When can you eat normally after a Reversal Ileostomy?

Hi I have been reading lots of your posts about post reversal diet. I had my reversal 4 days ago (total newby) and am shocked at how bad I have diarrhoea - I am actually quite frightened. I switched to a vegan, very healthy diet after my cancer diagnosis 10 months ago but want to continue that to prevent my cancer coming back (I had a high lymph node burden) but most of the posts seem to recommend a pretty unhealthy diet to control diarrhoea. I am in a bit of a panic. I want to return to work and some sort of normality but this is looking way off... does anybody have any advice about vegan diet and stoma reversal?

Hi and congratulations on getting your reversal! Your recovery will depend upon how low your tumor was, ( the lower the more challenging recovery usually) also what was taken out and how much rectum you have left. Also how long you had the Ostomy. In my case with 2cm of rectum, no sigmoid colon, no j pouch- I have a straight connect and had an ileostomy for 6 mo. I'm 18 mo out from reversal and still very cautious about eating fruits (except bananas) and veggies. I take immodium a few times a week. At 4 days post op I was not venturing far from the bathroom and you should be on a low fiber low fat diet. This diet is only temporary until your intestines recuperate after being inactive and shriveled up! At around week 5 I was told to start adding fiber slowly. Keep an input/output diary so you can assess which foods work for you and which do not at that time. You can always try again later. Walking is important. Best wishes to you!!
Kimberly

When I was suffering from my very temporary reversal (I went back to the bag three months later) the nurse recommended Calmoseptine for the burning. I was also using a lot of Vaseline to treat the raw skin. It was not fun and I do not regret returning to the bag, even though it's on the other side this time and has taken me a bit to get used to in terms of mobility (used to carrying things on the left; gotta swap to the right now). I also had complications that prevented it from getting better, so it might be different for you. But even after two months I was still miserable. However, I found that pasta was the friendliest thing to eat, that and burgers and fries. It bulked things up and allowed me to sleep longer than a few hours a night. Once you think your system can handle it, you could try it?

Welcome! Just know that if things don't improve for you, you can always go back! I do hope they improve for you, though, if only so you don't continue living in doubt of your decision. Worst feeling in the world!