I Hate Dialysis Message Board

Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: General Discussion => Topic started by: twirl on September 08, 2009, 02:43:41 AM

Title: could you be any ruder
Post by: twirl on September 08, 2009, 02:43:41 AM
okay, we can not eat in dialysis as of a few months ago,
we can smell fresh popped popcorn -
even at 6am it smells good -
a tech said, "what we can not eat in the break room?"
yes, you can but you are torturing us
and you know it -
smelling coffee is bad enough, but now popcorn
they will not give us coffee anymore
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: silverhead on September 08, 2009, 04:33:38 AM
That's torture!, but I suppose it could be worse, just wait until some idiot burns it, that smell makes me gag and seems to linger forever.......
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: willowtreewren on September 08, 2009, 04:51:59 AM
This highlights for me one of the advantages of dialyzing at home. Carl generally eats dinner while on the machine. And drinks, and has snacks.

Twirl, if the techs had to go for hours without any kind of nourishment, they might re-think their practices.  :banghead;

Wish I could make it better for you.

Aleta
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: jpearce on September 08, 2009, 04:56:34 AM
My clinics the same, the Doctor pops her popcorn sits at the nurses desk and eats it while were all sitting there!!!! The nurses walk around with their extra large tim hortons coffee and a litre water bottle then they all sit together in their section gossiping. Common sense and a little respect would be to much to ask for! :rant; :boxing;
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: RichardMEL on September 08, 2009, 06:17:35 AM
yep unbelieveable. That is not on!

I have to say our staff are usually pretty good. They eat in their break room yes, but it's down a hall so you usually can't smell stuff unless you go in there to talk to them so that's fine. If they have food on the floor they almost always share with us - like if someone brings something in, or it's a birthday or something. I think they are pretty good to us. Yes they drink but it's their workplace and they should have coffee/water whatever if they want, but they keep that at the nurses station and don't stick it in our faces. I think they are pretty aware. That's why every so often I'm happy to buy them coffee or whatever. We are one big family AND they let us eat!!!!!! That's why I keep my box of M&M's full for them :)

I must admit though today they spent part of the afternoon talking food and I was getting VERY hungry!!! LOL
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: greco02 on September 08, 2009, 07:31:18 AM
Years ago my husband had day surgery on this shoulder.  He was fasting and when the triage nurse came in to prep him and take his vitals she had just popped a piece of gum into her mouth so the smell was pretty strong.  Jim actually said something to her....something like gosh, here I am fasting and you are chewing gum and that is actually making me more hungry.   I usually tell the supervisors about those type of things.  I agree that staff should be able to take their breaks and have snacks but be consideate.  Unlike some of my coworkers who warm up fish in the microwave that is in the lounge.  Which (by the way) vents into my office! >:(
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: peleroja on September 08, 2009, 09:31:13 AM
I would start by complaining to the director of nursing.  If you get no relief, keep going up the "food chain" until you find someone who will listen to your complaints and do something about them.  As a last resort, consider changing centers. 
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: willowtreewren on September 08, 2009, 09:40:19 AM
I guess they *could* be ruder by plopping down in front of your chair to do their noshing!  :rofl; :rofl;
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: d-man on September 08, 2009, 10:15:22 AM
well if it's any consolation to you I do it to them at my clinic. They are not allowed food or drink on the floor but we are and some times I'll get some chicken strips and one tech will come and just sit by me when she can.
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: KICKSTART on September 08, 2009, 10:26:29 AM
Wow i must be spoilt ! We get put on our machines then about 15 mins later we all get tea and toast , then about an hour before we finish they come round with more tea and sandwiches. You can also eat and drink whatever you take in .
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: LightLizard on September 08, 2009, 10:50:37 AM
i think this attitude of the tech staff is related to the health care system of the countries involved. here in canada, you are allowed to take anything you want into a center to eat while dialyzing. even the hospital unit allows it.
still, i too prefer home dialysis to in center. i would like to know what their reasoning really is, behind this restriction. it's not fair at all and makes me think that the attitude of some health care professionals
toward their patients is not a very healthy one!
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: keefbeer on September 08, 2009, 11:19:25 AM
Monday of last week was a holiday here in the UK so the night staff on my unit decided they should cheer themselves up by ordering Chinese food for their evening break. This necessitated all the nurses, auxiliaries,unit clerk, drivers and a security guard coming onto the nurses station and then filling out on-line their order.
This of course with them talking about choices,favourites and drinks begin to drive us up the wall, they then began to collect the money to pay the delivery guy. But the worst was the smell of the forbidden delicacies being microwaved at regular intervals as staff took their breaks over the rest of the night
Never mind water-boarding this is real torture.       
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: twirl on September 08, 2009, 11:20:37 AM
that is just sad    >:(
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: Slywalker on September 08, 2009, 12:24:16 PM
I could bring whatever I wanted to eat to the dialysis unit.  I didn't notice our techs or nurses eating on the unit.  Their break room must have been somewhere else. 

