Food for thought.: Regarding the pressure the... - My Ovacome

My Ovacome

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Food for thought.

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Regarding the pressure the Depts of Health in UK and Ireland put on us to eat a health diet to avoid Cancer, they should first start in the hospitals ie hospital food. I was visiting a friend today who is recovering from Brain Surgery due to Cancer, she was my friend on the Chemo Unit last time around. Unfortunately she has developed a second Cancer but is doing well. However I had to share, before I left, her tea was served, it was not healthy!!!!!!!!!!! It consisted of white bread, two sausages, one piece of bacon and about a half dozen chips. This lady is also diabetic so the mind really boggles. So if the Hospital Chiefs are complaining the wards and clinics are over populated due to bad eating habits, perhaps they should start in the Hospitals and give proper nutricious food to patients.

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19 Replies
TrishLey profile image
TrishLey

Totally agree with you Suzuki. The amount of red meat served is also scandalous!!

x

Trish

in reply to TrishLey

I was shocked, the food is literally thrown on the patients bed trolley and no thought as to how someone can eat if they cannot fend for themselves. So what percentage of food served ends up as wastage? probably 50per cent. So savings can be made there straight away

TrishLey profile image
TrishLey in reply to

The worst is if they cannot fed themselves. The food goes cold waiting for someone to come along and help them. On the wards there is a menu though with a choice but the choice is fairly bleak.....

Dollysmum profile image
Dollysmum

I'm getting rather cross by it all. We live in a blame game society. First it was the obese draining the NHS, now if you get cancer, it's your fault for not taking care of yourself.

I feel it's deliberate. People with a cancer diagnosis suddenly find themselves cast adrift. No job, no money and terrified out of their wits. Often marriages break down and families fall apart. The stress alone has a detrimental effect on the patient, so hey let's further pressure them into believing they brought it on themselves!

I'm afraid the British public have been dumbed down and a great many are so easy to wind up through our squalid tabloid media. Look at last year's 'Benefit Porn' fest where people sat in judgement of others, the horrid Edwina Currie being one of them. I resent that she is an ambassador for OVC! She would be the last person I would want as a voice representing me or my illness, particularly after her disgraceful behaviour on that show.

Sorry for the rant.

Debs x

citrine profile image
citrine in reply to Dollysmum

I agree. I think we have become a judgemental society. People rush to express their opinion and don't let facts get in the way. (In my opinion😀)

Mary xx

greenpink profile image
greenpink in reply to Dollysmum

Wow. I agree with everything you say. Cancer is a disease, some of the causes of which are never fully explained I.e environmental factors, pollution, many foods loaded with sugars, warm plastic bottles sold containing water, ready meals, toxic this & that. People with cancers seem an acceptable by- product of the desire to live in advanced industrial societies. Yet the problem is individualised. One thing I hate is the promotion of lifestyles consuming many foods and drinks at Christmas and then the promotion of different "slimming " and healthy foods and lifestyles post Christmas.

sweetpea profile image
sweetpea

Totally agree. When I was in hospital after my TAH due to cancer, the food was disgusting, even the nurses wouldn't eat it, they went to a restaurant across the road Most probably eat better at home than in hospital

Ann

Juliette35 profile image
Juliette35

Fully agree with you suzuki , I was in hospital a couple of times last year and it wasn't what I would describe as healthy.

Juliette35 profile image
Juliette35

Also when they came round with the drinks they just left it near the end of the bed on the table

I was OK I could get mine but one lady couldn't she could hardly sit up

Marianna profile image
Marianna

OMG do i agree with that.! The food i was served whilst i was in hospital was awful. My young grand daughter could do better. I lostso much wright in there , that i was glad to leave. Not a bit of fruit. And the vegetables were so overcooked that they were tasteless.

Yes i do agree that the service that is paid for is awful. No wonder people are mal nourished in hospital.

foss54 profile image
foss54

Totally agree. When I had my TAH, I depended on friends bringing in salads, fruit, etc.

Cre27 profile image
Cre27

The food I was served as a patient and the food available in the hospital restaurant,where staff and visitors can eat were totally poles apart!!!

giovannabett profile image
giovannabett

Couldn't agree more!

kittie profile image
kittie

In the hospital I attend the food is terrific , choice of menu. You are also asked if you want a small, medium or large dinner. When I was an in patient in April I could not believe how good it was. I suppose I was just lucky also everything is cooked fresh daily.Kittie. PS it is a public hospital in

in reply to kittie

The hospital I refer to is one of the main ones in Cork, probably the smaller hospitals are run better. It was disgraceful what was given for the tea. It seems to be mass cooked and given to cardiac patients as well?????

Lily-Anne profile image
Lily-Anne

I made a formal complaint regarding the food service at my hospital. After my surgery I had no food, they lost menu's, found me a rice pudding that nobody wanted, the choice was mainly sandwiches, not suitable with my new stoma, as we were trying to get it to start working. I was told to have light food at first but there was none on the menu at all. The whole thing was a shambles.

I said they should go to each bed, and make sure they have been offered food, which they now do. The menu isn't much better though. My son was in for emergency surgery last week, appendicitis, which after they removed it turned out to be a kidney infection - oops! The menu was actually worse.

As for red meat there was none at all, which was mega disappointing for me. I'd have liked scallops to start followed by a rare steak lol, oh well.

LA xx

IrishMollyO profile image
IrishMollyO

I absolutely agree with you Suzuki. On all counts . My yesterday's reply to the original post about the latest headlines got lost in cyberspace. Blaming patients for their illness seems to be the latest approach with health services worldwide . It made me so angry. I was not overweight when I was diagnosed and lived a healthy lifestyle. I only put on weight after my treatment and I read somewhere that with this illness which affects all aspects of your digestive system , a lot of women put on weight. As for the food during my original 9days in hospital , I can only describe it as revolting. One that sticks out in my mind was two greasy sausages sitting in a plate of beans accompanied by white bread !

This is not the first time the Irish Cancer Society has blamed OC patients for their own illness. Is it their way of being seen to be doing something ? I have asked them many times to list PPC in their list of cancers so I presume they still haven't done so as I gave up looking.

The latest idea of concentrating on preventing cancer seems to be taking over when all else fails. They should be concentrating their efforts on finding a proper cause and cure. I do not want people looking at me now with recurrence thinking "oh well , she brought it on herself ! That and people telling you if you don't have a positive attitude you are doomed. Whoever thought up this latest idea should be made aware of how upsetting it is to Cancer patients to be told it is their own fault. I rest my case. Fight on sisters !

XXX

Yes another email on its way to the Minister but he didnt even acknowledge the one about the drugs, we dont count but I believe the same food is given to Cardiac patients in the hospital this defeats the purpose of an angiogram or angioplast if you get a fry afterwards.

So many good points already, but I thought I would add a minority view and say I've been generally impressed by the hospital food I had as an in-patient earlier in the year.

I felt they were really making an effort to be tempting, nutritious and with pretty clear signalling about who could eat what. In particular they had home made soup with every meal (often the only thing you feel like to begin with). .....But I still don't understand why hospitals can't make decent porridge.......!

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