Impending Hospital Stay

[zansu]

Have any of you pittsburghers had any in-patient experience with AGH? I'll be in for surgery in late december and want to know if I can trust their kitchen.

[Phyllis28]

I don't know about AGH in particular. When I had my gallbladder out I checked with the hospital (not AHG) to find out my options. They told me they could accomodate my diet but I could also bring in my own food. I opted to bring my own food. I kept non-parishable items in my room and the rest was in the refrigerator on the hospital floor I was staying on. There was a microwave available to heat up the food. I only ordered drinks (milk, soda....) and fresh whole fruit from the hospital food service. This worked well for me as I was only in the hospital for 1 day.

Hope everything goes well with your surgery.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I don't know, but AHG DOES have a celiac clinic on-site. I don't know their telephone number, but they shouldn't be too hard to find. I would suggest calling the celiac clinic and asking what they suggest.

Best of luck!

[jerseyangel]

When I had surgery last winter, including a 2 day stay--I asked about this at my pre-op appointment.

The nurses all agreed that it would be best if I brought my own food. They showed my husband to a microwave where he could heat things up for me--I brought everything I thought I'd need (husband brought meals that I had made in advance and frozen) and it worked out fine.

Pacific makes single-serve chicken broth that is very nice if you are on liquids.

I had major abdominal surgery, and did not want to risk having to rush to the bathroom.

Also, be sure to ask about any meds you take on a regular basis (if any). The generic one I was taking, they didn't know if they had a gluten-free substitute, so I brought that, too.

[kevsmom]

I would talk to the nutritionist at the hospital before you go in, to see what type of accomodations are available. I was very lucky, my local hospital had a gluten free menu, and the staff were knowledgeable about cross-contamination. I also made up lables (to put on anything that I thought might need it...my record, the menu's, medication sheets, etc.) saying "GLUTEN FREE". I didn't get glutened once.

Good luck.