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Poll: How big is your stoma? Does it let you eat what you want to eat?

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Posted 10/30/2011 1:12 PM (GMT 0)
The question came up in another post of whether larger stomas "work" better in terms of being able to eat lots of things. Since I'm a nerd on bed rest, I thought I'd collect and analyze some data, if you're willing. The regular poll feature here isn't set up for looking at the interaction between two things, so I set up a short google docs survey here:

Poll is here /docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGhGOHhheDVpLVRNOWhwTkRJeHE3SUE6MQ

In a few days I can plug the results into some stats software and make graphs and things for you......

thanks

Edited to turn it into a clickable link :)

Post Edited By Moderator (Shaz032) : 10/30/2011 9:25:06 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/30/2011 1:58 PM (GMT 0)
I never really researched this and very interested. My husband's stoma is a small one it is almost 7/8ths just a tad over the 3/4. I have told him I thought he had a small one and definitely needs to make sure he chews the heck out of his food as it doesn't have a very large passageway for elimination.

I came to this conclusion due to the measuring guide and all the sizes and since he is on the real small end of things that was my logic. I suppose I/we should get a more definitive answer.

It is working fine but he does make sure he drinks a lot of water and chews really well. I find I eat slower now so I am not always finished too far ahead of him as I tend to be a fast eater.
Posted 10/30/2011 2:01 PM (GMT 0)
UC wife, you can fill out the survey for him -- I know you know all the answers!
Posted 10/30/2011 2:11 PM (GMT 0)
This is an interesting question. I filled it out based upon my step 1 stoma since I really know nothing about this new one yet and I'm still on the soft diet. Looking forward to seeing the results. :-)
Posted 10/30/2011 2:53 PM (GMT 0)

blueglass said...
UC wife, you can fill out the survey for him -- I know you know all the answers!

 

tongue  too funny...yes I am "the" secretary...I filled it out

Posted 10/30/2011 5:55 PM (GMT 0)
Had to think about it as never measured it!
Posted 10/30/2011 7:00 PM (GMT 0)
Stripey, could you tell me how wide your stoma is again? This isn't exactly 100% anonymous, since it's time stamped the same time as you posted above.... but this silly program wrote the width as "1/1/2004" obviously assuming the format incorrectly...... can't figure out what that was supposed to be.... are we supposed to go back in time to new year's day 7 plus years ago for the answer?

Seven responses so far.... everything else looks good....
Posted 10/30/2011 10:58 PM (GMT 0)
blueglass no idea where it got that date from as doesn't correspond to anything I entered. Stoma is about 1 1/2 inches long and 1 1/4 inches wide, can eat everything apart from mushrooms as have a stricture and one got stuck once so avoid them now and had first ileostomy done 20 years ago. Hope that helps.
Posted 10/30/2011 11:31 PM (GMT 0)
Well, it's the weirdest thing, but it wants to read 1 1/4 as 1/1/2004 even when I enter it.... who knew? If I put the word "inches" in it's OK. I have seen something like this happen in excel, but it's easier to fix there.... thanks.
Posted 10/31/2011 6:02 PM (GMT 0)
Does stoma really have anything to do with what you can pass? The circumference is only about how the surgeon made it, and stoma size shouldnt have to with the small intestine as passageway. Before it just processed food and passed it further into the large intestine. The only difference now is that it passes the processed food into the bag.
I have a relatively small one 2.5 cm and i eat everything except course fiber like celery and Asparagus.
Posted 10/31/2011 6:09 PM (GMT 0)
Well, except that now it's turned inside out, at least for an end ileo -- so I wonder if someone w/a naturally narrower intestine loses more space in having it doubled over that way.... just a though, of course I don't know, why I and others were wondering.

13 responses so far.... I'll wait a bit more and see whether these data say anything...
Posted 11/2/2011 10:11 AM (GMT 0)
my stoma is 1" and I eat anything.

