Martha's low residue diet

mp327 said:

Marynb

I'm very glad to hear you are feeling better!  I think all fingers are pointing to the spinach!  Hopefully, your pain will completely subside once you have given your bowels a break from all the fiber.  My lunch was strange today--an English muffin topped with a sliced hard-boiled egg topped with low fat cottage cheese.  I have had to get creative to keep from getting bored. 

Hmmm, an English muffin with a hard-boiled egg and cottage cheese - actually, that sounds rather delicious!

Glad things are looking up, Marynb.

mp327 said:

Hi Phoebesnow

I'm sorry you have experienced another partial obstruction.  I know how painful it is.  I hope you are feeling better.

As for the low-residue diet, first off, small portions are key.  Eating smaller meals more often throughout the day is much better than eating 3 large meals.  I would stick with a portion of 1/2 cup of most foods--it's very important not to overload your system.  Also, it is important to drink enough water.  I would say that the 8-8oz. glasses per day is a good rule to follow.  I do drink tea in the mornings and count that as part of my fluids.  I am a very small person and it's hard for me to drink 64 oz. of water a day, but I try to get close. 

As for what I eat:  Yogurt, cottage cheese, pudding, ice cream, sherbet, cheese, chicken, fish, ground turkey, eggs, bananas, Soy milk, protein drinks, English muffins, white bread, white rice, white pasta, cornflakes, cream of wheat or rice, white potatoes, applesauce, canned mandarin oranges.  From the information I've read, canned peaches and apricots are okay. 

I made turkey meatloaf a few nights ago and have been eating leftovers of that, which have been easily digested.  Soups are good (homemade), using potatoes, broth or milk, a small amount of onion and celery for flavor.  You can eat it as is or whiz it in the blender to make it even more digestible.

Some foods to definitely avoid:  Raw fruits and veggies, including any kind of greens.  Beans/legumes, which can cause lots of gas.  Cooked veggies should be thoroughly cooked and not tough or fibrous (such as lower parts of broccoli or cauliflower).  However, since you've just experienced an obstruction, I wouldn't recommend eating any veggies right now.  Broccoli has been a nemesis for me lately, however, I ate a few bites of it last evening with no bad effects.  Definitely stay away from any type of seeds, nuts or peanut butter.  Obviously, some types of berries are full of seeds, as is kiwi also, so those should be avoided.  I can imagine that eating popcorn right now would put me back in the hospital--I think that one is a no-brainer.

The one thing I have learned is that processing any fresh fruits or veggies in a blender or food processor DOES NOT change the fiber content whatsoever, so anything high fiber will remain high fiber, no matter how much you blend it.  Choosing low fiber foods to begin with is a must.  I found good information on the internet on the BC Cancer Agency website and the Queensland Government website.  There are many others.  Keep in mind that some things can be contradictory from one website to another.  I guess you just have to use your best judgement in those cases.  If something sounds like it might not be safe, I wouldn't eat it.

This diet is not intended to be long-term or permanent, so at some point both you and I will have to begin gradually adding more foods back into our diet.  Right now, I'm a bit fearful of that.  However, it is hard to get all necessary nutrients from such a diet.  Multi-vitamins and supplements can help and are recommended on some of the sites. 

If you have any more questions, let me know.  I'm still finding my way through this as well, but I'll try to help you in whatever way I can.  I hope you can avoid another obstruction (and me too!).         

MP327... Why do you think you had a small bowel obstruction if it wasn't irradiated?  Did you have some underlying small bowel issue unrelated to anal cancer?  The last thing on my mind is some small intestine issue; my focus is at the extreme end of the tube, if you know what I mean (if you can even call "focus" because I'm actually not thinking about that too much anymore either). 

mp327 said:

LaCh

According to my radiation oncologist, part of my small bowel was most likely in the field of radiation.  Check out this diagram and you can see that much of the small intestines sit low in the abdominal cavity.  

http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/digestive-system

My treatment began with a larger treatment field than just the tumor area and included atleast part of my pelvic region.  After a certain number of treatments, the field was reduced in size twice, the last reduction focusing on the anal area only.  I believe this is how pelvic radiation for anal cancer is normally done so that any cells that may have migrated outside of the tumor site are zapped.  The radiation can cause adhesions or scar tissue which can cause blockages.  This could have been the cause of my obstruction, but that was never really determined.  Intestinal bugs can also cause inflammation which can result in blockages. 

