Hospital Staff (rant)
 

I was hospitalized recently, in an (unsuccessful) attempt to diagnose some neurologial weirdness I have going on.

My chart showed my "Diabetic" diagnosis.

I "confessed" to the diabetes, as well, when asked, and said I did not take medication but was sucessfully controlling with diet.

And so some doc who I never even met ordered insulin for me, and put me on a "Diabetic consistent carb" diet.

*pounds head into wall*

I had a nurse actually insist he was going to give me insulin... my last BG reading was 86. And he wanted to give me insulin. (I demanded, at that point, to know the name of the doctor who ordered it, and then told him to get a malpractice attorney sent to my room so I could begin pressing charges. The nurse fled, and was replaced with someone competent.)

And the food... Pudding! Fruit-cups! Juice! Bread! Some ground-beef and gravy mixture over rice. "Please take this away. There is literally nothing on this tray I can eat."

*sigh*

They wound up replacing bricks-for-brains boy with the head nurse of the floor, who was competent, understood that with my A1C reading of 5.2, I obviously knew what I was doing, and arranged for me to have whatever food I would eat, in exchange for finger-pricks. ("Measure my levels as often as you like. Just don't try to give me insulin, when I'm reading in the normal range! I don't take insulin. And I won't leave 'normal'.")

(Though I still had someone wake me up in the middle of the night to try to feed me graham crackers.)

Head-nurse guy became my staunch ally... he "had my back". But dear lord, why these hosptial staff gotta try to put me in the hospital????


At breakfast (reunited with my 14 & 12 year old) this morning, discussed the frustration of the hosptial over my Greek Omelet (hold the tomato, add sausage, no sides, thanks!) (Best food I've had in days!!) , and the youngest was asking WHY.

What a fun conversation, explaining that drug companies only make cash when they sell drugs, and there's no money in people who control the condition by fixing their diet. (Yes, there is much sarcasm in this post)


But I think I've learned some lessons, here:

* If possible, lie to hospital staff about being diabetic.
* If not possible, demand an on-the-spot A1C. Refer back to that test-result constantly. (Me being able to tell -- blind -- that it was in the "normal, non-diabetic" range carried a lot of weight with my one ally.)


So frustrated, and this board is one of the few places where I know folks would understand... I've worked hard to get my levels this stable. Don't need my hard-work un-done!

Great for you holding your ground. Horrible that you have to be stressed with this insanity though, but I too have been in your situation with a family member who was too old to fight for herself but she did monitor her BS at home and ate low carb. I had to fight to get her food that wasn't carb laden, then argue with a dietitian etc..slept by her bedside on the foldout chair. They gave her blood-thinners for no reason and gave her a blood-clot in her brain. (confirmed by a second doctor after the damage was done) Long story short, finally they moved her away from me to a dark part of the hospital where they killed her with Morphine when she she had no pain of any kind.

A few years back I was in the hospital for 10 days plus 7 in-patient rehab. While I wasn’t diabetic, I was eating LCHF. I managed to dictate my menu. The dietician wasn’t happy but I stuck with tuna salad and Swiss cheese for lunch and dinner and eggs wit sausage for breakfast. Supplemented by bunless cheeseburgers and naked chicken wings delivered by friends and family.

It was was difficult to convince the staff but I kept repeating I ate sugar-free and couldn’t eat gluten. That went a long way to helping convince them.

I just about freaked when they gave me an IV if sugar water before surgery! I balked and hey removed the IV until I was knocked out. Instead of 3 hours before surgery. ugh!!!

Oh, good grief.... forgot about glucose IVs!
(Luckily, while they inserted an IV line, they never connected anything to it.)

Good for you.

When I was hospitaluzed after aquiring a massive infection after surgery , I was refused my pain meds. Waking up in agony could be avoided if I could get meds in a timely manner. Once the opiates were in effect I hobbled in moderate pain to desk asking to see head nurse. She showed up, stood in doorway clearly indicating I was wasting her time. But I did get med schedule written on board..... and followed.

I have nothing good to say about that hospital. And cannot recommend it.


I learned many years ago I have the right to refuse treatment but in the years since I havent met another doctor that knows this.

When I was very, very new to lc & still unsure what a diabetic should eat, I ended up in the hospital for an operation. The operation was a success, but the "diabetic" food I got was terrible! Even then I was pretty sure a diabetic shouldn't be eating creamed chicken over noodles. At least I was out of there the next day, so I didn't eat too many of their meals.

Last year I had day surgery & asked specifically about the IV - they said they never use the glucose one unless it is medically necessary. What I didn't know was how sick I was going to be when I woke up. They gave me commercial applesauce (which I loathe) so there would be something in my stomach when I started throwing up. Later, I was happy to have the soda crackers. They came up again pretty quickly, so I don't think the carbs mattered much. :D

It's hard to know what questions to ask before ending up in the hospital, even more so if it's an emergency hospitalization. Ideally, there would be a family member who has your back, but in my case, my husband means well, but doesn't really understand low carb. I think in the future I might ask my daughter to come visit. She's pretty good at understanding lc, even if she does lean toward vegetarianism. I love her anyway. :rheart:

My pet hospital rant has nothing to do with food or low carb, but I find it, in hindsight, amusing. I had had a hard time sleeping, and when the nurse came in at 3 in the morning to take my vitals I was not happy - but compliant; I know they have a schedule to keep, and more work than a limited staff can accomplish easily (hospital staffing problem, not individuals being difficult). But when he then said that it was "time to pee" i got upset and said no, it wasn't; let me sleep. No, he had time then, and my output had to be measured. I said no, I can do that. His face was a picture: "But ... but ... it's in metric!" I am normally a fairly laid back person, and understanding of other people's issues, but at 3 in the morning, suffering from lack of sleep, I fear I was quite rude to the poor man. :-). And yes, later I was quite capable of measuring my own output, even though it was metric, and writing it down on the appropriate sheet of paper.
Of course, nowadays, 3 o'clock pee time sounds about right :-)