Need Meal Advice: Eating in a Hospital

[emc1991]

I'm on day 11 of my first whole 30 and so far it has been a dream. I am a protein and veggies lover who has never had much of a sweet tooth or carb addiction so it's been smooth sailing. Until today I have not had to lean on snacks like fruit/nuts/rx bars at all because I have had plenty of fresh, home cooked meals to keep me full.

However my fathers heart is failing and last night was admitted to the ICU. He is now awaiting a heart transplant and we have no idea how long he will be in the hospital. For today, I lived off all those untouched emergency snacks in my bag as well as a raw vegetable platter from the hospital cafeteria. But now this is clearly a long term situation. I manage his medical care so I will be regularly spending full days and often sleeping at the hospital to comfort him/sign paperwork/talk to doctors.

I am looking for sustainable meal advice for either ordering in hospital cafeterias, or for a few meals that I can make in bulk and keep in a cooler in his hospital room. 

His poor health is one of my biggest motivations for cleaning up my diet and I really don't want this stressful situation to knock me off track. 

 

Any advice/tips/tricks are welcome. NURSES/MEDICAL PROS: how healthy are hospital meals really? Are you packing all your meals? How are you managing those 12 hour shifts? 

Thank you! 

[ShannonM816]

I'm sorry you're going through this. 

I'm not really sure about the hospital meals, but i know we have some nurses on the forum, so maybe some of them will weigh in with some tips.

For cooking ahead, I'd probably stick with grilling or baking a bunch of chicken, roasting vegetables, and having olives, premade guacamole, or mayo for fats -- all those should keep well in a cooler even overnight, as long as you change out the ice or cold packs regularly, they're easy to make during the time you are home, are okay eaten cold, and they'd also be good warmed up if you do have access to a microwave. Hard boiled eggs, frittatas, meatballs, or burger patties would work as well. 

Do also cut yourself some slack if you need to. I'm not saying eat candy bars and chips all day, but if you can't be 100% Whole30 right now, do the best you can with what's available. If you're eating whatever grilled meat and vegetables the cafeteria offers, even if they've got sugar or soy sauce in them, you're still doing fine, and you will still be able to get back to Whole30 when it's right for you. 

[vickie0326]

First, I'm sorry about your father.

I know it's been a few weeks since you posted, so maybe this isn't even relevant anymore, but I had a couple of thoughts. Do they have a salad bar? If you can just focus on bringing some protein (hardboiled eggs, a compliant rotisserie chicken, etc.,), that might work. I used to be able to get a plain baked potato, and nowadays, I see travel packs of ghee (Tin Star) or coconut oil (Trader Joe's), that could be a portable fat. You might also be able to go talk to the manager of the cafeteria and see if they can make any accommodations. Obviously, this depends on the hospital and size of the cafeteria, but I worked in a few hospitals over the years and have found them to be accommodating within reason. Go at an off-peak time (not during the breakfast or lunch rush) - the worst they can say is no, they're not able to do that.

And, like Shannon said, if the whole30 needs to take a backseat to being present with your father, do that. Good luck, and I'm sending positive thoughts your way!