Yeah, i had the same series of treatments, irradiatin of the entire pelvic girdle and it's contents (pelvic and inguinal lymph nodes and unfortunately, everything that sits inside the pelvic girdle) followed by a smaller field of the same and ending with irradiation of the tumor only. I was told that the only unwanted intestine that could be irradiated would be the large bowel, ascending, transverse and descending and that if I maintained a full bladder, it would push the small intestine out of the field.  When you mentioned the location of your blockage, high, center of the abdominal cavity,  thought, If I were a worrier, this would worry me (I generally don't worry about things that haven't happened) since I couldn't see a correlation between the radiation treatments (as I understand them) and the location of your blockage. That said, I've come to accept that the information shared with me by my doctors was a tiny fraction of the information not shared with me, a topic that I commented on in another blog heading. In any case, I was just curious.  Thanks for the explanation. 

mp327 said:

LaCh

You're welcome.  My rad onc said it would be next to impossible for the entire small intestine to be moved out of the radiation field.  In the 4 1/2 years I've been on support websites, I don't think I've ever heard of someone else having a blockage post-treatment, except for one person whose intestines (I don't remember if it was large or small intestines) "fused" together in one location.  I don't recall what her treatment was, but it seems to me that in that case surgery would be necessary. 

To update everyone, I am doing quite well these days and have gotten a little braver when it comes to diet.  I have begun eating very small amounts of well-cooked fruits and veggies, but  nothing raw yet.  I am still eating a lot of soft foods, which include yogurt, cottage cheese, and soups, although I no longer put soup through the blender, instead just making sure all ingredients are those that are tolerable and cut into very small pieces.  I am eating meat with no issues (not beef, as I rarely eat beef), fish, chicken and turkey.  I feel tons better than I did a few short weeks ago.  I bought a Nutri-Bullet, based on the endorsements I saw here from several of you, and am enjoying experimenting with all kinds of combinations in my smoothies.

I ran a 5K race on Saturday and my only issue was my creaky left knee in which I have osteoarthritis.  I finished 2nd. in my age group.  Saturday was my 4 1/2 year mark post-treatment, so I thought what better way to celebrate it than running a race!

I want to thank all of you who were concerned for me while going through the issues with the blockage.  Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers! 

I was told that my intestines, large and small, were never in the field, but as I said, who really knows...  my trust in the veracity of what I was told, across the board, is somewhere between zero and none.  (case in point: I was also told that there's no radiation scatter, that my chest cavity and head received no radiation whatsoever, and yet the treatment rooms are below ground so passersby at street level aren't exposed and when the treatments are in progress, two, large, heavy lead doors slide shut. So, it's hard to square "no unwanted exposure to me," in a room without protection for my head and torso with all the safety measures put in place for everybody else. It's just another "story" that doesn't add up for me (just like "a PET scan is safe but stay away from other people for 7 hours because it isn't safe for them."  Things like that leave me scratching my head and lead me to distrust everything that I'm told.  Anyway, good luck with a continued recovery.... Things seem on track.  

Phoebesnow said:

Radiation

As myndr explained to me, he can control where theradiation entered but not the exit. And that the radiation continues towork inside my body for 9 months to 1 year.  

 

P.s of course I have copies of my medical records.  Stage is not listed.  Size of tumor only and pictures from colonoscopy , pet, ct.

 

I have never heardthat you need to stay away from people for 7hours afte pet scan.  

I was never told to avoid people for 7 hours after the scan, nor have I ever been told to follow a low carb diet for a couple of days prior to the scan.  However, I was always told not to exercise 24 hours prior and to drink lots of fluids afterwards.

Marynb said:

Martha
Congratulations on running your race! You are doing amazingly well. I am glad you bought the Nutribullet. I really love it. I have eliminated the spinach and have switched over to kale for now. I am feeling better, not great. I do think I had some sort of a blockage. One of my tumors was in the small intestine, so it is probable. One day at a time!

Thank you!  I am feeling so much better these days.  As for the Nutribullet, I am still experimenting with different combinations of ingredients, just making sure that they are all good for me.  My husband has even been making smoothies for his breakfast in it, so it has been worth the price.  I happen to love kale and it has more nutrients in it than spinach, although spinach is good for us too.  I primarily use kale in soups.  It does sound like you had some kind of a blockage.  The diet definitely helps to rest the bowels.  I am getting a little more brave with what I eat and have been craving a salad like crazy.  Also, I am missing my steel-cut oatmeal in the mornings.  I may give both of these things a try later this week, even if in small amounts.

I hope you continue to feel better!