Having major surgery soon, any new hospital info on staying in Ketosis

(Germaine M Schweibinz) #1

Hello. I go for my pre op on Wednesday and I have read all of the old posts about a hospital stay, is there any new info out there that might help? How can I avoid the IV glucose? What about meals? Any new info will be great.

(Alec) #2
  1. Take your own food
  2. Get a relative to bring you food
  3. Tell the staff to NOT use any medical substance with glucose in it
(Megan) #3

All the best with your upcoming surgery. Take your own food for those times there is nothing suitable on the hospital menu. Regarding the glucose in the IV, there are some IV fluids that have no glucose in them so you can request one. Or ask how much glucose is in the IV fluids - itā€™s usually a very low amount. Unless you wonā€™t be able to drink for quite a while post op, you probably wonā€™t need to have an IV in for long.

#4

Best wishes for your surgery!

(Ohio ) #5

As an epileptic who believes ketosis is the bodies natural state, Iā€™ll just reinforce what Iā€™ve everyone is saying. Itā€™s a nightmare thinking about waking up in a hospital bed and getting brought jello, ice cream, fruit cups, etc. Since ketosis isnā€™t in most doctors vocabulary. Good luck.

(Bob M) #6

At least in the US, I think meals are also controlled by the guidelines, which of course are high carb. So, youā€™re not going to get anything low carb, though you might be able to eat some parts of the meals.

#7

I canā€™t say anything about the IV as I donā€™t know how that worksā€¦
The meals: it depends on the country and probably the hospital and of course your appetite/hunger that itā€™s a lost case or not.
My country provides a very small amount, super simple food (definitely no sweets ever but plenty of carbs. a slice of bread with a slice of cheese is a common breakfast or dinner) and the non-carby part is so tiny that I would simply ask my family bring food (well, my SO as only he has any idea about what carb means), itā€™s very normal here anyway.
Not everyone gets the same food but just because someone prefers something, they donā€™t bring them the desired fare, you need to have the proper disease/sickness for itā€¦ I donā€™t think they understand proper low-carb.

If the food is extremely much and varied, itā€™s possible that the best parts of the food could work. I saw photos of Australian hospital food, I am sure small families eat less in many parts of the world. A huge percentage was carbs and insanely much added sugar but the rest wasnā€™t negligible either, there was meat and vegs, it still can be ruined with some sauce thoughā€¦

(Tracy) #8

Tell the anaesthetist you are in ketosis.
Bring food with you, I brought hard boiled eggs, yogurt, cheese and ham.
Check medication schedules and if meds need to be taken before, with or after food. I kept been woken at 6am for medication to be taken before food and confused the staff when I said I donā€™t eat until the afternoon. How could I possibly not eat breakfast :laughing: ?
Best of luck with the surgery and concentrate on recovery from that rather than getting hung up on staying in ketosis, a short term bump in the road is easier to see overcome than failed or cancelled surgery.
Best wishes.

(Alec) #9

Australian experience: my son had an op on his eye socketā€¦ it was only day surgery but he was there for over 15 hours, and we left around 10pm. The food he was served was abject: fruit juice, jelly, ice cream, white bread sandwich with a tiny piece of cheese in it (at least the cheese was real, not processed), crackers, coke. Horrible. How they expect people to get better eating that kind of sh1t is beyond meā€¦

(Cathy) #10

I think you will find that glucose isnā€™t a normally in the fluids they give you but be sure to question it.

Food is terrible. I tried to get a low carb meal and they brought me rice, an orange and a mystery meat (spam or ham?). I ate what I could and left the rest. My stay was only a day and 1/2 so no big deal.

Wishing you the best outcome on your surgery and BTW, best to get out of the hospital as soon as possible!!!

#11

Spent time helping a family member who was recovering from heart surgery at the end of 2016. It was horrible, blintzes, mystery meat with sauce, egg white omletes, mashed potatoes

Agree with everyone else, bring your own food if you can and ask what it is in the IV. Do they make really small fridges? I have seen the personal ones that hold a few cans of soda, maybe bring one of those filled with foods you like? Also, there are keto breads and crackers so you can make a sandwich

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #12

A glucose drip is usually for someone who canā€™t eat, for whatever reason. A saline drip for hydration or for administering medication is more usual. You might try talking with your surgeon to see whether he or she will prescribe a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet for the duration of your stay. Sometimes that works. Otherwise, one of the other strategies listed previously will work.

I found, when I broke both my arms, that it helped to get out of bed and walk around, and the staff approved of this. The hospital had a cafeteria and a few commercial chains that I could walk to, and they permitted me to go that far, especially if a friend was with me. I wasnā€™t keto yet, at the time, but it would have been fairly easy. That hospital also allowed patients to select from a menu. Not all the options were great, but I bet I could have stayed keto. The rehab after the hospital was a really crappy place, and staying keto there would have been far more difficult.

(Geoffrey) #13

I will never eat hospital food again unless they come out with a carnivore diet plan.
Every time Iā€™m in the hospital they put me on a ā€œheart healthyā€ diet :face_vomiting:. That was before I became carnivore. Iā€™ve told my wife that if I ever have another hospital stay sheā€™s going to be kept busy bringing me food.

(KM) #14

I think my go-to if Iā€™m forced into that position will be a fast, provided itā€™s not weeks on end. Iā€™m kind of convinced the body needs quiet time to heal from many assaults, and then it needs the rebuilding protein. Two birds with one stone, perhaps, other than facing the ā€˜you have an eating disorder, at least have some jelloā€™ brigade.

(Ohio ) #15

I think anyone waking up from surgery could have their B vitamins annihilated. Kroger has pre cooked bacon without the crazy preservatives . I actually used these to control morning seizures and slept with a pack underneath my pillow. "BOD"s Bacon On Demand. That would be my secret weapon if I had planned surgery.

#16

My family member refused to eat after heart surgery. This was 2016, pre Keto so we kept trying to tempt him to eat, meanwhile it totally helped his diabetes (he is a TOFI) and a few months later was off all his T2 meds. He did stick to a low carb diet for a number of years subsequent to the surgery

(Ethan) #17

IN our area, they now offer an al la carte menu for food. You can get just a burger patty. That said, it wonā€™t usually be much food. You may want to have people bring you food or get it delivered, which may need somebody to bring it up to you. Unfortunately, the hospitals often will force a glucose drip if the surgery and recovery are long.