What they feed us in hospitals

[SHRED]

My father-in-law, in Wisconsin, has been admitted.
He is late 70's with COPD (Emphysema).
His lungs are filling with mucous. He's on heavy Prednisone dosage.

We called and talked to him. He has been eating too much he says.
Here is the "kicker"...the hospital gives him whatever he wants, ice cream, chocolate, milk, all mucous forming foods and way too much food in general.

This is serious so why would they try and fill his lungs up further? Are they trying to kill him?
Why is this medical establishment (Madison, Wis) so behind the curve as to what you eat and how it affects you?
Are other places like this?

My wife is pissed and so am I.
We are calling his Doctor soon!

:mad:

[HillbillyBob]

1. They aways put me on the bland diet, grey meat,

I end up telling them to give me some real damn food. You don't hve to have it taste like shit to be healthy. They should know better than to be giving your dad all that either. Im long term hiv, i had appetite problems I also have a heart condition that is from the hiv meds. The so called heart smart is crap, its salty tasting and they bring me margerine (i haven't touched it in years). Eat the butter, just moderate. hydrolyzed oils of any kind are the same as putting plastic (it is plastic) in your veins.

[catgirl]

2. The whole medical industry is like this

Medical students in the U.S. aren't trained in nutritional health like students in many other areas of the world.

I have asthma and one of my major triggers is synthetic fragrance. Doctors I have seen seemed astonished by
this, even though it's quite common. My sister is a nurse and she wore fragrance to work (!!!!!). She stopped when
she finally saw first hand, what effect it had on me.

It's shameful that patients have to educate people in the medical field in our country.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. Milk products causing phlegm production is not something

that the medical profession believes is true. I can't argue either way, but I do know that there is a lot of information out there about nutrition that is just not true. I am sure some of it is.

As to the amount of food he is being given, I cannot imagine that is good. I don't know what they are thinking.

[uppityperson]

13. People with this severe resp issues need more calories since they are using accessory

muscles to breath with, as well as it simply being more difficult to breath.

[Curmudgeoness]

14. That does make sense, and the things they are giving him

make sense then too.

[dmr]

4. You might want to call the hospital & ask his nurse

if they made a mistake by giving him the wrong menu in which to choose his daily meals.

This might be an over-sight by the doc not writing it in his chart, or the order is still in his chart, or the info was lost in transit to the kitchen.


:hi:

[Nikia]

5. If someone is in the hospital with a condition affected diet

A dietician should be called in to help determine what they should eat. If individual consultations are not possible, perhaps a dietician should come up with diets for various conditions.
When my father-in-law was in Fransican Kemp in LaCrosse, WI, they had a dietician come in and talk to him with an approved menu for his diabetes, heart problems, and kidney problems.

[Donnachaidh]

6. this happens a lot more than you think

We had an elderly friend in the hospital with pneumonia, and very real problems with breathing and they were giving her whole milk, ice cream etc. She didn't know it was causing the mucus problems she was trying to fight off, and we had to get the hospital to give her an adjusted diet.

[Ian David]

7. Milk increasing mucous is a myth. n/t

[madmom]

8. Years ago a friend was in a bad car accident and had to be admitted. His injuries were quite

extensive, so the gave him morphine with the button you could push when you needed it. He previously was a druggie, but cleaned himself up. He begged them to give him something else, something non addictive. Until his family went in and really let them have what for, they wouldn't listen to him.:shrug:

[Lost-in-FL]

9. Call the Nurse to have the doctor change the dietary orders from the chart ASAP.

If there are no dietary restrictions in your father in laws's chart written by the attending order, nutricional services will continue to give him whatever he wants. It is not the fault of the hospital, nurse or nutricional services but the doctor. That dumbass needs to be called ASAP.

BTW.

If the doctor is concerned with increased fluid in the lungs, your father in law's fluids should be restricted, not just milk but even water and intravenous IV.

[uppityperson]

11. Dehydrating someone with emphysema is not a good idea. Emphysema is NOT "increased fluid in lungs"

Goes to show that seeking advice on an internet forum doesn't necessarily give you good advice. People with emphysema need extra fluids to try and make the mucous more liquid and easier to expel. I'd suggest you do some research before calling a doctor a dumbass.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001153/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/emphysema/DS00296

Emphysema occurs when the air sacs in your lungs are gradually destroyed, making you progressively more short of breath. Emphysema is one of several diseases known collectively as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Smoking is the leading cause of emphysema.

As it worsens, emphysema turns the spherical air sacs — clustered like bunches of grapes — into large, irregular pockets with gaping holes in their inner walls. This reduces the surface area of the lungs and, in turn, the amount of oxygen that reaches your bloodstream.

