Food, glorious, food

The last time I was admitted to hospital for my hip problem I spent eight very long weeks there.

The first couple of weeks I was pretty poorly as I was recovering from blood poisoning caused by the hip infections, so food was the last thing on my mind.

Once the infected hip was removed and the IV antibiotics started to work the hospital hoped that my appetite would pick up. Sadly it didn't. 

A dietitian put me on high calorie, multi-vitamin and mineral milk shake drinks twice a day to try and get me to eat again. If anything it did the complete opposite as they were disgusting !!!!!

Sweets, crisps, etc were banned on the ward. However they made an exception as they were desperate for me to eat something, anything, so John was able to bring in contraband.

I'm not a fussy eater. I love quite a lot of different kinds of food - Italian, Chinese, Indian, French, a little Mexican as long as it's not too hot. The problem is I hate meat and two veg dinners. Always have done. That was the majority of what the Sunderland Royal hospital served.

The hospital dietitian was so desperate for me to eat something that I ended up having meals taken from special diets - Halal, Kosha, gluten free - as they were anything but bland. I even had meals off the children's menu!!!!

Meals here at the King Edward VII hospital are a little different. Each morning, just after breakfast, you are given three menu sheets to complete (your 'homework' as one of the food servers calls it).

The first sheet is for dinner that evening. You get a choice of three starters, three 'salad' main and three or four hot main dishes. To accompany the hot mains are various choices of side dishes too.

For dessert there's at least four options plus a huge variety of ice cream and sorbets, and to end, six difference choices of cheese and biscuits. 

Breakfast can be continental, full English or if you're hungry, a mixture of both !!! For health and safety reasons egg yolks must be cook until it's hard. So no soft boiled eggs or runny yokes are allowed.

Lunch is pretty much the same as dinner. Instead of starters you get the option of jacket potatoes or freshly made omelettes with various toppings. There's several hot or cold main options, with desserts similar to the dinner menu.

If you just want a light lunch then you can order a variety of sandwiches and baguettes. 

When John visits he's able to have meals with me as they have 'guest menus' which have similar options to patients.

For dinner tonight I had chicken liver pate for starters; grilled turkey escalopes on a bed of creamy mashed potato, grilled asparagus and a creamy mushroom sauce, with a side dish of mixed salad for my main; and a lemon cheesecake with a biscuit crumb topping for dessert.

 

I thought you might like to see a photo of how it arrived.You certainly don't get this on the NHS.

 

 
Oh and before you ask it was yummy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Marie