Confused by food, Scared of food, and yet im hungry. haha

I never knew what I could eat and I still don't (it's been 2 months-ish). I know i've been eating particular types of food and I've been safe with them but I want to have variety. I want to be able to go out to a restaurant and confidently order a meal knowing that I'm not gunna end up in agony that night from eating somehting I shouldn't have.

I know that different people react differently, so what is edible for some wont be for others...

A booklet my STN gave me on eating with an ileostomy said...

* Because You now have a stoma you do not have to change your eating habits
* You may be able to eat foods you were having trouble with prior to surgery. Chew all food well.

I found those lines funny, as after them the next 2 pages consists of a list of foods that may cause gas, odour, blockages, and thicken output. All food that I should avoid (or try to eat if I need thickening). Whats even funnier is the fact that before surgery people told me I would be able to eat more types of food once I have the ileostomy, but I could eat just about anything before the surgery, and now I have this list! hahaha wow.


Anyway, I was hoping to confirm a few food things. First this is what I know is the case for me:

Foods That Give Me Gas
BBQ Meatlovers pizza (from Dominoes). Had it three times so far, bag blew up like a balloon each night. My booklet indicates the ham could cause it, but I can't confirm...

Foods That Thicken Output
Bananas
Potato (although I'm sure I still see bits of potato when I empty)
Pumpkin

Foods I've eaten that haven't given me a blockage since I left hospital (that aren't listed above)
Steak et al
Chicken
Carrots
Toast (white bread apparently thickens)
Smooth Peanut butter (apparently thickens)
Pasta (apparently thickens)
Chocolate (Very watery output around Easter, connection??)
Biscuits
Hot chips
Donuts
Custard
Yoghurt
Muffins
Icecream
Maltesers
M&M's/Smarties


Other then the above mentioned food, I don't remember eating anything else. I think I'm too afraid to try anything else, I don't want a blockage.

I have carrots and beans in the freezer, I'm not going to touch them. I haven't had beans since before surgery. The outsides of beans are usually harder so maybe it'll cause a blockage?

Mum cooked me a meal a few weeks back which had zucchini in it. She went to the hard effort of cutting the outer skin off it as I was too paranoid to try it with the skin on. But then I saw seed things in the zucchini and couldn't bring myself to eat it. I felt so bad after all her effort. I've been told that seeds from say breads and buns can cause blockages, and I dont know about fruit and vegetables. I've only really started eating salad in recent years (used to be a fussy eater as a child, just started trying more foods about 5 years ago, now I'm even fussier then I was as a child). But now I'm not sure if I'm allowed to eat tomatoes? As they have seeds in them. Do you eat salad?

Sausages
I love sausages! Loved Sausages...

But this booklet says "Some sausage casings" in the "Foods that can cause a blockage" section.
My STN said it mainly applies to those sausages that have the skin falling off them. So I buy the skinnier ones (the ones I always liked anyway) which I've never seen the skin fall off. I was at my aunties for a BBQ and had sausages on my plate. I sat there for ages stairing at them, they had little flakes of skin falling off them. Now I have to boil the sausages, let them cool then peel the skin off before I get to BBQ them. All because it says "Some sausage casings".
At uni there are free BBQ's there hosted by different societies, You can easily get a free lunch 6 times a month, I doubt they boil there sausages before they BBQ them! haha

So what do you do with your sausages?


Bread

I was in hospital for a month, had white bread for breakfast (toast) every day and a few white bread sandwiches every second day or so.
I figured white bread was the safest option as it was easily digestible (and it says "White Bread" in the 'foods to help thicken your stomal output' section of my booklet they gave me). But then I had a dietician come around to see me the day before I went home (a month after i got my first stoma). He told me that I actually should be having Wholemeal bread OR White bread that is high in fibre. (even though the booklet says lots of fibre can cause a blockage) to avoid blockages. And yet, I didnt get a blockage in hospital.

I currently eat White bread that is high in fibre, I sometimes have 6 slices for breakfast a day. No blockage so far. Although I'm often still hungry, I'd love to have cereal like Nutri-grain (cereal in Au and NZ) or something, but I dont know if it will cause a blockage or something. :s


Biscuits

Someone once mentioned they thought biscuits help thicken up the output, does this sound right? Although, I could eat an entire packet of biscuits before bed and still have watery output by the time I get up in the morning. Its weird like that, its always watery in the morning then it slowly thickens up over the course of the day (hopefully). But then, if biscuits thicken the output and I ate a whole packet before bed, shouldn't that have been too thick?



I know there are a lot of questions here. I had a look for a comprehensive thread on foods but couldnt find one. If I overlooked it you can just paste the link. But I've read different pamphlets and different topics and it just seems like there are a lot of contradictions out there. As in some people eat carrots, others strictly avoid them, while others only eat them when they have been shaved.


