Trouble with hospital food - advice needed!

[Guest guest]

It just never ceases to amaze me how inconsiderate and

ignorant doctors are. I mean to allow a cancer patient

to eat healthy is as important as any treatment, maybe

even more so.

The only experience I had was when I delivered my son,

I was vegan and couldn't eat any of the hospital food.

I was very lucky because the hospital dietician

actually went out and bought tofu and made me

different things with it. Mostly though, I had people

bring me in food from the health food store.

My advise would be to complain every second you are

there until you get what you want.

Have you talked with the people who actually 'own' the

hospital? Go as far to the top as you can.

 

Good luck to you and your partner and I'll send green

healing light that she may come home soon healthier

and happy

 

Cheryl

 

--- Rachael <rw1647 wrote:

 

> Ok, I know i've seen posts about similar issues

> before, so I'm looking

> for some advice My partner is currently in the

> hospital for chemo and

> will be for five days out of every month probably

> through January.

> Even though her prognosis is very good (she had

> undifferentiated

> sarcoma in the bone of her wrist, had it removed

> about a month ago

> with clear margins and no metastises), we've both

> been trying to make

> sure she eats as healthy as possible as she has six

> weeks of radiation

> on top of the chemo. Very hard on the body,

> especially as both chemo

> drugs she's on are particularily hard on blood

> counts and often result

> in the patient needing transfusions at some point.

> When she is home,

> she eats almost entirly whole foods, lots of fresh

> and cooked fruits

> and veggies, beans, whole grains, very little dairy

> and sugars. At

> the hospital, however, her options are all cheese

> and white bread

> products and other things in various shades of

> brown. Seriously, her

> only daily meal options are pizza, grilled cheese,

> mac and cheese, and

> cream of tomato soup, occasionally cream of mushroom

> or potato. All

> the vegetables offered are overcooked to the point

> where her

> chemo-sensitive stomach can't handle even the look

> of them or are

> other starchy options (mashed potato, rice, baked

> potato, fried

> potato). They do offer a " green " salad, which is

> approximatly 1/2 a

> cup of brownish dried out iceberg with one cherry

> tomato and one slice

> of cucumber. All other salads they offer are

> iceberg with meat on top

> and nothing else. She can get fresh fruit, but half

> the time it

> doesn't come when she orders it. yesterday, she

> ordered tomato soup,

> fresh grapes and a salad and they sent her a a

> packet of salad

> dressing, the soup, and a piece of microwaved white

> bread in a plastic

> bag (that was definatly the worse meal, but not by

> much).

>

> I have no issue bringing her in food, but I can

> only bring enough

> for a meal or two as I take the bus to the hospital

> and, although the

> floor has a small fridge, there is limited space to

> store much. She

> has complained to the dieticians multiple times, to

> all of the doctors

> she has seen, and to the nursing staff. The doctors

> don't seem to

> care (her regular oncologist, who is awesome, has

> been out of town for

> the holiday), the nurses can't do much and the

> dieticians seem

> confused as to why there is a problem. If this was

> the last time

> she'd be hosptialized, this wouldn't be much of an

> issue, but she has

> several more months of this. And she can't even go

> down to the

> hospital cafeteria as she's hooked to an iv 24/7 and

> not allowed to

> leave the oncology floor. I can't imagine what

> would happen if she

> was vegan or kept kosher or anything more

> restrictive. We don't know

> who else to complain to or what else to do about it.

> And, although on

> this round, I've been able to be there every day

> with edible food,

> that won't always be the case. Please, someone who

> has been there,

> any advice would be greatly appreciated. Are there

> any special tricks

> to get people to actually listen to you other than

> lying about food

> allergies or whatever? Help!

>

> ~Rachael

>

 

[Guest guest]

Wow, Cheryl, you had MEALS in the hospital when you had kids??? I had

kids in the era of the 12-hour stay. Since I was immediately induced -

no food, then after hours of labor, I had my baby, then I was out of the

hospital. I never ever had a meal, though I did insist that my husband

get me cheese pizza after the first one. I remember that I had a fever

after the first delivery and my OB wanted me to stay an extra day on IV

antibiotics, but the insurance company said no. My OB was furious and

she bent some rules to let me stay a few hours longer for no charge. I

was in the hospital a shorter time for the 2nd cause the labor was only

a few hours. I was out the morning after she was born.

