Curious about food in hospital

[happydog]

My husband has just spent 2 1/2 months in hospital, so I saw a lot of hospital meals being given out and saw the menus. Both the hospitals he was in seemed to give out the same food to both non-diabetic and diabetic patients. This included pasta, white bread sandwiches and ice cream, fruit juice and fruit flavoured sugary yogurts also cake and biscuits with tea. I heard staff ask if patients were diabetic but they got the same food. Is this how it is in hospitals? Just curious as I am planning to never have to go there 🙂

 

[SlowRunner]

The menu at my local hospital has a little heart symbol next to the items which are supposedly diabetes friendly. Although I'm not sure quite how this is worked out! Hospital food is generally pretty awful anyway. Yes, it's a good idea not to have to stay in hospital & find out how bad the food is 😉

 

[khskel]

When I was last in orange juice had the diabetic friendly heart next to it

 

[trophywench]

Well if it's a planned stay and you ARE diabetic, in theory it is supposed to be the norm to 'arrange all this together with who will test your BG (and when, if it has to be them cos you're having an op with a GA) and hold and dish out your diabetes medications' - so I can only suggest that everyone actually asks to do this - providing it IS planned.

If it isn't planned it's Pot Luck I'm afraid.

 

[Northerner]

When I was diagnosed I spent 8 days in hospital - the only 'prohibited' food for diabetics appeared to be treacle pudding and custard 😱 With what I know now it's no wonder my levels were regularly up in the 30s after eating! 😱 The food at that time was actually very good - tasty and well-cooked, although apparently they got a new contractor and things went downhill later Certainly no real distinction for diabetics, despite the supposed consideration on the menus - they probably just red-flagged the really sugary items rather than the high carb ones. 🙄

 

[DeusXM]

Well if it's a planned stay and you ARE diabetic, in theory it is supposed to be the norm to 'arrange all this together with who will test your BG (and when, if it has to be them cos you're having an op with a GA) and hold and dish out your diabetes medications' - so I can only suggest that everyone actually asks to do this - providing it IS planned.

If it isn't planned it's Pot Luck I'm afraid.

I'm fortunate that I've never had to be in hospital (in the UK at least) since diagnosis, but is it really a case that they effectively confiscate your insulin and will do your dosing for you?

I think I'd end up being a very, very problematic patient in those circumstances. In fact I'd be seriously tempted to smuggle in my spare Novopen and just not tell them.

 

[pippaandben]

At my pre=op assessment I asked if I could bring in my own (Burgen) bread and sugar free drinks and was told no problem and "what a good idea"!! Also planning on taking a couple of pots of paste and some marmite plus rich tea biscuits. At least with all these I know what to take insulinwise. Last time I had a big argument cos I refused to inject until I had seen the meal. I had ordered a salad but it came with lashings of coleslaw and potatoes. Point was proven and accepted by staff on duty that time.

 

[Ralph-YK]

Happydog that's my experience of hospital food. Although when I was in in September I only eat in the evening and breakfast. The sandwiches are better on the cardiac ward in the big city.
In the other hospitals it was poor food, including prepackaged sandwiches like you'd get in a corner shop.
I was diagnosed diabetic in hospital. Just after I was told they me they came round with dinner, offering me apple pie. and custard. Tea had cake and custard. The following day there actually was treacle sponge, and they did ask if I wanted it.

 

[trophywench]

I'm fortunate that I've never had to be in hospital (in the UK at least) since diagnosis, but is it really a case that they effectively confiscate your insulin and will do your dosing for you?

I think I'd end up being a very, very problematic patient in those circumstances. In fact I'd be seriously tempted to smuggle in my spare Novopen and just not tell them.

Yeah - which is exactly why you are SUPPOSED to be able to arrange all this prior to your admission!

 

[pottersusan]

In my experience with an emergency admission, they don't like it when you say - I'm not in here for diabetes. I'm in here for X. I'll manage my diabetes. You deal with what I'm in for.
Having said that, in Southampton, the nurse (whose daughter was pumping) showed me how to fill in their chart and left me to it!

 

[Vicsetter]

I'm fortunate that I've never had to be in hospital (in the UK at least) since diagnosis, but is it really a case that they effectively confiscate your insulin and will do your dosing for you?

