"Hospital food is a recipe for disaster "

MammaLucy

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14
Type of diabetes
Parent
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Insulin
Robin redbreast

Thank you for your reply. It has been quite literally hell theses last few months. He was very sick and since the GF diet was started he has improved so much, which I think will help with his ability to say no to GF food when it's offered. My 10 year old daughter has also been very ill. They thought she may have had a brain tumor , with so many scary symptoms, thankfully she dies not. The GP suggested she see the Gastroenterologist as my son had been diagnosed and they confirmed she also has Coeliac disease, then they suggested my husband and I have tests and I was confirmed 3 weeks ago ( endoscopy procedure is awful)!!
We are now eating GF and my daughter is also feeling so much better and I am Losing weight so there is always a silver lining to every cloud.
As for my son, my husband and I tell him he is our hero every day. He copes so well with all that the world has thrown at him and although we all have our bad days , every day is a little better than the last.
I am now humbled by all those who deal with type 1. I just hope that I can be a good enough mother to be able to arm him with all he needs before he goes off to into the big wide world, plus also praying for a cure like everyone else I'm sure.
I am waiting to hear back from diabetes.uk as I would like to meet parents in a similar situation, I do feel very isolated by this, it has certainly showed me who of my "friends" are.
Hope you are well
Lucy
 
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CollieBoy

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2,974
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Type 2
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Hi carb Foods
If you are that worried about the food in hospital when you are in then contact your dietician. I had to go in for two weeks in October last year and I was offered a pass to the public restaurant to top up what I was eating. If you are worried about the high carb count then may I suggest changing to a regime that deals with carb counting? I did and I personally can eat practically anything! Take for example this lunchtime. My lunch consisted of two sandwiches and a large packet of crisps. Total carbs was around 200. My test pre evening meal had my bloods on a mere 8.5........ I am a type 1.
Umarth, i would respectfully suggest that as a T1 this may be OK for you as you can control your D by means of insulin, but for Diet & Exercise T2's your carb count could be grossly excessive.
whilst in hospital the fare was carby soup, sandwiches everywhere, texture-less mashed potatoes, and requested fruit substituted by sweet cakes!
One day, all i could/would eat/drink was tea, a slice of meat from lunch and some overcooked calabrese. Net result wife dispatched at visiting time for food and 2x daily "red cross parcels" of food (Breakfast/Lunch & Evening meal)
BTW whilst in hospital, I found the dieticians to be grossly misinformed and as they say "As much use as a fishnet condom"!
 
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oldgreymare

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Commuting, overcrowded spaces, especially after the arrival of covid-19...
Had a severe DKA episode while visiting UK last year - ER Resus Unit was brilliant (ICU had no spare beds...). I stabilised enough to transfer to ordinary medical ward after 24 hours...then the headache started with the meal plans... I try to be very low carb, no bread, cereals, fruits, etc. So breakfast offering of toast, jam, and/or cereal, bananas, etc was not going to work...finally compromised by declaring myself gluten intolerant - managed to get an (very unappetising) order of scrambled eggs. Fortunately discharged later that day.
 

Bryn68

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1
I found the hospital food to be one of the worst things about my stay and recovery from a DKA two years ago.
The undiagnosed nerve damage prevented me from keeping food down and the anti-nausea meds were not too helpful. I was bullied by the catering staff for wasting food or meals were forgotten and the nurses brought me cuppa soups instead!

In ICU all the food tasted very strange and made me sick, I asked my partner to bring in tomatoe soup and was so relieved each day when he arrived and I could get it heated up. I'd always had fruit and yoghurts when ill before, but these were to acidic and off the menu, not that I knew, it took four days of bringing them back up before one of the nurses suggested they might not be suitable.

On the ward after a week I managed to keep some porridge and milk down, so asked for milk to drink. However I couldn't eat it until after the anti nausea had kicked in, the nurses were adamant that I had to wait 9 hours between shots, so after stomach convulsions in the night, planning to have a dose 9 hrs before breakfast was not exactly on my mind. Resulting in me missing the regular breckfast session and annoying the nurses later asking them if the might actually fetch me something to eat. That worked along with the daily soup from my partner. I was not informed I could ask for some or biscuits/crackers (which I sucked) at any time and was ravenous by the time he arrived.