Emphysema also slowly destroys the elastic fibers that hold open the small airways leading to the air sacs. This allows these airways to collapse when you breathe out, so the air in your lungs can't escape. Treatment may slow the progression of emphysema, but it can't reverse the damage.

Link to "lifestyle and home remedies" http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/emphysema/DS00296/DSECTION=lifestyle-and-home-remedies

[Lost-in-FL]

15. My advice was for the concerned party to get the doctor involved in the patient's care.

...which obviously includes educating the patient and immediate relatives, a practice that careless doctors disregard. So yes, he is a dumbass that leaves relatives concerned over a treatment unnecessarily. I do not think that trying to get the doctor more involved is bad advice if you ask me.

My "commentary", not advice, about the concern for "increased fluid in the lungs" was a concern of the family at the time. If they were concerned about that issue they need to get the doctor. If the doctor doesn't like being called during the weekends, he need to open a Monday to Friday practice.

[uppityperson]

16. Nope, you called the doctor a "dumbass" for not having dietary restrictions

"Call the Nurse to have the doctor change the dietary orders from the chart ASAP.

If there are no dietary restrictions in your father in laws's chart written by the attending order, nutricional services will continue to give him whatever he wants. It is not the fault of the hospital, nurse or nutricional services but the doctor. That dumbass needs to be called ASAP."

See? Now you say you didn't mean this but only he is a "dumbass" for having concerned relatives? Huh. "If there are no dietary restrictions...it is not the fault of the hospital...but the doctor. That dumbass needs to be called ASAP." Nope, you are calling the doctor a dumbass for not restricting the diet but for giving one that allows necessary liquids and calories.

[Lost-in-FL]

17. The only person that can make ANY changes in a chart is a nurse by doctors' order...

NOT ME or YOU or the family. I see that you want to win a non argument over interpretation in an online board of what I said. In the end, it does not matter what I SAY, but what the doctor says. I guess it is up to you to take my statement and blow it out of proportion. You are allowed to do that of course.

You can cut and paste again what I said, I adviced the person to get "the nurse to contact the DOCTOR to change dietary orders". Now I never expected you not to pick up on the fact that any decision about a patient ends with the doctor. You are correct in a sense that NO ONE should take advice from a board. This happens specially when some people thrive on the picking of details or distortion of statements for whatever reason, etc.

And the DUMBASS has a duty to contact both patient and primary contact on the event that something needs to be clarified, any possible outcome or concern that arises (the op wrote this rant based on CONCERN for the state of the relative NOT just because).

[uppityperson]

18. good grief. You do take offense at being told you were wrong, that the doctor wasn't a dumbass

for giving the right diet. You had a chance to learn here about why this diet was prescribed and instead prefer to attack more. Good luck to you.

[Lost-in-FL]

20. ...

[uppityperson]

21. Did you know dieticians and other therapists change things in patient's charts?

Sometimes they chart, sometimes they give suggestions, sometimes they will write a report on their assessment of the situation. Now you have the chance to again gain some knowledge or again attack me. Up to you.

[Lost-in-FL]

23. Yawn...

[uppityperson]

24. And I called it. eom

[uppityperson]

22. dupe

[Warpy]

10. That "milk is a mucus forming food" is bunk.

It gets a lot of play among health food fans but there is no basis in fact.

He's getting as many fluids as they can cram into him to help mobilize what he's got clogging his lungs. He's also going to need plenty of extra energy for his body to heal so they're giving him anything they think he'll be motivated to get down.

You can nag him about his diet when he heals. Right now, they're doing the right things to get him there.

[uppityperson]

12. He needs fluids to liquify the mucous and calories to be able to deal with the increased

caloric usage of dealing with emphysema. Trying to breath and expel that mucous uses up a lot more calories than you might think.

It would be a good idea to call his doctor and find out why this is happening rather than being upset about it. Good luck to your father-in-law. Emphysema sucks.

[cleanhippie]

19. Where do you get the idea that those foods are "mucous forming"?

My gooogle fu seems to show that the idea has a large following yet little to no actual science to support it. Can you tell me where you get the facts from on that?

Oh, and before you blast the hospital, it probably makes sense to ensure you are right about your assertions before accusing professional medical staff of negligence, no?

[uppityperson]

25. Hey SHRED, How's your father-in-law doing? I hope he's doing better.

[Crunchy Frog]

26. I wouldn't even eat the hospital meals.

I made my mom go down and get me stuff from the hospital cafeteria.