Indiana RN
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
Posts: 1
Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2003 3:48 am Post subject: Dialysis meals/snacks
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If you are in a unit that serves a meal or snacks I am curious as to what type of food you are served. We are batting this idea around and I just want some input. Thanks as always.
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jfwag
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
Posts: 140
Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2003 5:12 am Post subject: Ha, ha...
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This an interesting one. At the center Lois used to go to, she had to sneak her little snacks. Although they knew they complained and bitched and told her that was why her BP went so low. They said the blood was all going to her stomache to help digest it. This probably has some truth to it but over in Europe, France? maybe, I have heard they serve meals and then dessert, plus. Of course they dialyze much longer which as we all know won't happen here. Good luck, hope it works out.
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jfwag
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
Posts: 140
Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2003 5:16 am Post subject: Just to add...
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to this one. When we went home and dialyze at the house, I'd serve a huge
eakfast, eggs, toast, juice tea and what have you but never had a BP problem. Of course I could specialize the TX to suit the fluid taken in by extending the TX, use a profile etc...
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patient
Joined: 29 Oct 2002
Posts: 137
Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2003 10:02 am Post subject: meals on tx
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Indiana RN, <
>I'm glad you
ought this subject up of meals on tx, because I may be one of the only ones who thinks its a good thing. I feel there are a lot of myths that have circulated, so much so, that most everyone believes them. I know nuerous peoplw who do home hemo who eat complete meals in tx with no problems. But more than that I am impressed with the views of a patient I know who has done home hemo for about 15 years, always has a complete meal the first hour, dialyzes 4 1/2 hours 3xweek, has totally eliminated the need for EPO, has excellant labs, exercises regulary and gets ample oxygen out doors, and has excellant stamina. He believes that if a meal is given during dialysis, that is less toxins that linger in the body before removal. Does anyone know what the reason is behind European units offering meals? There has to be a reason and I doubt its just to entertain the patients???
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ridgerunner
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
Posts: 101
Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2003 4:48 pm Post subject: meals during dialysis
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i am a home patient who dialyzes 48 hours a week. 6nights a week. i dialyze in a beb and have a cart wher i keep my food and drinks also i have a small frig. in my room. i think if the patient wants to
ing food and cleans up their mess fine. the clinics should be thinking about adaquate treatment not the frills. the least amount of treatment is 18 to 24 hours a week. the patients are going to have to accept that the problem is theirs and do as much as they can for themselves. the clinic is a place for treatment not a resturant. all the care givers energy and time should be on education and teaching self care. a undertreated patient has very little ability to learn so adaquate treatment must be given first. the chairs in a clinic are a killer if you have a bad back so to give adaquate treatment you must use a bed. have you ever tried to take a 6 to 8 hour flight non stop in a plane it gives you some idea how the chairs feel to a patient.
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patient
Joined: 29 Oct 2002
Posts: 137
Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2003 6:55 pm Post subject: more
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I would say, yes, by all means, allow meals, and at the same time, get rid of the chairs and use beds. I've been on dialysis for several years and the chair is bothering me more, and more. My legs and back ache. My access arm gets uncomfortable and I have to keep repositioning my whole body. By the time I get off tx, I feel like I've been in the struggle of my life to stay sane ( and I re-live this every MWF of my life!). I am often so uncomfortable, that sometimes the last 5-10 minutes can seem like an eternity. I honestly feel that the conditions are so non-condusive to comfort, that it is a form of torture. I once dialyzed in an acute unit using a bed and it was far more comfortable/bearable. <
><
>Again, I do not feel that a meal during dialysis is an extra, unnecessary feature of the tx - I feel it is medically and nutritionally essential. Likewise, whoever decided that patients should sit in chairs for these long txs obviously didn't have good judgement. It works against sound tx and recovery when the patient is fighting off hunger pangs and thirst during tx, is so uncomfotable his bones are aching all over, is cringing from a freezing cold unit or air conditioning vents blowing directly on him and other indignities. Likewise, staff are doing a monumental job yet the companies are not providing them decent and safe working conditions. They have aching backs, too, from having to work at chairs that are not positioned logically and have many other workplace inequities to endure.
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traveler
Joined: 13 Jan 2003
Posts: 2
Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2003 2:42 am Post subject: european reasoning behind meals
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No the european clinics that I went to did not entertain patients with food. The nurses was documenting nutritional intake to ensure that patient has appetite etc. And yes I was dialyzed in a dialysis bed that was inspected by the state that had an inspection sticker on it much like automobile. This bed had a footboard that you pressed on if you were cramping instead of a patient care tech's leg that might fall over. Bedding was changed every treatment and dialysis bed was adjustable by remote. Better ways to find entertainment than a dialysis clinic. Not my kind of playground.
