Food in the Hospital

[Guest guest]

At 09:49 AM 6/15/2008, you wrote:

Are surgeons usually

accommodating to dietary needs and SCD if that is all you have chosen to

eat? How do you do this in a hospital setting?

Jodi,

MY surgeon was very accommodating. I made a list of what I could and

could not eat. She suggested I talk with the hospital nutritionist before

my surgery. I did. The nutritionist said that because of their good

service contract, they could not guarantee that any food they had would

be safe for me. My surgeon therefore wrote that my husband would be

bringing my food from home.

I prepared the following list (based on my own tolerances), and presented

it to my surgeon, who okayed it for my post surgical diet. She also

approved certain supplements which I take, once I could have things by

mouth. These included pre-formed Vitamin A, a B-complex, pure vitamin C

blended in water, liquid zinc drops, l-taurine, and selenium. All of

those were specifically geared toward speeding my healing.

I will note that tomorrow it will be ten weeks since my cancer surgery.

Although I still have internal soreness, the 24 " external incision

is fully sealed, and I have been cleared to resume my water therapy (2

weeks ago) and cleared to start back to work (part time) as of next

week.

Both my surgeons have stated, over and over, that they are amazed at how

quickly and completely my incision has healed, and how I have had no

infection, which is also unusual in an incision this size. I had

antibiotics in the hospital (IV) and then had a course of antibiotics

starting about four days after I got out of the hospital which ran ten

days. They have stated repeated that in my type of surgery (a total

abdominal hysterectomy, accompanied by a panniculectomy) it is most

unusual not to have tissue breakdown at or around the incision, with

accompanying opening of the incision, requiring additional wound

care.

Thanks to SCD, the supplements I chose after consulting with my surgeon,

my acupuncturist, and the good condition I was in with my water therapy,

I have had none of these problems.

Here is the list of foods I used:

Clear Liquids

Beef broth (31

calories per cup)

Chicken broth (20

calories per cup)

Fruit juices

(diluted pear, ¼ cup per day, 50 calories, 11 g carb)

Thick liquids

Goat yogurt

(diluted with water if necessary – same as goat milk, 168 calories per

cup)

Tomato juice (½

cup per day, 41 calories per cup, sky high in sodium, would ordinarily

balance with high-potassium lentils.)

Orange juice (up

to 1 cup per day, 113 calories per cup)

Beef broth (31

calories per cup)

Chicken broth (20

calories per cup)

Soft foods

Goat yogurt

(same as goat milk, 168 calories per cup, up to 2 cups per day)

Puréed vegetables

(carrots, winter squash, butternut squash, peeled zucchini, 25-40

calories per 4 ounces)

Puréed pears (1/4

cup per day, 70 calories per serving)

Hard boiled eggs

(roughly 100 calories per egg, unless mixed with avocado pudding)

Ripe bananas (109

calories, must be fully speckled with black, 1 per day maximum – do not

have banana if having pear.)

Avocado pudding

(mashed ripe avocado, fresh lemon juice, salt, white pepper, 283 calories

per serving, roughly one very ripe avocado)

Cow yogurt (well

dripped, approximately 124 calories per half cup. Up to 2 cups per

day.)

Puréed / finely

ground chicken thighs (39 calories per ounce unless mixed with avocado

pudding)

Puréed / finely

ground boiled beef (39 calories per ounce, unless mixed with

avocado pudding or homemade mayonnaise and a dollop of homemade

mustard?)

Depending on your situation, you may wish to modify the fruits and/or

vegetables to suit what you tolerate. The above is based on my personal

tolerances, and I don't do well on much fruit juice or most fruits. My

oncologist said that she didn't need me on a strictly CLEAR liquids after

the surgery, so I can use blueberry, pomegranate, and black cherry

juices, all of which I can handle small amounts of. The finely ground

meats can also be made " soupy " by adding broth to them if the

avocado pudding is too high fat for your issues. For my " regular

foods " once I was home, I used apple-pecan muffins for breakfast,

plain (lightly seasoned) meats and cooked vegetables for lunch and

dinner. I did not add back raw vegetables until after I had gone off the

narcotic pain relievers -- and when I mentioned this to my surgeon, she

though it was an excellent idea because the narcotics can contribute to

constipation, and so, she said, could the bulky raw vegetables.

—

Marilyn

New

Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund