<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Dear list -

I had my gall bladder out in November; had asked for hospital suggestions/ advice.

Well, I got a lot of advice, all great, and followed it all. Called the hospital, visited the dietician, made sure my doctor wrote the orders right..... and hedged my bets by packing up a few "My Own Meals", some Boost, Envirokids snack bars, a few ANDi Bars, etc.  Brought a big backpack, one section full of food.

Nurses are wonderful people.  I know; I'm a nurse.  But here's a warning for your next hospital visit: They run the whole show, and nothing your doctor says means squat if the nurse is given an option he/she decides not to exercise.  Diet orders usually read "as tolerated",  so be aware you can get a nurse who decides not to exercise the option to feed you at all, for fear you "might" throw up.  (They can also decide to "try" you on the extreme low end of the orders for pain medication too, so ask your doctor what your high-end of pain control medication will be).  My doctor said I could eat the morning after the surgery.  You can't go home until you can eat and drink without vomiting.
Nurse # 1 saw "Celiac Disease/ gluten-free diet, and was afraid to feed me; nurse # 2 followed  suit;  then the next shift, and this went on until I finally asked if I was going to go home before I died of old age.  The doctor, surprised, said "Umm, you can't go home until you can hold down food and water.  You haven't been able to eat."  Despite my repeated pleas, not one nurse took the bull by the horns and ordered food for me.
I thought often of the person who emailed me that if I went without eating for 24 hours (it was 53 hours) that I wouldn't die, so don't worry about eating.  I can't imagine how that would be.  After 26 hours of not eating I was in a calorie-withdrawal frenzy, and dipped into the backpack.  My mother and others were bringing  GF stuff in for me too, so after I started eating my own food I felt OK, but it didn't get me any points on my hospital chart and it sure wasn't a balanced diet.  The nurses aides knew I was eating my own food, but that information never got put into the chart, for whatever reason. Consequently my 23-hour admission turned into a much longer stay.  So:

1)  Bring your own food.  Make sure they know if you are eating it!
2)  Bring your own prescriptions, from home, just enough (two or three days worth) to get you by, in the original bottles.  I ended up taking my own, with their permission and supervision, because they used generics I didn't trust.
3)  Know what your doctor has ordered, and be aware that the nurses have great latitude in interpreting the orders.

Above all, educate yourself, and be your own advocate!

Kathy, RN
Middletown, CT

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