Hospital Food

[Katie Meadow]

Thanks to all well-wishers. Just having my husband's French toast this morning was a total thrill!

 

Edited February 17, 2024 by Katie Meadow
Edited for spelling error. Drugs must be making me loopy (log)

[FauxPas]

@Katie Meadow, hope you are not in pain and fully mobile soon! 

[MaryIsobel]

From a fellow titanium hip owner - I was amazed at how quickly I was quite mobile. Nor far or fast at first but I was walking without mechanical aid of any kind after about my 5th day at home. I wish the same for you.

[liuzhou]

Although I started this topic and have had more than my fair share to contribute to it recently, I always feel disturbed when I see it revived.

 

Wishing you a speedy recovery @Katie Meadow and sorry to read of your pitiful sustenance during your incarceration. 

 

I will say that it was the medical staff who kept me sane during my four hospital stays last year. I actually missed them after I was discharged last time.

 

Not usually anything to miss about hospital stays.

 

 

 

[Katie Meadow]

4 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Although I started this topic and have had more than my fair share to contribute to it recently, I always feel disturbed when I see it revived.

 

Wishing you a speedy recovery @Katie Meadow and sorry to read of your pitiful sustenance during your incarceration. 

 

I will say that it was the medical staff who kept me sane during my four hospital stays last year. I actually missed them after I was discharged last time.

 

Not usually anything to miss about hospital stays.

 

 

 

Thanks. Yes the thread that pop up that make me queasy are this Hospital Food and the Never Again...thread

[TdeV]

@Katie Meadow, so pleased to hear your cheerful voice! Warm wishes for speedy recovery.

[Kim Shook]

I was in the hospital for a few days last week.  I had pneumonia and managed to cough my way into an abdominal hematoma (?????  I had no idea that that was a thing).  The hospital was part of the same corporation as the one I was in back last summer.  The food there was surprisingly good, as I reported.  This one was less so.  Still, better than other hospitals I’ve been to and what others have reported.  One nice thing (no idea if this is common) is that you can order a guest meal, free of charge.  So, Mr. Kim didn’t have to go foraging for meals while I was there.  Here’s a sample of what I had. 

 

This was the only meal that I didn’t specifically order.  I was admitted too late to order lunch, so this is what they automatically sent:

Fruit, glazed carrots, grilled chicken, and rice pilaf.  The fruit was mostly cantaloupe and honeydew, neither of which I like.  I don’t eat cooked carrots.  The chicken was tender, but seriously over-peppered (and I love pepper) and the pilaf was simply brown rice – cooked ok, though.  I did order dinner:

This was much better.  A really nice salad (terrible salad dressing, though – some fat free raspberry balsamic mess) and good egg salad.  I also was able to order breakfast the next day:

This was kind of comical.  The peaches were tasteless.  You can’t tell, but the SINGLE pancake was about 3-inches wide.  But it was cooked perfectly and tasted really good.  I’m sure it was from a mix, but I was happy with the flavor.  Even the sugar free syrup was ok.  They forgot my bacon, though. 

Lunch:

This was really good.  Vegetable soup that was obviously made there.  Some of the vegetables were certainly frozen, but the carrots and potatoes were fresh, I think.  Nice flavor, too.  And then just a simple, good tuna salad sandwich. 

For dinner, with trepidation, I ordered a burger:

I was pleasantly surprised.  It was pretty good.  Juicy, nice char and it tasted BEEFY.  The only issue was that they didn’t send any mustard.  What kind of animals are working in that kitchen😁??  Another nice salad (I got smart and got Mr. Kim to smuggle in a packet of Caesar from the cafeteria).  And I’m sure that there’s a piece of fruit somewhere – I think I requested either an apple or banana with every meal. 

My last meal before being discharged (yay!):

Decently scrambled eggs (they were even warm), under-toasted toast, and they remembered my pork! 

[TdeV]

@Kim Shook, thank you for thinking of us! It's nice to see you posting. Your voice (in your posts) sounds okay, so I'm glad to see you survived.

 

And the meals don't look too bad either. 🤣

[Maison Rustique]

@Kim Shook That is some of the best-looking hospital food I've seen. So sorry you had to go through th is. It is amazing what coughing can do to us. Many years ago, my severe coughing fractured all my ribs. Definitely not fun. Got me to quit smoking!

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Just returned from a cardiac ablation in Guadalajara at a quite nice hospital. Nursing and support staff were excellent--the food less so. The best was the dinner on the night I was admitted before I had to fast for the surgery. 3 nice meatballs with lots of vegetables in a tasty broth. In Mexico they're called "albondigas," and they're my husband's favorite meal. Some sort of unidentifiable juice, the requisite jello, some fresh fruit and a cookie. The rest of the meals went downhill, and pretty rapidly, after that. The low point was 2 halved zucchinis filled with unseasoned ground meat and then topped with melted cheese. I took a couple of bites and couldn't eat the rest. Red rice (which I dislike) and jello (of course) and chopped apple, with horchata to drink. Not sure why white rice is so often served since it tends to stop you up. And the bed killed my back. I'm still recovering from that horrid mattress.

 

And then there was the interminable delay to check out. Our insurance evidently went through the bill with tweezers to pluck out the most minor expense. I was really glad to get home, though it was a 4-hour drive.

