Scared to eat after surgery

My daughter has been home from the hospital since late Wednesday evening. She was allowed to start on a low residue diet on Tuesday but really didn't have much of an appetite in the hospital (and even not much now). She is starting to get hungrier but seems afraid to eat. She's had a little food (1/4 of a grilled cheese sandwich, 2 oz. of applesauce, pudding, etc).  She had some chicken today (small bites, chewed very carefully) but some pieces came out in her bag. Her stoma is very high in the small intestine so there isn't alot of time to digest.

Did any of you experience a feeling of being afraid to eat or unsure what to eat? Any suggestions on what to eat? She doesn't like peanut butter, pasta, applesauce or eggs. Bananas bother her sometimes. I am trying to get her to eat a baked potato.

I supplemented my meals the first few weeks with Ensure type nutritional drinks.  They are not the best tasting things in the world but they might help with keeping her nourished.

John

You can gently remind bratcat that her surgeon will want her strong and healthy for her next surgery so she will need to get some nourishment.  I know it can be surprising to see the ostomy output (and it will be very similar with a jpouch) but it doesn't mean that food is not digesting.  She is abosrbing calories in her terminal ileum it's just that now without a colon there isn't anything to pull the water from the waste and form a solid movement.  Believe it or not many foods that coloned people eat come out the same way they are just hidden within the solid mass.  Get her to do some walking as to jump start her appetite and feed her foods that she really craves.

Sue

i was really worried at first to eat stuff, esp things that made me sick before surgery, so i just tried very small amounts of things.

yes the staples do make it worse, i think it's more mental than anythng, but those things are gross!!! The clear bags are horrible, i dont' know how people stand those, lol.
French fries do help, on the way home from the hospital i stopped and got french fries from mcdonalds! it actually made me cry, this is so stupid, but i was so happy that i could get food and eat it in the car, without having to worry abotu getting sick!

Serious ditto on the clear bags. I can't say enough about how my outlook improved when I finally used the last of the ones the hospital had given me and switched to opaque ones. I felt absolutely inhuman with the clear ones.

I was also stunned by how fast everything went through and was sure that I would never regain the weight I had lost while hospitalized, but sure enough, I did. The output also slowed quite a bit after the first few weeks or so.

Here's a great "thickening" blended soup I make and really enjoyed (plus it let me get in some veggies without worries of whether I was chewing enough): saute some onions, add a few cups of chicken or vegetable stock and one or two cut-up sweet potatos (I usually add at least one regular potato since I don't like sweet potatos that much), a handful of baby carrots (or a regular carrot chopped), and a about a tablespoon of chopped ginger. Bring to a boil, simmer until veggies are done, then run through the blender. Adjust for consistency with water, and salt and pepper to taste.

I also serve this to coloned people, who have liked it!

You all have great suggestions. I think mostly it is just time that she needs to adjust to the new feelings of the stoma. And the aches of her body healing.

Charlotte--the soup sounds delicious. I think I may try it for all of us!

Lew--I am glad your son is doing better now. I can't believe he is eligible for step 2 already. It seems like just yesterday that he had his surgery (it was my birthday). I'm not sure if the 3 months went as fast for him (I remember all his setbacks he had for awhile). My daughter will be able to have step 2 in October. Originally she figured she would wait until Christmas to have it. Right now she would like to count the days until October!

Lew, what are the duvet covers? Where can we find them? She hasn't even gotten to the point of trying to figure out where to lay her bag. Right now she just wears a longer baby doll shirt (luckily they are in style now) and lets the bag hang over her shorts.

She will be a senior in high school this year. Hopefully she won't miss as much school as she has for the past 2 years.

at first the bag will pull at you and hurt, after you start to heal, it feels better.

The way i wear mine is to turn it up on itself under my undies.