Heart Healthy? Or Not?

My mother has a congenital heart defect that causes holes to develop in the heart muscle. Recently she had heart surgery. Again.

This is the second heart surgery she has had in her life, but the procedure was totally different. The first time she had surgery, they cracked her breast bone and opened her up. Then they put in a plastic piece to fix a hole in her heart.

That was 40 years ago.

 

Now, however, they didn’t even put her completely under anesthesia; she was in “twilight mode.” They used a catheter that went up from her groin arteries to reach her heart. Once there, the doctor used a tool that entered the holes (there were four of them!) in her heart, injected a glue-like substance, and removed the tool. The substance expanded and stuck to the heart muscle around it, closing off the hole.

We joked that my mother had her heart spackled. Ever having an awesome sense of humor, she thought that was funny.

I love my mother.

While visiting her in the hospital, though, I noticed something that bothered me. They had her on a “heart healthy” diet…makes sense when you consider she just had heart surgery! But the first thing they fed her was spaghetti with meat sauce, salad with Italian dressing, and a breadstick. Really?! That’s heart healthy?

When the attendant came and took her order for breakfast the next morning, her options were 1 of the following:

• Cream of Wheat
• Oatmeal
• Rice cereal

She also had the option of applesauce or bananas, turkey sausage, and wheat toast or an English muffin.

I sat appalled at what they were feeding my mother, and it took everything in my self-control to not throw a fit in the hospital! Pasta and bread stick? Cream of wheat AND wheat toast? Really?

Feed her meat, I wanted to yell! Feed her an avocado slice and some sauteed onions or tomato slices with her turkey sausage. Add some strawberries (she loves them!). And for goodness sake, add an egg to the plate!

I realized I would be in serious trouble if I went into the hospital for any cardiovascular issues. Between my allergies and intolerances, the “heart healthy” diet that the FDA encourages heart patients to follow would either starve me or kill me!

Apparently they brought her fish that evening…she’s allergic to the mercury in fish. Thankfully they listened to her and brought her something else to eat. I think she said it was a chef salad…and it was wonderful! 

Have you encountered any dietary issues while staying in the hospital? How did you address those issues with the staff? Did they listen? Please share, so we can all get some ideas on how to handle this situation.