 :bunny:
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: jpearce on September 08, 2009, 12:41:51 PM
 :rant; Sorry to keep on ranting but......
We can bring what we want but have to hear about how bad it is. We had a gentleman that would go to the cafeteria and get ice for the patients and coffee for the nurses. Bad luck had it the Superiors didn't want him bringing us ice anymore but he still gets to bring the nurses their coffee. Lil double standard? >:( ???
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: YLGuy on September 08, 2009, 06:55:03 PM
My last center ordered stacks of pizzas and had them right next to where you weighed.  I made a comment to one of the tech's and he just shrugged.  I wonder if some of the staff have ever heard of the word empathy? 
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: RichardMEL on September 08, 2009, 06:57:07 PM
Sometimes I see new patients come in and their families being all nice and caring come with them and bring them huge bottles of coke and chips and stuff!!!!! I internally gasp at the thought, but then realise they are probably still peeing, and the PO4 will be taken out by the dialysis process and all that but it's like oh man I want I want I want I want I want!!!!  :rofl;

I got partial revenge on nurses yesterday when we were joking about meeting up in Hong Kong after I get a transplant and having high tea. I told them no problem I'll go there first class and started talking about the awesome food and service I've had in past flights... and they were moaning about flying in economy(coach).. *evil cackle*
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: thegrammalady on September 09, 2009, 12:45:46 PM
i think the no eating rule in some units, SUCKS! i think the reason behind it is that medicare is trying to eliminate anything that "they" feel makes patients sick and causes them to be hospitalized. some diabetics can't go 4 hours without eating.
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: twirl on September 09, 2009, 02:17:11 PM
the doctor on rounds today told me that I need a donut  :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:
he was talking about the kind you sit on for a sore behind   :( :( :( :sir ken;
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: Jean on September 09, 2009, 07:22:29 PM
Leave it to Twirl      :rofl; :rofl; :rofl; :rofl;
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: RichardMEL on September 10, 2009, 05:17:33 AM
today I took in some chiocolate frogs for the staff, and I had them sitting on top of my regular container of M&M's and another container of mints... and that's when the dietician walked in!!!  :rofl;
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: paddbear0000 on September 10, 2009, 03:53:04 PM
We're not allowed to eat or drink at our clinic either. We can't even eat hard candy or chew gum! And if you're diabetic, like me, tough luck! It's because ONCE, a long time ago, someone chocked while eating while crashing on the machine. I find every opportunity to complain about this rule though. At least the staff isn't allowed to have anything either unless it's in the break room at the back of the building. It's torture though because my session runs right through lunchtime so I don't get lunch! I can't eat breakfast on dialysis days because I have a tendency to throw it back up while there. i'm sooo hungry by the time i get home around 3:30 or 4, I end up eating and my poor husband ends up eating a tv dinner when he gets home later.
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: Hanify on September 10, 2009, 05:44:52 PM
I think it's a ridiculous rule too.  When I did haemo I even vomited back up my food a couple of times, and our nurses just cleaned everything up, got me another drink so I didn't get dehydrated, and suggested I try a little bit of food more slowly next time.   They had a tea trolley come around each shift.  We tend to always do 5 hour shifts and that is just too long to expect people to go without a drink or something.
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: Pam on September 10, 2009, 06:24:36 PM
My clinic is nothing to eat also. Unless the Dietitian says  ok. I have her orders to eat a protein bar  :puke; and because I am Diabetic to always have apple juice and crackers with me. I sit them on my table and no one has ever said a word. They give us ice but at 6;30 am I want coffee!!!
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: RichardMEL on September 10, 2009, 09:43:24 PM
I think it's a ridiculous rule too.  When I did haemo I even vomited back up my food a couple of times, and our nurses just cleaned everything up, got me another drink so I didn't get dehydrated, and suggested I try a little bit of food more slowly next time.   They had a tea trolley come around each shift.  We tend to always do 5 hour shifts and that is just too long to expect people to go without a drink or something.