Cauliflower cheese seemed to be the only diabetic option on the menus, which includes flour in the sauce, so not low carb. I regularly ordered the farmhouse soup or some such, but never received it.

Upon discharge the nerve damage remained undiagnosed and I spent two weeks on a liquid diet of soups and milk at home' continuing to take anti-nausea meds.

The ICU care was phenomenal, they saved my life! But the food and general diabetic care was abysmal :(
 

LucySW

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1,945
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LADA
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Hello Other Lucy! Never too many Lucies ..

You're already a very good mother - just look at your post. Well done! Slow and steady, once we know what we're doing, we'll get there.

Lucy (the other one, also a Mama) x
 
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Robin redbreast

Thank you for your reply. It has been quite literally hell theses last few months. He was very sick and since the GF diet was started he has improved so much, which I think will help with his ability to say no to GF food when it's offered. My 10 year old daughter has also been very ill. They thought she may have had a brain tumor , with so many scary symptoms, thankfully she dies not. The GP suggested she see the Gastroenterologist as my son had been diagnosed and they confirmed she also has Coeliac disease, then they suggested my husband and I have tests and I was confirmed 3 weeks ago ( endoscopy procedure is awful)!!
We are now eating GF and my daughter is also feeling so much better and I am Losing weight so there is always a silver lining to every cloud.
As for my son, my husband and I tell him he is our hero every day. He copes so well with all that the world has thrown at him and although we all have our bad days , every day is a little better than the last.
I am now humbled by all those who deal with type 1. I just hope that I can be a good enough mother to be able to arm him with all he needs before he goes off to into the big wide world, plus also praying for a cure like everyone else I'm sure.
I am waiting to hear back from diabetes.uk as I would like to meet parents in a similar situation, I do feel very isolated by this, it has certainly showed me who of my "friends" are.
Hope you are well
Lucy

Hello Lucy, oh, you, and as a family have had it hard, but we always get through it and battle on. Sometimes the more we are 'hit' the more we can get up and fight back.
I can see how proud you are and kids are such troopers aren't they, they're tough little cookies :)
It's great to see you are all feeling so much better now ( undiagnosed Coeliac, can be horrendous) and I sincerely hope it will continue and the future will be a bright and positive one for you all.

Take care, with my very best wishes RRB :)
 

Pipp

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I've been in many different wards but never in a diabetic ward. Do they make any attempt to cater properly for diabetics? I've seen the 'D' next to various meals but never took much notice before. Although i seem to remember that all the diabetic desserts were milk puddings!
Reading this article doesn't give me much comfort, the photo is a diabetic nightmare! www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/02/hospital-food-nutrition-recovery-ministers?CMP=fb_gu
I've got a week or two in hospital coming up later this year so am wondering what I can expect? (Not in a diabetic ward, I'll be in colorectal surgical).
And what I should take in with me to ensure I don't starve?
I just gave up and ate whatever muck was served up, trying to leave the carbs to one side. I figured that I would get out of there quicker if they could tick the box for having a healthy appetite. It worked. As long as you can eat, drink, pee, poo, and wash yourself they let you home.

Good luck, and happy birthday @rowan .
 
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CollieBoy

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2,974
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Hi carb Foods
I just gave up and ate whatever muck was served up, trying to leave the carbs to one side. I figured that I would get out of there quicker if they could tick the box for having a healthy appetite. It worked. As long as you can eat, drink, pee, poo, and wash yourself they let you home.

Good luck, and happy birthday @rowan .

Unfortunately I won't sacrifice my health to pander to others little delusions so I don't eat hospital **** to please anyone!
 

Jaylee

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It may seem like a deviation from the subject. 17 years ago i used to work in a school. The extensive dining hall & kitchen catering for the 900? kids was disbanded "knocked through" & revamped into a bright new airy canteen area serving just sandwiches & crisps.. :confused:
 

Pipp

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Unfortunately I won't sacrifice my health to pander to others little delusions so I don't eat hospital **** to please anyone!

