What food can I take in?

[cate16]

My elderly mother 83 fell and broke her leg three weeks ago. She is still in hospital and not eating. She tells the staff her family bring in food for her- when actually we do not, well not proper food - just snack type things just to encourage her to eat something. (which she rarely touches but simply passes onto to next visitor thinking we don't know this)
My question is- what would be a good hot nutritious, easy to prepare 'meal' that would travel around 20-30 mins and still be safe 20-30 later?

She told my brother tonight she would really like some scrabbled egg on toast! If I'm honest I think she might be trying to think of things that we can't take to aid her 'non eating'.
She does not like using bedpan/commode... and we feel she is not eating because of this.

Any suggestions? (please)

Home-made soup in a flask? Most wards will have a microwave so in theory you could take in most things. Soups, stews, anything like that she might fancy? I think the key thing would be small amounts to try and tempt her appetite.

No microwave....although my brother an I have joked about taking one in.

We take the tempting tit-pits- but she says she's going to eat them later- and passes them on to next visitor!

Good thinking, I might try a stewy type thing in a wide neck flask...that way she'll have to eat some as I couldn't possibly leave the flask ;) ;)

Its infuriating as it is now beginning to seriously impact her general health and she flatly refuses the hospital food.

Have you had a chat with the nurses? If she's barely eating she'll be loosing weight fast. If you let them know your concerns they could make a referral to the dieticians and keep food diaries. That way she might start to realise how important nutrition is to her recovery.

YOu do need to ask to speak to someone at the hospital. They need to be told she is not eating anything and asked how they are going to help you deal with it. She's not going to improve if she's not eating after all.

There are milkshake type protein drinks, I think one is called Sustain that might help. You don't need to tell her how nutritious it is but it could keep her going until she feels better and wants to eat more. Speak to the nurses about getting them prescribed, they are available as soups too.

Flasks of stew would be good. Cottage pie or similar in a thermal bag with bottles of hot water around to keep it warm. Are there cafes nearby or could the hospital one do scrambled eggs so you can just carry it to the ward?

Can she be moved to a bed near the toilet and helped to use that rather than the commode?

If she isn't eating at all the staff should be monitoring exactly what she is eating (and what is coming out) they shouldn't just accept "my family are feeding me" without knowing what and that she is eating it. I would certainly talk to the staff, they may also be able to put in a special request to the kitchen for scrambled egg (depending how helpful the kitchen staff are)

How about some simple sandwiches to start with?

I can fully understand where your mother is coming from. I refused to eat the hospital food and ended up being fed through a tube for eight weeks.

Food monitoring was a joke. I had to fill in a form myself so put that I was eating more than I was, the only giveaway was my Weight was dropping rapidly. All my body waste output was measured which I hated.

With regards to food being brought in, I found it harder and harder to want to eat anything and my family tried really hard without success. Eventually soup was the starting point and then cakes but I didn't start eating until I got home.

I also started to eat sandwiches and yogurts and cheese lumps.

Hope your mother recovers soon

hope your mother is getting better, I second asking for a dietetic referral, should happen the same day you ask. There are lots of milkshake or juice drinks that they can try, fortisip, fortijuice are some.

You can buy similar in a pharmacy.