"Food in hospital for a chemotherapy patient"

To whom it may concern

At approximately 10am I recently attended Joondalup ED on a weekend with a fever of 38c and suspicion of flu/covid. Being a chemotherapy patient I was told that febrile neutropenia is to be taken serious and hence the decision to attend the ED

I was admitted reasonably quickly and put into a 'isolation room' in the ED... where I was cared for medically (no issues in this regard).

I ended up staying in this room in the ED until 2:30pm the following day, a total of 28 hours, apparently due to the lack of a suitable 'isolated' room/bed for me on any of the general hospital wards. Although I can understand and appreciate the logistical challenges in this regard... 'living' in the ED for an extended period of time means things like: (in no particular order)

A stretcher as opposed to a bed

No pillow (apparently these are scarce/non existent in ED) - a nurse propped a blanket under my head...

No meals...!!! During this 28 hours I had;

2x of the same sandwiches from the 'nurses/ED fridge' brought to me... 1 roughly at 2pm and the other roughly at 8pm.

A 'breakfast' the next morning consisting of Rice Krispies, some fruit in what looked like water, low fat milk and low fat yoghurt... and a piece of toast, margarine and some orange marmalade (why)

If you consider that, I am a throat cancer patient, currently undergoing both radiation therapy and chemo therapy... my throat is raw/swollen and basically a mess...

I can not eat things like 'bread' and my dietary needs, as a cancer patient known to the hospital (I spend 6 days in ICU 4 weeks prior in there) are clear.

Even if you don't consider that, then consider that a grown man, weighing ~88.5kg cannot live off 2 sandwiches and what I feel was that hideous excuse of a breakfast over a 24 hour period.

When speaking to the head nurse about the food on the first night, my spouse was told in all seriousness "you can order Uber eats in here, no problem..."

Sadly, the 'malnutrition' fiasco did not stop there...

At approx 2:30pm on the second day I was moved to a isolation/single room in general ward A. I was very grateful for this.

This move to the ward meant that lunch was 'skipped' and my spouse brought me some soup and dipping bread from home... (Note here: I believe if I was an elderly patient without family or a patient without a 'voice', ability to speak up for myself... I would be well malnourished by now... and at least, as I was 'starved' of protein!)

That evening I got some sort of Irish stew, which was the first bit of protein I had to eat, since the first evening's sandwich!

The next morning, after asking some of the ward nurses to pls ask the kitchen on my behalf for some 'not-diet' food... I got a bfast consisting of oats, bread (no crust), orange juice (can't drink this due to chemo mouth ulcers), fruit, low fat yoghurt and low fat milk (??? why)

That afternoon another 'you get what the chef gives you' meal was delivered. (very tasty) but not a protein in sight!

During the course of that day, I made several phone calls to both the Joondalup dietetics and speech pathology providers, in an attempt to get some nutrition help going. Both Sarah and the dietician lady (sorry, forgot her name) visited me and said they'd sort out my diet/food with the hospital. I filled in some serious 'menu selections' which all looked amazing on paper, in terms of the choices...

That evening (dinner) I had a meal of my 'selection' which at least again had some protein in there (I selected the fish)

The following morning and lunch I cannot recall, it was better on account of the dietician and menu 'selections'... however I was told I would get 'snacks' in between meals to make up for protein/weight loss... none of this ever happened. By this time, I was so ready to get out of hospital and my weight had dropped down to ~84.5kg whilst being not properly nourished by Joondalup Hospital

Here is an interesting 'flyer' which was given to me by the dietician. Why/how does the hospital staff not have this info or apply some better nutritional protocols when they get a cancer/chemo neutropenia patient in their care? (what about those people without a 'voice' to speak up for themselves? should they just wane away from apparent lack of nutrition?)

Medically, the care was great, and I thank you all for that. Nutritionally it set me back a lot (besides just the 4kg which I lost whilst in your hospital's care). It took me 1.5-2 weeks to try and make up that weight/energy/resilience all whilst undergoing radiation and chemo!

I believe you need to do better.