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Thank you for taking the Title 22 Poll.
A drawing was held from those who had a perfect score... and the winnner of the $22 Safeway gift card is:
Jennifer Hirsch |
| Food For Thought | |
Many patients taking Coumadin voice concerns to the RD about eating foods high in Vitamin K. Generally, they have a controlled dietary intake while in the health care community. As long as their Vitamin K intake remains consistent throughout the week without large quantities consumed at a time, they don't need to avoid the Vitamin K foods such as spinach, romaine lettuce, cabbage, brussel sprouts, asparagus and broccoli. V. Major
Food or Menu Questions or Comments:
 send me email or call me at the office 916-364-5300.
Janet Montano, RD Director of Menu Services |
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 Please send your RDNews comments, suggestions & questions to Judy Morgan, MBA, RD | |
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| Greetings!
Please read on for an insightful article from Victoria Major, MA, RD.
Hi, my name is Victoria Major, founder of H M Composite, and now 66 years old. In 1967, I started consulting in long term care facilities in the San Jose area. I have intellectually known for decades that being in the hospital can change your eating habits. Now, I have a personal experience to share with you. |
How a Hospital Stay Can Change Your Eating Habits | Somewhere in late October of 2009, I inhaled a fungus into my lungs. This resulted in pneumonia and my first of two stays in the San Diego Kaiser Hospital. I had the opportunity to eat all my meals prepared by Kaiser. This was different for me as my husband Howard is a former chef, and I am a really good cook. During my stay, I ate only meals from Kaiser as a true experiment in eating hospital food. Due to my illness I lost my appetite, a unique experience for me! A lover of super spicy foods, crisp vegetables and a variety of meat, changed into eating soft dairy products and fruit. I lost my love for almost all meat, even bland chicken. I was discharged, but 12 days later was back in the hospital.
Since I had been at Kaiser before, I wrote out my meal plan for my second hospital stay. I requested a visit from the Kaiser RD. I think she was a bit blown away by a patient that was giving her a specific meal plan to follow! Kaiser was great and only served me foods on my list. They did a test for Valley Fever which is a very common disease in Arizona, New Mexico and California. People who work in fields may inhale a fungus that can cause this condition. So now I have a diagnosis, Valley Fever. I was taken off antibiotics and sent home on an anti fungal medication. I was healing with the new medication and feeling better.
But wait! Another problem developed. I saw my pulmonary doctor in December and told her I am no longer short of breath, but now can't walk! After an ultrasound, we discovered I had a blood clot and was started on Coumadin injections in the stomach. The home health nurse told me I would have blood samples taken for the next six days and then the pharmacist would call and tell me how many Coumadin pills to take daily. I was given a list of foods to avoid that were high in Vitamin K. My favorite, spinach, topped the list, so I worked my diet around to avoid the high Vitamin K foods. But, after attending a Coumadin workshop in January, I decided to go back to eating spinach and just let the Coumadin dose be adjusted from this point forward.
 All has worked out and I am doing well on this medication. I lost weight on the "pneumonia diet" in November and December, which was the best side effect of my illness. In November, Lee visited me in the hospital while on her way to Palm Springs. What a special blessing that was. I am back to teaching my class, Nutrition and Health Issues of Older Adults for Southwestern College. I teach this class five times a week at senior centers. I cook mini meals for them and rattle on about nutrition. I am truly blessed to be in what I call my fourth career as a dietitian. I received excellent care at Kaiser and am just so glad to be back to my old self! |
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RD Tip | As an RD, have you considered other ways to get involved in your profession?
- CEUs
- Extension Courses
- Teach a class
- Community agencies and events
- State and National Dietitian organizations
Victoria sets an example for all of us to consider.
 In addition to Victoria's experience as an RD and her opportunities for teaching, she is also a newly published author. In collaboration with Lee Tincher, MS, RD, Victoria's recipes and years of experience come together in "Volume Cooking" Click on the cookbook for more information. |
| Dear Dietitian; |
 Going from care-giver to care-receiver was a real paradigm shift in my personal life. My husband, three children and many friends supported me in this difficult time. As a care-giver you are basically in control. The care-receiver is not in control and is usually dependent on others. It is important to us as RDs in the field to try to provide as much self determination and dignity as possible for our residents in health care communities.
Victoria Major MA, RD
Please feel free to send a comment or note to Victoria via Pati at HMC. |
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