 

Having said that, my heart goes out to you, Rachel. I hope she's out of

the hospital soon.

 

Sharon

 

Cheryl wrote:

> It just never ceases to amaze me how inconsiderate and

> ignorant doctors are.

>

[Guest guest]

When I was in the hospital both times after my kids were born, I *always*

ordered vegetarian food, and it *always* came up with meat on it, and they

*always* had to fix it, which meant I had breakfast an hour later than I should

have, and that made me cranky when I should have been resting and enjoying my

new little ones. I agree with the idea of complaining the entire time either of

you are there. Get nasty, that's what I had to do. If they keep serving

unhealthy garbage, she's either going to not eat it, eat it and not keep it

down, or even worse, she'll have that trash in her system at a time when healthy

foods could help her now and in the long run. Get the doctor in there, have her

tell him why she's a vegetarian, and how sickening that nasty stuff is. Also go

as high up in their chain of power as you can. Eventually you might just come

across someone who cares. Tell other people about it. Maybe if the time ever

comes for them to choose a hospital, if possible, they'll

choose one that treats them like people. I'm no doctor but I'd bet that resting

is probably what your partner needs right now, not a bunch of grief about her

food choices, especially when her food choices can make her healthier.

 

Kadee Sedtal

 

 

 

Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates

starting at 1¢/min.

 

 

[Guest guest]

During this past year my mom has been in the hospital 3 times. Each time I had

to bring her all 3 meals a day, they didn't seem to understand a buger or fish

sticks weren't in her vegetarian diet.

I had a big hassle all 3 times with the head dietician.

Donna

 

 

 

Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates

starting at 1¢/min.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Rachael,

I'm an oncology RN and I throughly understand what you are talking

about. The hospital that I work at thinks that green beans (or any

other vegi for that matter) that have been cooked with bacon...and said

bacon removed, is vegetarian....many times the only thing that I could

eat that was hot was the corn on the cob or the nasty cheese pizza. I

have tried (I work straight nights so I can't speak directly to the

dietitian) many times to help patients having problems with dietary to

no avail....I truly wonder what they are teaching the dietitians in

school! (a patients menu clearly marked vegetarian--they get

fish....clearly marked vegan--they get buttermilk dressing and shredded

cheese on their salad...heck, had a Muslim patient and they sent her a

pork chop!)(stupidity abounds!)

Since your partner has complained to her MD's & the nurses and

nothing has improved, it's time to go to the next step, which would be

the nursing supervisor. Talk with her, see what she has to say, she

should be a good resource for names of people who are the heads of

different departments that you can complain to. If you don't feel that

the issues are being addressed, ask her who would be the next step to go

to, whether it be the head of Dietary, or one of the directors of the

hospital , keep taking a step up until there is no one else to see.

Complaints are the only way things will be addressed. Something else

you can do is write letters to all the people that I mentioned, but make

sure that the copies include a CC: on it so that everyone is well aware

of who also received a copy.

Something else to keep in mind, the times that you bring in meals,

keep track of which meal & the dates, when it comes time for a bill, ask

for an itemized bill, and have the billing office adjust the bill for

the meals that were not eaten/ordered because they were unsuitable for

her vegi lifestyle/diet.

I'm curious as to why they will not allow your partner off the

division. We even allow our patient with low white blood counts off

the division, even outside when the weather is nice--but they have to be

wearing a mask, an isolation gown and gloves (the mask & gloves are the

most important). We've not had transmission of VRE, MRSA or C.Diff to

neutropenic patients in almost 4 years.

As for lying about food allergies, you will end up with the same

problems, many times I have had patients with severe allergies to a

food and it comes up on their tray, and their menu is clearly marked

with the food allergy.

If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me off list, I

will be more than happy to answer your questions.

Mary Beth

[Guest guest]

Makes you really wonder if they are hiring trained Nutritionist for their

hospital doesn't it. This is terrible service... I'm sorry for any of you

that have had this happen to them. So far I have been blessed and had good

vegetarian food provided when I was in the hospital...

Judy

-

Donnalilacflower

Tuesday, September 05, 2006 12:12 PM

Re: Re: Trouble with hospital food - advice

needed!

 

 

During this past year my mom has been in the hospital 3 times. Each time I had

to bring her all 3 meals a day, they didn't seem to understand a buger or fish

sticks weren't in her vegetarian diet.

