Diet Changes with Ostomy

My output has always been slow and steady. I may empty 3-4 times a day when my bag is a 1/4 full. Consistency has never been watery...definitely on the thicker side most of the time to where it doesn't come out the bag easily without squeezing it like a pastry bag. When I was in the hospital recently for my Pleural Effusion, they had me NPO for a bit and that's when it started to shove out some very liquid output quickly.

Has anyone's taste changed after surgery? That's one thing I've noticed, some foods just don't taste the same to me anymore...or am I crazy?

Here's a card about blockages, good to know about in advance in case you have one (or are afraid you have one): http://www.ostomy.org/ostomy_info/pubs/blockage_card.pdf

If you could handle going a day w/out the gatorade and soda, you could try that just to see if it made a difference in your level of gas and output. I stopped drinking carbonated things a long time ago because they made my ibd a lot worse.... never took up again w/the bag. I don't seem to have the same kind of gas problem that others have reported, and I do eat spicy food, beans, and veggies that generally give people gas (and used to give me gas....).... of course, soda may have nothing to do w/that, but it's possible.

As for whether what you eat could affect the inflammation in your colon, I don't think that's a stupid question. My guess is yes, in the sense that inflammation is partly a whole body phenomenon..... just thinking of my partner who has arthritis, which gets exacerbated from eating certain foods. Of course, it's different when the food is actually right in the intestine, but people have all kinds of conditions not involving bowels that are influenced by foods.

Thanks Blueglass for that card. Hopefully I won't need to reference that before my takedown in November. I can switch out the Gatorade for Smart Water and see if there's a difference. I mainly do the Gatorade for the electrolytes and something a little more exciting than water.