if I could have some bread or chapatti, I was given a quarter of a small pitta bread. I was so worried about not getting enough carbohydrates that I tried to make it up with the inevitable sugary pot of yogurt served with every meal. Last couple of days when I was mobile I bought sandwiches and fruit from the hospital shop.
 
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Last year I had to stay for a month in hospital in Perth. So much of the food there was very sugary. It was impossible for me to have enough food so as not to loose weight, and to avoid excessively sugary foods. One nurse told me that the (20% sugar) yoghurt was specially for diabetics, "Look it's low fat" she said. Another informed me that the NHS always makes 'rhubarb and custard' using sugar substitutes!
It really did seem to me that there were two problems going on. One was basic knowledge about diabetes amongst the staff, the other was that the same people could act as gate-keepers between me and my accessing an appropriate diet, even though the hospital's published policy was that I should have been given suitable food.
 

Glucobabu

Well-Known Member
Messages
248
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Why is everyone against carbs? I'm type 1 but have a lot of carbs, my blood sugar is fine.
I can see your point. When I did my DAFNE course, I was taught that you can eat most stuff as long you correctly work out the CH content and inject accordingly. As a vegetarian of Indian origin I eat the same stuff that my family eat everyday. Our food is with no sugar added with lots of vegetables/salads chapattis, rice, pulses, cheese etc but no desserts. I work out the CH and I inject accordingly. So we as a family eat broadly the same stuff and my BG has always been excellent. I have been Type 1 for 42 years.
 

Munsa

Member
Messages
14
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Moaners! That there's no cure for diabetes.
I always remember after my first child was born, the only thing left on the menu was haggis and potatoes. The consultant arrived, just as it was served and she nearly had a cardiac arrest! It was that or nothing
 
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Type 1
I'm type 1 and my worst experience was when lunch was greatly delayed one day and I became hypo. The orderly refused to give me a very helpful looking pudding because I was a diabetic.
I hadn't got enough brain left to argue!