I had a big hassle all 3 times with the head dietician.

Donna

 

 

Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates

starting at 1¢/min.

 

[Guest guest]

this thread reminds me of yrs back when my mother was

having angioplasty on her heart and after surgery, her

first meal was a slopping wet and greasy hot roast

beef sandwhich.

I guess if you look at hospitals as a business like

their administrators do, giving patients bad food

guarantees repopulating their hospital and thus, more

business. We just couldn't have empty beds and

healthy people now, could we?

 

 

--- wwjd <jtwigg wrote:

 

> Makes you really wonder if they are hiring trained

> Nutritionist for their hospital doesn't it. This

> is terrible service... I'm sorry for any of you that

> have had this happen to them. So far I have been

> blessed and had good vegetarian food provided when I

> was in the hospital...

> Judy

> -

> Donnalilacflower

>

> Tuesday, September 05, 2006 12:12 PM

> Re: Re: Trouble with

> hospital food - advice needed!

>

>

> During this past year my mom has been in the

> hospital 3 times. Each time I had to bring her all 3

> meals a day, they didn't seem to understand a buger

> or fish sticks weren't in her vegetarian diet.

> I had a big hassle all 3 times with the head

> dietician.

> Donna

>

>

>

> Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make

> PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min.

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

>

>

>

>

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

My husband brought me food in after I had my daughter. It was really nice not

having to worry about eating crappy hospital food. I don't think I'd trust

hospital food to be vegetarian anymore than I would school food. Like the

person saying the hospital they worked at believed picking the meat out of

vegetables would make it vegetarian.

Renee

 

Kadee M <abbey_road3012 wrote:

When I was in the hospital both times after my kids were born, I *always*

ordered vegetarian food, and it *always* came up with meat on it, and they

*always* had to fix it, which meant I had breakfast an hour later than I should

have, and that made me cranky when I should have been resting and enjoying my

new little ones. I agree with the idea of complaining the entire time either of

you are there. Get nasty, that's what I had to do. If they keep serving

unhealthy garbage, she's either going to not eat it, eat it and not keep it

down, or even worse, she'll have that trash in her system at a time when

healthy foods could help her now and in the long run. Get the doctor in there,

have her tell him why she's a vegetarian, and how sickening that nasty stuff

is. Also go as high up in their chain of power as you can. Eventually you might

just come across someone who cares. Tell

other people about it. Maybe if the time ever comes for them to choose a

hospital, if possible, they'll

choose one that treats them like people. I'm no doctor but I'd bet that

resting is probably what your partner needs right now, not a bunch of grief

about her food choices, especially when her food choices can make her

healthier.

 

Kadee Sedtal

 

 

Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates

starting at 1¢/min.

 

[Guest guest]

Rachael,

 

Until you can get someone to listen, maybe if you have a small cooler

on wheels or heck you can put one one luggage hauler. You could have

two so you change out every couple days. You freeze water in bottles

for her to drink after they melt but they could help keep the food

cool as they melt. You can put the food in containers to keep away

from the moister in the cooler.

 

Have a Blessed Day,

Betty Jo

[Guest guest]

Call the dietian and talk with them directly. That is what I have done. It

has worked well. That way you don't have to go thru so many parties and can

talk directly with the person that will be able to listen and make a difference

hopefully. Make clear that you don't want meat just picked out of food that it

was cooked in.

 

If you are close to a Seventh Day Adventist Hospital, it will be no problem to

get Vegetarian meals. They will respect your wishes.. Here is a list of most

of the hospitals around the world that are run by the Seventh Day Adventist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Seventh-day_Adventist_hospitals They also

operate many nursing homes. Just thought this info might help someone out

there, when making a choice in hospitals.

 

Judy

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I would definitely make an appointment with the dietitian, and if that

doesn't do any good, then with the head of the hospital. This is

ridiculous. Make sure she put down that she is a vegetarian and which type.

When my doctor had me on a celiac diet, I told the dietitian and she said

she knew what a celiac diet was. My first meal had a box of Puffed Wheat.

They heard me all over the hospital. The rest of the time, the food came

through correctly!!! It is the squeaky wheel that gets the oil!!

 

Marilyn Daub

mcdaub

Vanceburg, KY

My Cats Knead Me!!

-

Rachael

Monday, September 04, 2006 11:22 PM

Trouble with hospital food - advice needed!