There was no delusion. When I was in hospital last year, the only way anyone was discharged was if they had all the boxes ticked by health care assistant. Eating hospital food was one of them. So I ate.
 
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Jaylee

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There was no delusion. When I was in hospital last year, the only way anyone was discharged was if they had all the boxes ticked by health care assistant. Eating hospital food was one of them. So I ate.

I would tend to agree.. As I mentioned earlier in the thread. My memories back in the 70's was being given a massive "carbarama" & encouraged to clear the plate.. ;) The food standards may have dropped. But the mindset is the same old....
 
C

catherinecherub

Guest
magine you’re in hospital recovering from an operation. Your appetite is returning and you’re looking forward to nothing more complicated than a bowl of hot, tasty soup. Instead, on your tray you find a tired tuna sandwich encased in a plastic container, and a bag of crisps; or worse, a “ready meal” that looks like an unidentifiable plate of grey mush. No wonder more than 80,000 hospital meals are left uneaten every day and two-thirds of staff admit they would not themselves eat what they serve up to patients. You can’t blame either patients or staff: most hospital food is a disgrace.

After a needlessly long drawn out process of consultation, new recommendations to address this scandal are finally due to come into force in April. Unfortunately none of it amounts to more than a hill of over-processed beans.

The Department of Health set up a “hospital food standards panel” in December 2013. That was some progress, but then it invited food manufacturers (including Apetito, one of the biggest suppliers of hospital food in the UK) to sit on the panel. Food manufacturers, of course, have, understandably, one aim only: to sell their products. Asking them to advise on a healthy diet is like asking a fox to lock the chicken run. The panel’s feeble idea is to have minimum food standards built into NHS catering contracts from April.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/02/hospital-food-nutrition-recovery-ministers
 

Heathenlass

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Messages
1,631
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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If you are that worried about the food in hospital when you are in then contact your dietician. I had to go in for two weeks in October last year and I was offered a pass to the public restaurant to top up what I was eating. If you are worried about the high carb count then may I suggest changing to a regime that deals with carb counting? I did and I personally can eat practically anything! Take for example this lunchtime. My lunch consisted of two sandwiches and a large packet of crisps. Total carbs was around 200. My test pre evening meal had my bloods on a mere 8.5........ I am a type 1.

This is my own , personal experience of this, but your pre meal reading is about double what I usually have. And yes, I'm Type 1 and carb count . I can't help but wonder what your levels where at 2 hour post prandial ? This is not a critiscm, by the way , but I am curious as to why that figure is considered acceptable ? Are your targets set by your diabetes HCP's ?

Signy
 

Heathenlass

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,631
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Robin redbreast

Thank you for your reply. It has been quite literally hell theses last few months. He was very sick and since the GF diet was started he has improved so much, which I think will help with his ability to say no to GF food when it's offered. My 10 year old daughter has also been very ill. They thought she may have had a brain tumor , with so many scary symptoms, thankfully she dies not. The GP suggested she see the Gastroenterologist as my son had been diagnosed and they confirmed she also has Coeliac disease, then they suggested my husband and I have tests and I was confirmed 3 weeks ago ( endoscopy procedure is awful)!!
We are now eating GF and my daughter is also feeling so much better and I am Losing weight so there is always a silver lining to every cloud.
As for my son, my husband and I tell him he is our hero every day. He copes so well with all that the world has thrown at him and although we all have our bad days , every day is a little better than the last.
I am now humbled by all those who deal with type 1. I just hope that I can be a good enough mother to be able to arm him with all he needs before he goes off to into the big wide world, plus also praying for a cure like everyone else I'm sure.
I am waiting to hear back from diabetes.uk as I would like to meet parents in a similar situation, I do feel very isolated by this, it has certainly showed me who of my "friends" are.
Hope you are well
Lucy

I'm sorry to hear that you and your family have had such a horrendous time :(

I am a Type1 coeliac, and I can say that it does all become second nature in time. I'm sure with the great support from you and your family, he will do just fine :)

Signy