Hospital Food

Today is five weeks since my surgery, and while I still have to limit myself with some things I am feeling much more myself again. Hurrah! I go back to work next week, so this week is a mix of doing some bits and pieces and also getting some final rest in. My procedure required an overnight stay, which made me anxious for a number of reasons. Of course one of those was wondering about food. The pre-admissions nurse I spoke to recommended I pack some extra snacks, and I was going to do that regardless. I went in with loads of peanut butter Clif Bars, BBQ Shapes, chocolate, and a just-add-water congee cup. But I was did not have to dip into them much. What a surprise!

My lunch was delivered right after I arrived in my room, when I was still zonked in and out of being awake because they had given me a super strong pain killer. So by the time I started thinking I might want to eat a little bit, it was mostly room temperature. Also it was difficult to eat, as I could only sit up with the assistance of the bed and it was just awkward positioning. I skipped over the soup entirely, I could tell that would be a disaster. I started with just nibbling on a breadroll, and then poked around the main a bit. I wasn't super hungry. My lunch was vegan singapore noodles, but they had used sweet chili sauce in them so they were a bit spicy. I mostly ate the vegetables (minus the capsicum), and a little bit of the noodles. The real star of the meal was the soy custard. That was good. Excellent for someone who had recently had major surgery.



Dinner arrived. Because I was super out of it I did not have a chance to select my dinner option, they just gave me a vegan one. It was a mild korma. The other thing I could have gotten was a vegan option of the Mexican-style salad. Again, it came with tomato soup but when I actually looked on the menu this was not listed as vegan, so I just skipped it to be safe. The mild korma was, spoiler alert, not mild to me. It was OK, but really pushed up against my (admittedly non-existant) tolerance. I again nibbled on a bread roll, and had some fruit salad to cool it down. Sadly, instead of delicious soy custard they gave me coconut yoghurt. I got them to put it back in the kitchen so it could be used again as I could not eat it.



A bit later on, I did have a Clif Bar as I was starting to feel a bit hungrier. Also shout out to the night nurse who brought me a kidney dish so I could brush my teeth in bed, as I wasn't allowed to get up and I desperately needed to clean them before I could sleep.

Morning came, and I had been able to select my meal the previous day. There were two vegan options! Avocado and sourdough toast, or pancakes. I know, I know, pancakes! But I went with the avocado toast. Also some baked beans. And All Bran with prunes. It is important to get on the fibre train asap after a surgery!! You want to get your guts back into working order as quickly as possible.



There was nothing vegan on the morning tea trolley, but I got some peppermint tea (I had to prove I could pee properly three times before I could go home, and peppermint tea is a diuretic, so I had a plan), and I nibbled on some BBQ shapes from my stash.

My final meal in hospital was lunch. I picked the vegan option of the pomodora pasta, as I figured it might be bland but at least would not be spicy. And I was correct! It was a perfectly find lunch of pasta with vegetables and tomato sauce. Also a breadroll (yes, as you can see they came with Nuttelex, a vegan spread!) and another cup of that delicious soy custard.



I was delightfully surprised that I was well fed during my time in hospital! I only wish that they didn't have spicy food as so many of the options. Not just because of my own preferences, but I feel like spicy food and being in hospital don't necessarily mix that well. But still, it was great to see vegan options (plural) for each meal. Apparently they are soon switching to an upgraded room service menu. While I am curious if there will be some new vegan options on there, I am in no hurry to go back and find out!

How have your experiences with hospital food been?

A few bonus photos! My mum made me a vegan chocolate cake for me to snack on when I got home!



And one of my friends, who has had a hysterectomy, found these amazing cookies online and had them delivered. I had never heard of this brand. They are not all vegan, but their vegan cookie box includes chocolate chip, choc hazelnut, cookies and cream (with oreos cut up through it), and Biscoff chocolate (which is stuffed with Biscoff spread!). They were huge, and so good!





Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Are you wondering what miss Abby thought of all of this? I had to get up at 4am on the morning of my procedure to wash my body and hair with special stuff before my early admission time. Abby was extremely concerned, followed me around meowing, even let me pick her up for a hug and didn't stop purring! When I got home the following afternoon, she was extremely suspicious initially, but then became a happy and purry little snuggle bunny. Then at night she jumped on top of me and stuck her foot right over one of my suture sites! Good work Abby!