I think I'd end up being a very, very problematic patient in those circumstances. In fact I'd be seriously tempted to smuggle in my spare Novopen and just not tell them.

I suspect there are a number of reasons why hospitals do their own prescribing and administering of drugs of all kinds. None the less a lot of hospital wards are probably at too high or borderline temperature for the storage of insulin.

 

[khskel]

I'm fortunate that I've never had to be in hospital (in the UK at least) since diagnosis, but is it really a case that they effectively confiscate your insulin and will do your dosing for you?

I think I'd end up being a very, very problematic patient in those circumstances. In fact I'd be seriously tempted to smuggle in my spare Novopen and just not tell them.

I kept all my meds last time I was in. They couldn't get their heads round the concept of carb counting.

 

[SB2015]

During my emergency admission I was allowed to manage my own diabetes and stayed on my pump without any difficulties. I did my own BG tests and just told them the results which they recorded. They were just interested in my pump and when they had time came and quizzed me about it.

I was relieved to find that my Diabetes Consultant was on duty over night in AMU that night so we had a conversation about TBRs and agreed that I would ask them to call him if I needed a TBR of more than 150%. The registrar did not understand what we were talking about but that did not matter as he had a record of what we had agreed. I felt in very safe hands.

During the subsequent planned admission i discussed with the anaesthetist whether to use SCII or VRII during the op. Using VRIII I was kept on target (my targets). I was visited by a DSN on return to the ward, and again when I returned to self management, and again allowed to do my own tests at a frequency that I chose.

The care I received could not have been better.

 

[SB2015]

I followed my emergency admission by getting hold of the hospital protocols for both VRIII and SCII? On both it stated that they preferred to promote self management. If anyone has a problem it may be useful to ask to see those.

 

[stephknits]

I had exactly the same feeling as Deus on this one, but my diabetes was taken over when I was in hospital just recently. When I went in the ambulance to casualty it was because of suspected DKA due to sickness bug. I didn't have a sickness bug, my sugars never went over 17 but I did have ketones. In casualty they tested my blood sugar, and we worked out together a correction dose which I administered, but as the pain got worse, i. Couldn't think straight and was in no fit state to be bothered with my blood sugars. For my emergency op and afterwards my insulin was administered through a cannula and a nurse tested my blood sugar hourly throughout day and night. I was in la la land with the pain meds and really couldn't have cared less what my blood sugar was. I also wasn't eating and didn't eat anything for two more days, after that only a tiny bit of yogurt and ice cream and the day after that a bit of soup. I wouldn't have a clue how to have injected my NovoRapid to cover that, or what to do with my basal, so was releaved for it to be sorted by the hospital. When they finally took me off the cannula, I was still eating very little and it felt odd goin g back to managing it myself, although they did still insist on doing the hourly blood sugars. I did get them to use my finger pricker after a while when I was more aware of what was going on as theirs was painful.
I thought I would be horrified by other people who didn't k ow my diabetes, taking it over. However, when you are in. A position like that, you are no longer yourself and rhe circumstances are so different to normal that I was clueless as to how to manage it, even without being in la la land.

 

[Caroline]

My husband has just spent 2 1/2 months in hospital, so I saw a lot of hospital meals being given out and saw the menus. Both the hospitals he was in seemed to give out the same food to both non-diabetic and diabetic patients. This included pasta, white bread sandwiches and ice cream, fruit juice and fruit flavoured sugary yogurts also cake and biscuits with tea. I heard staff ask if patients were diabetic but they got the same food. Is this how it is in hospitals? Just curious as I am planning to never have to go there 🙂

When I was in hospital I looked at the menus and made choices on what was available. I tried to avoid the puddings opting for fruit when I could. With the main part of the meal I asked for an extra portion of veg instead of potatoes and where I could avoided meals containing rice or pasta. I also got visitors to bring me in low carb snacks so I didn't feel hungry. My levels were for the most part pretty good.

 

[Matt Cycle]

As regards hospital food my youngest daughter was in hospital just after Christmas and to be frank, the food dished out is absolute s***e. It's the sort of stuff you used to see congealing under those hot plate things in motorway services. Having said that even when people are given 'healthy' choices I'm not sure they choose them - the population seems to be in a downward spiral of consuming every increasing quantities of c**p.