Peggy's right. She's one of our resident experts, and I've learned so much from her!
For instance, I love salads, but was having some partial blockage issues after eating them, so she recommended that I eat my meal first and then have a small salad at the end. It works! I've found that the softer baby spring mix is easier to digest than tougher Romaine lettuce. A lot of times, it's the first thing that you eat on an empty stomach that makes the difference.
Bananas are soft, so I usually start my morning with one, or will blend one into a soy protein shake. Canteloupe and watermelon are good, too. I had some issues with eating cherries, but that's because I ate way too many on an empty stomach!
So much of it is trial and error, and everyone's different, so you may be able to eat a lot of the same foods you're eating now without any problems.
After surgery, you'll want to chew your food well and drink plenty of water throughout the day. The main function of the large intestine is to absorb fluids, so when you don't have that anymore, you will want to drink more to compensate for that. Your small intestine absorbs all of the nutrients, so you can live a very healthy life without your colon.
After my colon was removed, my small intestine had a lot of room to move around, so sometimes I'll get a little kink in there, and I just have to drink lots of water until it works itself out. It doesn't happen very often and only takes a few hours before it's resolved.