I'm hungry right now, I have a packet of Pappadams in the kitchen I often heat up when I get home after a night out. But, I'm not sure if I can eat them, I'm not going to. I'd rather go to bed hungry. Actually, I think I might go have some toast!

Whoa cowboy! Having a stoma shouldn't make you MORE nervous about what your eating!! Your putting WAY to much emphasis on having a blockage. Some people NEVER have a blockage and eat everything.
You have asked "what is safe to eat?" yet post "I know that different people react differently, so what is edible for some wont be for others..." You answered your own question right there. Everyone reacts differently to different foods. I personally can eat ANYTHING anytime of the day or night. I suppose it's different as I have a colostomy vs you with an ileo, though there are some things that I just can't swallow because I know i'll be seeing it in the portable poo pouch later. The only thing I think about when eating is "chew chew chew" I no longer stuff things into my gullet all willy nilly without thouroughly chewing.

IMHO you need to try everything and see what works for you. Don't be afraid of everything, after what you have been through, you can GET through anything.
*hugs*

-Allie

Absolutely! Blockages are usually more common in the first few months post surgery when there's still a lot of post surgery inflammation. But you should be able to have a much more varied diet. I no longer have an ostomy, I have a jpouch, but I eat everything; nuts, seeds, fruit skin, stringy vegetables, etc. There is not a food out there that I cannot eat. I've had a few partial obstructions over the years but nothing that couldn't be managed at home. You should experiment more, life is too short!

Sue

Six weeks!!!!

Yes, you need patience! Your adaption will go on for a year. Expect improvement in 6 weeks increments. So six weeks from today you should have a bit of improvement over where you are now.

Sue

Anything is possible early in recovery. It will get much more predictable with time. Make friends with time!

Sue

Thanks for the replies! So I guess I'll hopefully be more confident once the swelling goes down. My stomach looks funny at the moment, its swollen so it kinda sticks out when i stand up (I've been skinny like a rake my whole life, so its kinda odd looking at it). But under my belly button is the cut from my second surgery, and because its still healing and was really deep, it looks weird because it goes down... so It looks like i have two hills on my stomach and a valley under the belly button.

And basically try more foods. But I currently can't drive and am basically home alone for a few weeks, so I might keep the experimenting till later when I've got someone here that might be able to go to the chemist or get whatever it is i need when I have a blockage.

When someone would mention the skin on sausages I used to automatically think of these fat sausages I once saw which basically had the skin falling off them on my plate at some restaurant I was at. It wasn't until now that I've noticed the skin on the skinnier sausages. But when you think about the way they are made it makes sense that they all have skin. As its the skin that holds the meat together inside the sausage. Without the skin the meat would not stay in the shape it is in at the factory where they are made (I assume).

That is pretty awesome about making it smell like peaches and cream! Waaay better then the usual smell haha! Oh and Maltesers are a ball of malt (i assume) covered in chocolate. Apparently they are more popular in the UK, Portugal, Ireland, Canada, and Australia. But the U.S. has similar products like "Whoppers" apparently... Anywho:

Also, I started a list this morning of what I eat. Figured writing the number of times i empty etc will be good for when I see my doctor next week too.

Oz - thanks for the Malteser photo... didn't know what that was either till I saw the pic and thought, oh - it's a Whopper! Those are so good!

When it comes to food, I peel everything that is really chewy, like sausage and tomato skins. Chicken is a good meat, since it's soft. It took me a while to have the confidence to eat a salad again, because with Crohn's, they were off limits! But... not anymore! Cooked veggies are better than raw, though, since they soften up when cooked.

You're only 2 months post-op, and things will get SO much better with time. The output will also be less frequent and will thicken up. A few Hollister M9 drops in your pouch will completely remove the odor, so make sure to add a box of those to your next ostomy supply order!

Just relax, you're doing great! Eat what you want in moderation, take time to chew everything well, drink plenty of fluids, and you'll be fine.

:smile: Cecilia

absolutely no peanut butter, chocolate or pizza for me!
sadly, choco and pizza 2 favorite foods but i quickly realized my intestines dont allow it anymore.

consequences will be hellish gas pain with blockage potential...my pouch blows up like a football and the next day or 3 is the hershey squirts all day long

and soda is pretty awful too..your pouch will sound like a coffee perculator

rosemary-were their skins in those potatoes?
Im surprised that would cause a blockage, unless they were very chunky, or dry.

Mike-have you tried taking some gas-x before you eat those foods? that may help

cocoa as a chaser, lol thats cute!

I think the whole thing can just kind of kink up

Two 6 oz glasses of merlot every night. Yes, I get up more than one time every night, but I view it as the price I have to pay for the pleasure derived.