ileostomates supposed to eat a tiny bit of "roughage"?

STILL trying to wrap my head around the whole ileo diet after 3+ years. Mostly eat egg, yogurt, baby food meat, etc.

BUT the other day I tried some VERY well-cooked summer squash minus the seeds. Then I mashed it down and had it with butter and salt.

It passed a whole lot faster than the gush I've been eating and I have no transit problem with the gush.

My question, are we supposed to have at least a tiny bit of "roughage" if you can call this mushed summer squash roughage? It sort of makes sense as the small intestine is a muscle of sorts that needs exercise??

Thanks, Rosemary

Hi Summer,

I had 2 actual food blockages on mashed potato of all things when I was on my world cruise. Nothing passed for 6 hours and I was in agony. Lucikly able to walk out on deck, drink hot tea and grape juice, and all of a sudden all the mashed potato shot out all at once. Since then really careful I have been

Hence the baby food meat and so on. BUT that well cooked summer squash was soooooo good. YUM!

Reason for needing ileostomy was severe damage to colon and rectum and seriously dense adhesions on small bowel. Ileo surgeon in 2007 able to free up small bowel and do the ileo so I could eat, get nutrients and pass waste (which I couldn't prior to him result of a serious gut-scarring surgery that never should have been done after all in 2006) so I more than likely may have leftover adhesions that are not directly blocking me off nor even partial sbo, but could be a reason for the "potato clog?" Not sure. All open and good on CT Enterography. Hard to say though. So that is why all the caution.

Sounds like you eat well. That is good. Thanks, Rosemary

Esor
After three years you are still eating mush? Unless you have some kind of problem, you should be able to eat just about anything. You do have to watch out for stringy things like celery, the hard stringy part of cabbage (been there), tough fruit skins (apples, grapes). Try some new foods. Just golightely at first. (play on words)

Dan

Thanks for replies.

No, the potatoes did not have skins, just the creamy but heavy mashed kind. Maybe it was the amount, it was sort of a lot as it tasted sooooo good with butter and salt.

Maybe underlying problem may be leftover adhesions but who knows cause all was open on the CT enterography that I had after the potato episode.

Very soft, ripe watery melon might be something to try, like maybe just a few bites well chewed. That would taste good. A lot of what I eat is either soft sweet stuff, chocolate loaded with FAT, and other unhealthy things. I have gained 30 lbs since my ileostomy. 25 of that was needed weight regain, but I need to knock off that last 5 lbs and not gain more because excessive weight gain can cause issues with stoma function. Sure not want that.

Yeah, Dan, that's a good one, I will golightly on new things.

Rosemary

Hi Summer,

I do a LOT of scrambled eggs and scrambled egg substitutes on cruises. RJ

PS No baby food in stock on cruise ships. Really weighs up toting those little glass jars in my luggage. Good for side trips though.

The mashed potato problem.......were they made from whole potatoes or instant mashed potatoes?

ucwife
What kind of hot dogs were you talking about? Ball Park dogs, for instance don't have skins that won't chew. How about strawberries....no skins, no stringy stuff.

Dan

Rosemary
Yes, that is interesting. I just finished dinner. Had a country fried steak, a load of mashed potatoes (instant), gravy and wax beans.

and I don't golightely.....

Dan

Rosemary
Country fried steak is ground beef in some kind of coating. You just fry it in oil. It is not stringy at all. And I really don't chew that much. If your digestive juices can "digest" around your stoma if you have a leak, why do you think it would have any problem with meat?

TSK, TSK. You need to eat better.

Dan

Dan,

Whole separate story......European train story Paris to Rome. Picture this if you will.

In Paris, I ask for decaf coffee for breakfast. MUST have been caffeine. I fill bag after bag with clear yellow liquid. Stoma is going off like a fire hydrant. I run back and forth to hotel bathroom from where we are waiting in the lobby on "train day." I'm having a fit. Feel fine except for the yellow geyser.

So, I eat this apple-peach sauce with extra pectin from my nature food store. I lugged this stuff all the way to Europe from Massachusetts. It does not thicken up my poo. So then I try some pretzels. Still no effect. Yellow geyser still going off.

So, I start taking immodium, one tablet and I thought it would kick in. Yellow clear output still coming out. In about 30 minutes I take a second immodium. Another 30 mins and a third immodium.

Finally flow goes to normal. Then stops. But so what, had to get to the train.

Get to train, get on, get into our bedroom cabin. Then I have NOOOOOO POOO at all. Bloat, distension. Train starts off. NOBODY speaks English. OH, joy! So I start drinking grape juice and hot tea and stalking the halls of the train. 6 hours later the bag fills all at once with the THICKEST EFFLUENT ON RECORD.

I had to really milk the stuff down and out of the bag. The poo is sooooo thick it stands up in the toilet. Better out than in. I feel much better. BUT GOOD GRIEF!

Lesson learned: In Europe don't count on getting decaf. If yellow clear bag after bag diarrhea starts ONLY take immodium, do not also eat thickening food. Thought I was going to die, but thankfully I had my grape juice with me and the train served hot tea.

Is that not a scary story? Rosemary

Rosemary
Very funny story, but only to an ostomate. A person with all of their plumbing would not understand. It would be funnier if you still had colitis!!

No it wouldn't......

Dan

Rosemary
All has been moving along smoothly for 3 1/2 years.

We are here from Michigan. I would rather be HOME. Warm Florida is nice, but home is home. This is all my wife's idea....for four years now.

Bahamas??? We were there about 1980. BE SURE TO TRY COCONUT RUM MADE BY TODHUNTER-MITCHELL. The distillery is in the Bahamas. The name at the time was Don Ricardo coconut rum. It is not available in the US. It is a straight sipper. Soooo good.


Dan

ok so if coffee makes you go like that, why not have coffee along with a food you are afraid will cause a blockage? the coffee will keep it going!
although i cant say much about your dinner choice because i had ice cream for dinner last night, well frozen yogurt actually, lol.
so that makes it ok, cause yogurt is good for you, right?

Dan, i wish i had known about that rum! maybe i will get to try it next year. oh and theres a thought to rose, i don't know if you drink or not, but alochol really speeds me up, like crazy, so try some liquor with your food!

Oh, Todhunter-Mitchell also makes banananana and pineapple rum......equally good.

Dan