A while back I had to be hospitalized due to gastrointestinal troubles. As you all know I have celiac disease. People with celiac disease can often have other autoimmune disorders as well, and I'm no exception. For privacy reasons I won't go into detail about my medical issues.

Even though I strictly follow a gluten-free diet, I still have gastrointestinal issues at times. So, here I was in the emergency room being admitted to the hospital.

Perhaps some of you wonder what kind of meal options a celiac has in a Canadian hospital, so I thought I would share some of the gluten-free meals I had. The photo above was my last meal before discharge. It was lunch. I was finally on a regular gluten-free diet. I really need to find out what kind of gluten-free bread they use as it was quite good. You can see they took care and put gluten-free notes on my food. I loved the variety of fruit and vegetables I had at each meal. The kitchen staff did a fantastic job.

Now for the first few days I was on a NPO diet. NPO is a medical term that means nothing by mouth. No food or fluids. I was on an IV only. But, as my symptoms improved fluids where introduced back into my diet. Above you can see my gluten-free breakfast, lunch and dinner. Just the flavour of the jello changed. That was plain gluten-free chicken broth in the large bowl with a lid. I was on this for a few days.

Finally moved to a soft food diet. This was my first real meal. The staff were very good about assuring me that it was gluten-free. This was the best piece of poached salmon I have ever eaten! My taste memory can still remember it. There is mashed potato and mashed yellow stringer beans as sides. That is a lemon pudding for dessert.

Here is an example of my soft-to-solid food breakfast transition meal. They really know how to poach eggs. They were so delicous, cooked to perfection. The gluten-free muffin was good too, not dry. The rice krispies were gluten-free ones, and I so enjoyed their crunch. I love the touch of cinnamon on my poached apple slices.

As I stated at the beginning,for my own privacy reasons I don't want to go into detail on my health conditions or which hospital I was in. I would like to say that the hospital staff were fantastic. I really appreciate the hard work of the cleaners, kitchen staff, administrative staff, nurses and doctors.

If you do find yourself admitted to a hospital and are a celiac I recommend politely letting the staff know that you are a celiac and need a gluten-free diet. When you are admitted you are asked about allergies, which is a great time to let them know. I always mention BROW (no barley, rye, non-gluten-free certified oats, and wheat).

In my previous hospital admissions, I always had a red allergy bracelet, but this time I didn't get one and I'm not sure why. I would ask if I'm ever hospitalized again which I hope won't happen. ^_^

My family also wrote that I was a celiac and no gluten, on the whiteboard by my bed. Just to be on the safe side I did double check that my meals were gluten-free each time. The staff are very professional and do their best, but hospitals are busy places and usually short staffed, so it doesn't hurt to be an advocate for yourself if you can.

I would love to hear what kind of meals you've experienced if you have been admitted to a hospital. My experiences are based on a Canadian hospital, it would be interesting to hear about other countries. Do take care of yourself and be safe.

Note: These are my personal experiences and opinions. Always seek out a medical opinion for medical concerns.