I gained close to 30lbs since having my ileo done. (I'm at a stage where my doctor says I should eat, so I am)

I've been extremely lucky because I have never had any blockage.

I know that food items such as corn and peanuts could make it tougher to digest, but in my body, it comes out perfectly.

I'll submit my response and hopefully it can help out.
Posted 11/2/2011 9:57 PM (GMT 0)
Hmm, right now I have a loop ileo and it is TINY (not even a whole inch in width, and sometimes less than half an inch in length). Right after my surgery I would turn to the side and the stoma was so flat you couldn't even tell it was there. I had one blockage about a week after surgery but since then I eat whatever I want and I've been fine. I have whole vegetable skins that come out sometimes. I eat the same as when I had an end ileostomy, and that one was much, much bigger.
Posted 11/2/2011 10:14 PM (GMT 0)
In case people didn't notice, I posted the results in separate post, but here's the link here too.... https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dgkvxb2q_1cg8j46f5

little presentation I made, and basically, there wasn't a lot of data, but stoma size didn't seem all that relevant, as many of you said....
Posted 11/3/2011 12:39 AM (GMT 0)
My stoma is oval 1" long 7/8 inch top to bottom.. At first I could eat baked potato, fish, lots of bread, real ripe bananas, baked apples and not get any food obstructions that i had to break down with grape juice. But over time, stoma same size and I have to eat blander and blander. No adhesion obstructions so far but I can't even eat very well cooked summer squash no seeds no peels without having to chase it all out with grape juice and walking. My doc admitted flat out that he had no explanation as even a partial small bowel obstruction I would sure recognize. So it was not that. So that is just me. I said I don't mind eating bland and talking a lot of vitamins as long as I continue to stay free of actual obstruction which so far so good for 4 years now. I guess some things don't have an answer??

So that's my vote. Interesting research project. Rosemary :-)
Posted 11/3/2011 12:45 AM (GMT 0)
The google docs link is cool. How did you do that? Awesome. I filled it out. Rosemary
Posted 11/3/2011 1:20 AM (GMT 0)
Oops I forgot to fix the privacy settings -- did that now, so you should be able to see the report now without asking my permission.

This is from google docs -- it's pretty easy to make a form there and there are also "cloud" versions of a spreadsheet, word processor, presentation etc.... I've used it in my classes when students are working on a problem together ... they can all edit the same spreadsheet to share data.

I ran some graphs in another program w/the data I had this morning.... if more people fill out I can do it again....
Posted 11/3/2011 12:38 PM (GMT 0)
     My stoma has been an inch in diameter since about a month post op.  Must be a wonderful opening as it spits out just about everything.  I've eaten corn on the cob this past summer, chewed like crazy though, and no problem.  However, I did eat ice cream which had walnuts in it and noticed a bit of irritation.  The next day there was a walnut in my bag idea .  I have to be careful of that ....lol... tongue .
Posted 11/3/2011 12:44 PM (GMT 0)
Same here for my husband...although (I think) his would be considered small coming in at a 7/8ths circumference his seems to be doing a very good job outputting too. Of course he has the mantra "chew,chew,chew" firmly implanted in his brain...lol.

When I see the size guage that comes with the box of wafers I am amazed at the range of sizes.

Are ileostomies characteristically smaller than colostomies???
Posted 11/3/2011 11:05 PM (GMT 0)
For me, it said I had to request access to the spreadsheet so I'm not able to see it right now.
Posted 11/3/2011 11:34 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry, haven't done this in a while.... I initially forgot to change the security settings so anyone w/the link can access.... wondering if the link changed too, though.... here it is

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AT2D31egT0ilZGdrdnhiMnFfMWNnOGo0NmY1

Yes that is different...... please try this new one and see if it works....
Posted 11/5/2011 6:15 AM (GMT 0)
I filled out the form, my stoma is 7/8 in. circ. and it works quite well.
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