Very similar here. Well I guess Aussies and kiwis do do things in a very similar way!!
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: keefbeer on September 11, 2009, 05:27:28 AM
As do the Brits Richard, the "chuck wagon" comes around a couple of times a shift offering hot and cold drinks, pastries and the "sandwich of last resort" you have to be really hungry to look forward to one of these bad boys!
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: KICKSTART on September 11, 2009, 11:34:29 AM
You get hot and cold drinks and pastries a couple of times a shift?  We get tea (well i think it is!) and one of those last resort , soggy sandwiches , most of which are cheese and something, or something and tomato, how good is that !
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: Restorer on September 11, 2009, 01:23:23 PM
Man, reading all this makes Hemo look like torture. I'm on PD and trying hard to stay on PD, but even though I only go in for about an hour every two weeks or so, I've been given protein bars by my nurse to eat during some of the longer training sessions. But, of course, I'm not in the same room with anyone else dialysing, and I'm not hooked up to a machine.

And, on manuals, I was encourage to eat during an exchange, mostly because the feeling of being full can decrease appetite, so eating while empty during an exchange can mean better nutrition, I guess.

I've gotta step it up to stay on PD or get a transplant. I'm really scared of Hemo at this point.
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: Bub on September 11, 2009, 01:25:46 PM
I get annoyed when the clinic staff runs around with a Pepsi which I love and cant have.
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: Ken Shelmerdine on September 11, 2009, 02:26:28 PM
I'm as amazed as Kickstart. We get delicious sandwiches cakes and tea all for free. You can also bring your own food in fact you can eat any rubbish you wish as the techs say it will be dialysed out as long as you eat for example something like a packet of crisps (sorry potatoe chips) in the first hour of dialysis.
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: Ang on September 11, 2009, 08:59:20 PM
we  get  a  sandwich,coffe,tea,ice,bikkies


then  you  can  bring  what  ever  you  like  to  eat,the  nurses  might  give  you  a  bit  of  a  sideways  glance, if  its  something  you  should'nt  be  eating,the  nurses  eat  in  their  meal  room,occassionally  you  can  smell  the  food  if  your  up  there  end  of  the  unit.


if  i  was  refused  permission  to  eat  drink,i'd  be  straight  on  to  the  media. :boxing;
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: RichardMEL on September 12, 2009, 07:50:54 AM
I'm as amazed as Kickstart. We get delicious sandwiches cakes and tea all for free. You can also bring your own food in fact you can eat any rubbish you wish as the techs say it will be dialysed out as long as you eat for example something like a packet of crisps (sorry potatoe chips) in the first hour of dialysis.

Correct on that one. If someone has a birthday or something and there's a cake (guess who likes to bring chocolate cake???) or something they make sure we have it in the first hour so the K will be leached out and it's no real problem.

As for the "sandwich of last resort" yeah that's what we have. I think they must all be made in the same place and sent around the world!  :rofl;

Our particular brand come in lots of 6 triangles - so in reality like 1 and a half "full" sandwiches. Usually 2 egg, 1 or 2 "cheese"(aka plastic that somehiow after a few bites is oddly addictive) and 2 salad. Sometimes they might mix it up with tuna, or chicken. The chicken is my fave.

Damn I'm hungry now. Might make a turkey sandwich :)







EDITED:Fixed smiley tag error-kitkatz,Moderator
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: mikey07840 on September 12, 2009, 08:51:15 PM
Good news for me... At my new unit in Pennsylvania, starting 2 weeks from now, I may eat during dialysis. I was told that they have a water cooler in the reception, fill up before going to treatment. They have coffee or tea, bring any other drinks or food. I was warned that they don't stock food or have vending machines, so to make sure to bring what I like from home.
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: aharris2 on September 13, 2009, 05:12:09 AM
the doctor on rounds today told me that I need a donut  :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:
he was talking about the kind you sit on for a sore behind   :( :( :( :sir ken;

Twirl, The cream filled ones are best for this  :angel;

They serve cocktails at my brother's unit at the beginning of treatment and at the midpoint (oooh ahhh)
...benedryl and phenergan
 :beer1;
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: YLGuy on September 16, 2009, 04:04:45 PM
Well today they came through with snacks for the first time.  They said it was protein awareness.  They had made 2 different recipes from the Davita site.  They had Rice Crispy treats made with protein powder and crackers spread with a cream cheese with pineapple, bell pepper and a little garlic.  Both were very good.  They also gave us a little V8 Splash to wash it down with.  I took the recipes and might make them someday.