[blue_dolphin]

13 minutes ago, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

Just returned from a cardiac ablation in Guadalajara at a quite nice hospital. Nursing and support staff were excellent--the food less so. The best was the dinner on the night I was admitted before I had to fast for the surgery. 3 nice meatballs with lots of vegetables in a tasty broth. In Mexico they're called "albondigas," and they're my husband's favorite meal. Some sort of unidentifiable juice, the requisite jello, some fresh fruit and a cookie. The rest of the meals went downhill, and pretty rapidly, after that. The low point was 2 halved zucchinis filled with unseasoned ground meat and then topped with melted cheese. I took a couple of bites and couldn't eat the rest. Red rice (which I dislike) and jello (of course) and chopped apple, with horchata to drink. Not sure why white rice is so often served since it tends to stop you up. And the bed killed my back. I'm still recovering from that horrid mattress.

 

And then there was the interminable delay to check out. Our insurance evidently went through the bill with tweezers to pluck out the most minor expense. I was really glad to get home, though it was a 4-hour drive.

I'm glad you are home and up to posting and that you had good nursing care.  Sorry about the food, the bed, the insurance issues and the long drive home. Sending healing thoughts! 

[TdeV]

1 hour ago, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

Just returned from a cardiac ablation in Guadalajara at a quite nice hospital.

 

Best wishes for a swift recovery, Nancy.

 

 

Edited May 10, 2024 by TdeV (log)

[Maison Rustique]

@Nancy in Pátzcuaro, glad you are recovering and hope the ablation does the trick for you. My sis had one this week, too. I'm not sure she even had food while she was there. She had some complications and was in ICU for a couple of days.

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Thank you all for your kind thoughts. I am grateful that my procedure went smoothly and that I was able to leave the hospital on schedule. Now it remains to me to do the work of rehab, including doing something for my back so that I can resume my normal life. If that's the only thing I have to do to fully recover, I will feel doubly blessed.

[Katie Meadow]

1 hour ago, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

Thank you all for your kind thoughts. I am grateful that my procedure went smoothly and that I was able to leave the hospital on schedule. Now it remains to me to do the work of rehab, including doing something for my back so that I can resume my normal life. If that's the only thing I have to do to fully recover, I will feel doubly blessed.

May recovery be smooth. So far, 2024 has not been a walk in the park.

[Kim Shook]

23 hours ago, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

Just returned from a cardiac ablation in Guadalajara at a quite nice hospital. Nursing and support staff were excellent--the food less so. The best was the dinner on the night I was admitted before I had to fast for the surgery. 3 nice meatballs with lots of vegetables in a tasty broth. In Mexico they're called "albondigas," and they're my husband's favorite meal. Some sort of unidentifiable juice, the requisite jello, some fresh fruit and a cookie. The rest of the meals went downhill, and pretty rapidly, after that. The low point was 2 halved zucchinis filled with unseasoned ground meat and then topped with melted cheese. I took a couple of bites and couldn't eat the rest. Red rice (which I dislike) and jello (of course) and chopped apple, with horchata to drink. Not sure why white rice is so often served since it tends to stop you up. And the bed killed my back. I'm still recovering from that horrid mattress.

 

And then there was the interminable delay to check out. Our insurance evidently went through the bill with tweezers to pluck out the most minor expense. I was really glad to get home, though it was a 4-hour drive.

Glad you're home!  Take care!

 

[MaryIsobel]

Had the occaision to spend a couple of days in hospital. I was in the ER for the duration of my stay as they tried to figure out what the heck was wrong with me. I was fed in a timely manner though. I only have one photo and that was dinner on my first night there. Fortunately my daughters were there and brought me a fig jam, brie and apple pannini from the cafeteria. Lunches and breakfasts were great. Breakfast was yogurt and fresh fruit and granola with a muffin (and that strange liquid that they pass off as tea.) Lunch was a homemade tasting soup, a warm whole wheat roll, a salad (with radiccio!) with balsamic dressing and canned diced pears. Lucky for me there is a Starbucks in the lobby so whenever a visitor asked if they could bring me anything, I always got a London Fog.

[Smithy]

On 7/10/2024 at 5:04 PM, Smithy said:

 

 

...and here it is, apparently unchanged, in July. 

 

 

When/if I get around to opening that bag, I think I'll do it outside just in case there's some sort of noxious spore growing. But I can't see any changes in it. I'm really curious about how long it will hold like that.

 

The "bread roll" you see in the photo above is still in its wrapping, in our bread box, apparently unchanged since I brought it home in February. Maybe it's a little harder to the touch.

 

@MaryIsobel, I hope they didn't serve you anything like that! It sounds as though Starbucks and visitors kept you well fed.

[Kerala]

Hospital cafeteria food, as a visitor. It's never good to be in a position to eat here.

Breakfast of champions. Scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, baked beans, fried bread. The standard is strictly mediocre, like a railway caff or a roadside van. You could say it is as it should be. One of the customers kept calling it French toast. 

Lunch: (chicken) katsu sando. That's what they called it! Chips were my addition. Salt and lots of pepper.

I'm rather cross with the universe at the moment, so I'm somewhat in the mood for self-sabotage.

[Kerala]

Sausages, I think.

I asked the lady behind the counter. "Yes, my love! Fried bread is deep fried. We can do you toast if you'd like?" I sent for the healthy option today: a hash brown!

[Kerala]

Fission chips.

6/10. Perfectly OK.

I'm at the Queen's Medical Centre  in Nottingham. A few years ago I was at a medics pub quiz and the best team name was The Queen's Gynaecologists.