<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> I was requested to post this extract from The Celiac ActionLine, January 1995. SURVIVING A HOSPITAL STAY from Mary Alice Warren: Any hospital stay is less than a joyous time with the possible exception of going to the hospital to give birth. For the celiac, ANY hospital stay will probably be hazardous to your health! There are many more dangers than just the food. During your stay, you will be poked and jabbed, injected and drugged, and most likely suffer many other untoward invasions of your body and mind. All this when you are sick and barely able to cope. How do you keep the nurses and doctors from making you worse. TAKE A LOVED ONE WITH YOU! Many hospitals are enlightened--they encourage a spouse, adult child, parent or very close friend to stay with the patient (you) 24 hours a day while you are in the hospital. Put that person in charge of checking everything that goes in your mouth or veins. They must be asserted about all medications and food items until they are thoroughly checked out. Don't be intimidated by unknowing health care professionals (doctors and nurses) who tell you it is not important right now for you to remain gluten free; that the most important thing right now is to treat the problem that brought you to the hospital. NONSENSE! If you ingest gluten and the villae are destroyed and you go into malabsorption, how will this affect the medications? Far too many health care professionals don't know anything about the short term or long term effects of gluten on the celiac. A case of diarrhea is not the only or the worst thing that can happen. When referred to the M. D. Anderson Cancer Care Clinic in Houston with lung cancer, I was interviewed by an oncologist. I told him, I wanted to be considered "a celiac with a cancer problem". His response was that curing the cancer was the most important problem and he couldn't worry about the celiac condition, right now. I have not seen that physician since! I had my husband and my daughter with me. They were thoroughly familiar with the celiac diet and all the other sensitivities I have (soy and citrates). After the physicians and nurses became convinced that "I was a celiac with a cancer problem", they were totally cooperative and came to my husband or daughter with any new item before they tried to give it to me. With the help of the hospital pharmacy, we found effective I-V fluids and medications without toxic ingredients. My hospital food was very basic and plain but it was gluten free. Medications that had questionable ingredients were checked with the pharmaceutical manufacturer or an appropriate substitute was found. This is extra work for the hospital staff but you are paying from $250.00 to $500.00 or more per day. Attention to detail is a requirement. The druggist changed a prescription for a 15 mg. drug. The 15 mg. drug was GF but when a 10 and a 5 mg drug were delivered, questions were asked of the nurse. It was determined that the 5 mg drug was not GF. Mistakes can result in unneeded suffering, a longer hospital stay, or even the possibility of death. In September I checked into Orlando Regional Medical Center in Orlando with atrial fibrillation for what turned out to be a two day stay. I asked the admitting physician to specify that my diet be gluten-free and that all medications were to be gluten-free. The first ten hours were chaotic! The pharmacy and the nurses had a terrible time understanding that there was more to a medication than the active ingredient and that my concerns were with those other things (excipients). My husband and I patiently explained to each person that celiac disease was a disease of the immune system and that as little as one milligram could cause undesirable effects. Deborah Rowell-Meadows from the Orlando Regional Medical Center Food & Nutrition Services came to visit me to see what the hospital might be able to feed me. The food service is contracted out to Marriott and the gluten-free food list was out of date. For example, it had available a gluten restricted bread made with wheat starch. It didn't list many of the hidden gluten sources. Ms. Rowell-Meadows was most eager to correct any deficiency and she set one of the food technicians to checking the pre-packaged items on the menu for hidden glutens. The first supper was a safe and very plain meal, vegetable and fruit. After supper, we established which items in the kitchen pantry were gluten free and which were not. We enlisted the aid of a local celiac who brought some rice soup, GF bread, and GF crackers. All in all, I was able to eat well and remain totally gluten free, with the help of family, the hospital dietary staff, and local celiacs. Regards, Michael Jones, [log in to unmask] Living a wonderful, GF life in Orlando, FL USA