 :o
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: Wayne on September 16, 2009, 07:58:18 PM
I had commented on another post that we can eat at our unit.  I go on at 11 am so I almost always come in with food.  I have even brought Mountain Dews for a couple of the techs.  If I have extra candy or whatever I even share with the techs/nurses.  I don't know what I would do if I couldn't eat.
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: Budluv on September 18, 2009, 08:44:35 AM
They have a similar rule here at my dialysis...  I bring food in every time I run...   What are they gonna do, take it away from you.  I feel sorry for anyone that would try.  I need my wheatthins.   
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: monrein on September 18, 2009, 12:37:31 PM
Well today they came through with snacks for the first time.  They said it was protein awareness.  They had made 2 different recipes from the Davita site.  They had Rice Crispy treats made with protein powder and crackers spread with a cream cheese with pineapple, bell pepper and a little garlic.  Both were very good.  They also gave us a little V8 Splash to wash it down with.  I took the recipes and might make them someday.

 :o

This would be a very useful thing that the renal social worker and dietician could (read should, as in really ought to) collaborate on.  Making samples of food within renal guidelines, encouraging patients to share ideas (dietician could help sort out nutritional values).  Social worker could get to know patients as people primarily, ESRD sufferers secondarily.  Patients could learn more about their illness and management of diet which is complicated...and really start to understand the link between food and lab values.

I've said it before but here it is again.  Some people should not eat on the machine because it affects how they feel.  Others should be able to if there are no contraindications for them. 
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: YLGuy on October 10, 2009, 08:20:00 AM
I get annoyed when the clinic staff runs around with a Pepsi which I love and cant have.

When I picked up my son from school the other day he surprised me with a Pepsi natural.  He remembered me saying that I could have that.  It was actually really good.  As far as I know it is okay for renal patients.
Note: I am NOT diabetic and I do not have any idea if it is okay for diabetics.
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: Lillupie on October 21, 2009, 11:57:22 AM
yes, this is another reason as to why i am on PD. THe center i go to when i am on backup hemo does not allow food or drink and does NOT have ice chips either. THey say that the State of Michigan does not allow eating food on dialysis. Whatever. So am trying to interview patients on nocturnal dialysis and am going to their support meeting, and i find out that this center (also in MIchigan) orders pizza! And people bring in their dinners and eat them. I used to eat McDonalds before and after dialysis because i knew i could not eat in the chair. Not only could i not eat in the center, but we werent allowed to use the phone, plug in anything from the outside or have visitors except between 12:00-12:30 and 5:30-6:00! Noone wants to sit there every other day. THe least they could do is let it be a little enjoyable. I say it is because my neph is annal.

Lisa
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: lizabee on October 21, 2009, 02:23:40 PM
My center is pretty good, we can bring a snack or meal if we will be there during breakfast/lunch time.  none of the workers eat on the floor, unless they have enough to share....they do bring cake for birthdays!  This is the only center I have been to, I couldn't imagine it being any other way.
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: galvo on November 13, 2009, 04:26:02 PM
This is interesting. So far, I'm on the arvo seesion, starting at 1430. Nothing in the way of food or drink is supplied. After 4+ hours, I am as dry as a dead dingo's donga!. One D started at 1400 and, lo and behold, the tea trolley rolled around, and I had a cuppa and a bikkie. So, I guess, some form of refreshment is provided, if I'm lucky enough to locate it. If I'm not - then go ahead and dehydrate, boy.

Another question, I shall put to the staff this arvo. And to the neph next Thurrsday.
Title: Re: could you be any ruder
Post by: MissyKew on November 13, 2009, 06:48:21 PM
I guess I am pretty lucky at my center as we are allowed to bring what we want to eat and drink.  I bring a large glass of ice and sometimes candy and something to eat.  I weigh in with them so they are counted in the dialysis process.  makes for no harm, no foul.  :)  The guy one chair down from me comes in loaded up with all sorts of food and drinks.  When I first started coming to dialysis, he would have Mickey D's sausage sandwiches.  He called them renal sausage.  LOL!  He is a real piece of work.  LOL!