 

 

Ok, I know i've seen posts about similar issues before, so I'm looking

for some advice My partner is currently in the hospital for chemo and

will be for five days out of every month probably through January.

Even though her prognosis is very good (she had undifferentiated

sarcoma in the bone of her wrist, had it removed about a month ago

with clear margins and no metastises), we've both been trying to make

sure she eats as healthy as possible as she has six weeks of radiation

on top of the chemo. Very hard on the body, especially as both chemo

drugs she's on are particularily hard on blood counts and often result

in the patient needing transfusions at some point. When she is home,

she eats almost entirly whole foods, lots of fresh and cooked fruits

and veggies, beans, whole grains, very little dairy and sugars. At

the hospital, however, her options are all cheese and white bread

products and other things in various shades of brown. Seriously, her

only daily meal options are pizza, grilled cheese, mac and cheese, and

cream of tomato soup, occasionally cream of mushroom or potato. All

the vegetables offered are overcooked to the point where her

chemo-sensitive stomach can't handle even the look of them or are

other starchy options (mashed potato, rice, baked potato, fried

potato). They do offer a " green " salad, which is approximatly 1/2 a

cup of brownish dried out iceberg with one cherry tomato and one slice

of cucumber. All other salads they offer are iceberg with meat on top

and nothing else. She can get fresh fruit, but half the time it

doesn't come when she orders it. yesterday, she ordered tomato soup,

fresh grapes and a salad and they sent her a a packet of salad

dressing, the soup, and a piece of microwaved white bread in a plastic

bag (that was definatly the worse meal, but not by much).

 

I have no issue bringing her in food, but I can only bring enough

for a meal or two as I take the bus to the hospital and, although the

floor has a small fridge, there is limited space to store much. She

has complained to the dieticians multiple times, to all of the doctors

she has seen, and to the nursing staff. The doctors don't seem to

care (her regular oncologist, who is awesome, has been out of town for

the holiday), the nurses can't do much and the dieticians seem

confused as to why there is a problem. If this was the last time

she'd be hosptialized, this wouldn't be much of an issue, but she has

several more months of this. And she can't even go down to the

hospital cafeteria as she's hooked to an iv 24/7 and not allowed to

leave the oncology floor. I can't imagine what would happen if she

was vegan or kept kosher or anything more restrictive. We don't know

who else to complain to or what else to do about it. And, although on

this round, I've been able to be there every day with edible food,

that won't always be the case. Please, someone who has been there,

any advice would be greatly appreciated. Are there any special tricks

to get people to actually listen to you other than lying about food

allergies or whatever? Help!

 

~Rachael

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

http://www.adventistdirectory.org/view_AdmField_SubEntities.asp?AdmFieldID=NAD & E\

ntityType=M This is a more complete list of SDA Hospitals in the North America

than the other one. You will have no problem getting good vegetarian meals at

these hospitals.

Judy

-

wwjd

Tuesday, September 05, 2006 4:51 PM

Re: Re: Trouble with hospital food - advice

needed!

 

 

Call the dietian and talk with them directly. That is what I have done. It has

worked well. That way you don't have to go thru so many parties and can talk

directly with the person that will be able to listen and make a difference

hopefully. Make clear that you don't want meat just picked out of food that it

was cooked in.

 

If you are close to a Seventh Day Adventist Hospital, it will be no problem to

get Vegetarian meals. They will respect your wishes.. Here is a list of most of

the hospitals around the world that are run by the Seventh Day Adventist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Seventh-day_Adventist_hospitals They also

operate many nursing homes. Just thought this info might help someone out there,

when making a choice in hospitals.

 

Judy

 

[Guest guest]

Having been an advocate for many of my patients re:dietary needs, I would

suggest that you ask your doctor or your doctor's nurse to talk to the hospital

dietitian directly. White coats throw a lot of weight in hospital kitchens.

I do agree that the chances of getting vegetarian/vegan food exclusively;y is

difficult since jello and bouillon cubes both come from animal sources; however,

if you are persistent and authoritative, dietitians generally respond.

Most hospitals in major cities also allow you to bring food in - I'm always

bringing in miso based soups to my cancer patients. Miso can be kept in the

nurses' station fridge and you just need add water.

You may want to keep the anti-oxidants at a minimum, though (camellia sinusis

- tea, as well). They can interfere with chemo rounds.