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Lin
Joined: 28 Oct 2002
Posts: 337
Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2003 5:00 am Post subject: Meals on tx.
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I don't think pts. are at the center that long that they need to have large meals there; a lite snack should suffice.<
>I travel quite a distance to and from tx. and am on machine 3 1/2 hrs.. none the less I
ing perhaps an apple and some ice cubes in an insulated cup.<
>It's too dangerous (and messy!) to try to perform cpr on a pt. if needed. I've been both sides of the coin and think the way to go is a lite snack. That should satisfy everyone! It's also wiser to
ing your own snack because that way you don't have to worry about cross contamination. Pts. should never share food for the same reason. Just my thoughts! Lin.
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SHIRTS
Joined: 13 Jan 2003
Posts: 39
Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2003 5:13 am Post subject: MEALS
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SNACKS ARE OK .......BUT FULL MEALS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED<
>STAY WELL
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patient
Joined: 29 Oct 2002
Posts: 137
Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2003 8:49 am Post subject: To traveler
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Thank you for the interesting info you
ought to the board about European dialysis. Wow, they dialyze patients in beds and even have footboards?! And, yes, they document nutritional intake?! This certainly supports what I'm trying to say here. Apparantly,
European dialysis has put thought into what's medically best for the patients rather than assemblylining them. Regarding eating on dialysis, I'll say it again - a complete meal on dialysis is not simply a frill--its a necessary medical and nutritional component of the tx. If the tx is run efficiently and safely the risk of aspiration is insignificant.
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Coil
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Posts: 27
Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2003 11:57 am Post subject: Re: To traveler
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Meals during treatment is a continual debate up north, all depending on the chief doc's opinions. At my unit, we have a "bag lunch" made for each patient, generally a half sandwich, cookies, and fruit. <
>In terms of bed/chairs, we have a fifty fifty spilt, for beds and chairs. For serious and acute patients we have a seperate satellite near our ICU/operating area.
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traveler
Joined: 13 Jan 2003
Posts: 2
Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2003 3:05 am Post subject: meal/chair solution (Coil)
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Sounds as though your clinic has found a solution to the big meal/chair quandry. This needs to be implemented all clinics. Small "bag snack/lunch" for patients that can tolerate per doctor's orders and a bed for patient that are unable to sit up for treatment. Of course all of this sounds wonderful until a person tries to convince the for-profits that this is truly a good program.
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livecam
Joined: 09 Feb 2003
Posts: 6
Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2003 10:25 am Post subject: Mealtime on the machine
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During my dialysis days which thankfully are history I would often eat a full meal some of which were fairly elaborate. Work was 7-3 and dialysis was during the normal dinner hours. Usually I would pick something up but one or two night a week my wife would cook a full dinner and
ing it down. I can still remember the couple of times when she
ought steak and lobster down hot off the barbecue. Back in those days I would pick up a large iced tea at Starbucks and slowly nurse the thing through treatment. Not any more!<
><
>When we traveled in Germany about 2 1/2 years ago meals were most certainly served in the unit. A staff member took orders for a homemade sandwich and a drink, went back to make the meals, then delivered to each patient along with a small desert item. That was luxury and the other aspects of the treatment were just as nice. A belated Christmas/New Years card from the German unit arrived here yesterday which reminded me of how nice things were in that unit. <
><
>The best dialysis is no dialysis. If you aren't listed yet get moving and start thinking about your last dialysis treatment.
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ExUser
Joined: 14 Feb 2003
Posts: 4
Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2003 3:16 am Post subject: Livecam
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Amen: The best Dialysis is no Dialysis.<
> GET LISTED AND GET LIVING<
><
>LIVECAM I'M STEALING YOUR STATEMENT AND ADDING IT TO MY OWN!<
><
>As far as food on Dialysis. YES, YES, YES I dialyzed for Four and a Half hours X. I had a snack over the dead bodies of a lot of DMs. I drank a full z glass of water on treatment and figure it into my removal. Numbers were always the best in the clinics. Exercised every other day walked over two miles on tread mill.<
><
>No one knew I was on Dialysis to look at me. I feel the food help me not feel so drained after the treatment.<
><
>Full meal only for those with consistantly stable blood pressure. I only ate crackers or cookies few grapes or apple slices. What a difference this made.<
><
>Just a footnote, people who were no-compliant in their water restrictions did not do well with food....
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For Livecam
Joined: 14 Feb 2003
Posts: 1
Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2003 8:35 am Post subject: and others
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What model machines did you dialyze on while eating meals both at your regular units and while traveling?
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livecam
Joined: 09 Feb 2003
Posts: 6
Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2003 4:15 am Post subject: Machines
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In the home unit and in Las Vegas and Hawaii they were always Fresenius machines. I think they were model 208 but I don't completely remember. The German clinic used Althin (Drake/Willock).