Best wishes and prayers.

Shen

 

 

 

PEACE!

 

 

[Guest guest]

I totally understand. My husband works at a hospital and wouldn't eat

the food there even before converting to veganism. The few hospital

dieticians I have spoken with knew far less about nutrition than I do

and couldn't answer any of my questions about suitable foods for the

diet recommended to me at the time. When we adopted, I had to see a

dietician and the first thing she said to me was that any diet was

fine as long as we weren't veg...

 

My sister has been hospitalized several times in the past few years,

first as a vegan then as a ovo-lacto veg. It was those times she was

in the hospital for an extended period that her diet was seen to

properly. It seems to take a while for the kitchen staff to get

things right when the orders are " unusual. " My advice is to tell

them your diet is one chosen based upon your spiritual beliefs. I

find that this basically isn't a lie for most people. You aren't

saying it is a religious tenet, just part of your spirituality. At

the hospital where DH works, religious beliefs and cultural/ethnic

traditions and differences must be carefully observed. All the

employees have classes every year in this, even if they have no

contact with the patients. Be sure to approach the topic from a

concern for her health as she must have nourishment while being

treated. If you discuss their inablility to get things right or to

understand your dilemma, you will probably get nowhere (at least at

first).

 

Also, are there any non-perishable foods that she can tolerate for

those days you can't bring her food? Like oatmeal, nut butters and

crackers, boxed hummus, individual boxes of juice or milk (to be

drank warm or over ice), ramen type noodles or miso soup, or shelf

stable tofu (you can bring packaged soy sauce for her to use if salt

isn't an issue or some other sauce or condiment, or plain if she

needs bland food)? Freeze dried vegetables and tofu are very very

light and can be added to the soup mix. Most instant mixes can be

made with cold water. I bought an (electric) immersion water heater

for $2 at a kitchen store. Just put it in a cup and heat the water

for mixes. Go to an emergency preparedness site for fresh foods that

don't require refrigeration - like apples, bananas, carrots, oranges

and kiwi. Living along the Gulf Coast, we are told that pastuerized,

filtered fruit juices last 24 hours without refrigeration. If you do

take a cooler, yogurt and puddings should be easy for her to eat.

What about a nearby store you can visit once you get there? Or a food

establishment that will deliver to her room? I read somewhere that

many places will deliver food to patients.

 

Last, what about a powdered drink supplement she can add to water or

juice to ensure she is getting calories, protein and vitamins?

 

Carrol

[Guest guest]

Thanks to everyone for all your suggestions. Katie is

out of the hopsital and is feeling ok. The chemos she

is on luckily don't cause too much nausea, so she is

mostly dealing with the aftereffects of 5 days of

deep-fried grease and cheese. As soon as she is

feeling back to normal, she is going to contact her

doctor and have a chat with him about the food...he is

an amazing person and an amazing doctor and I trust

him to do whatever he can to help us out. She is also

going to get the number for the head dietician and

discuss the problems with him/her. Hopefully that

will do some good. If not, then we'll take things

higher up until somebody listens. I would love to

have her get treatment at a SDA hospital but her

doctor only has privledges at University Hospital here

in Syracuse.

What really is making me so angry right now is the

comments about her nutrition on her chart. Her

roomate this round was trying to cheer her up

yesterday and they were reading their charts. The

roomate was also refusing to eat the food as even the

sight of it was grossing her out, so she was

subsisting on fresh fruit, popcorn and the occasional

meal friends brought in for her. She (the roomate)

got lots of " nutrition inadequete " , " nutrition poor " ,

etc. Katie got one " nutrition excellent prior to

hospitalization " from one of the cool nurses and then

a bunch of " nutrition inadequate " and one " nutrition

adequate " . What exactly did they expect her to do

when nothing " adequate " was offered? and I know for a

fact that she let every single nurse and dietician

she saw know how unhappy she was about the food

options.

If I have to bring in enough food for her to have 3

full meals a day, thats fine, but if they try to

charge us (or, well, her insurance) for the meals they

are required to send her, then there will be a

problem. There is a pantry on the floor with a

microwave and a mini fridge that patients can use, but

there isn't much space. We'll at least have a lot of

shelf stable stuff, bouillion, fruit, nut butters,

etc. on hand next month.

 

~Rachael