Ileostomy friendly diet?

airborne72
airborne72 Member Posts: 303 Member
in Colorectal Cancer #1

Everyone:

I have just completed my sixth day at home after my resection surgery (LAR).  I brought home an ileostomy and according to the plan it will be with me until I complete mop-up chemo in late February.

There have been three areas of concern for me regarding the ileostomy and I improve in each area daily, but one is more challenging and I need some advice.

It took me a few days to become mentally accepting of the device.  My new normal.  My borders are expanding daily and I have even attended social occasions.  I can do this.

Another area of concern was the physical management of the ileostomy.  Emptying the bag, changing the bag, and replacing the adhesive pad have all been accomplished.  My routine is becoming more efficient with each repetition.  No disasters yet.

The third area involves eating and this is where I am in need of help.  I have dropped almost 10 pounds since I was discharged from the hospital.  Today my weight hit the lowest level since I was 14 years old in 1965 - 132 pounds.  I am concerned what will happen to my BMI once I become engaged in the chemo.

I am supplementing my food intake with Ensure and drink a chocolate milk shake almost daily.  However, my main staples need to be expanded.  I read all of the menu recommendations offered by the hospital and several online, including those available on this website, and noticed numerous contradictions.

I understand that the initial six weeks post surgery is a unique period when your intestines are inflammed.  There after the risk of "issues" lessens.  I also understand the necessity to not eat foods that can't be mastisized fine enough to physically pass through the stoma.  And finally, I understand the discouragement of consuming carbonated beverages and spicy foods.

As I try to follow the rules I am literally starving to death.  My tolerance for mashed potatoes, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, thin soups and bananas is waining.  I need to quickly expand my list of recipes.

So I am asking any and all of you who have faced this challenge to please share with me your diet.

Jim

Comments

  • lp1964
    lp1964 Member Posts: 1,239 Member
    #2
    Dear Friend,

    I have had colostomy for 4 years and I can eat pretty much any well cooked food except raw vegetables and fruits, fiberous food or spicy.

    I would go on UOAA.com and post this question or do a search.

    All the best.

  • Mikenh
    Mikenh Member Posts: 777 Member
    #3
    Is white rice an option? Rice

    Is white rice an option? Rice has a lot of calories and is good at absorbing flavors from other foods. One thing that my wife can make (it's popular in Singapore) is Chicken Rice which is white rice cooked with chicken broth. I can eat a ton of that stuff though I usually add sweet chili sauce but it's fine without it.

  • airborne72
    airborne72 Member Posts: 303 Member
    edited October 2017 #4
    lp1964 said:

    Dear Friend,

    I have had colostomy for 4 years and I can eat pretty much any well cooked food except raw vegetables and fruits, fiberous food or spicy.

    I would go on UOAA.com and post this question or do a search.

    All the best.

    Thank you for the link.  It

    Thank you for the link.  It appears to be another excellent source of information and the exchange of experiences.

    Jim

  • airborne72
    airborne72 Member Posts: 303 Member
    #5
    Mikenh said:

    Is white rice an option? Rice

    Is white rice an option? Rice has a lot of calories and is good at absorbing flavors from other foods. One thing that my wife can make (it's popular in Singapore) is Chicken Rice which is white rice cooked with chicken broth. I can eat a ton of that stuff though I usually add sweet chili sauce but it's fine without it.

    Thanks Mike.

    Thanks Mike.

    White rice is an option so I will add that to my meal inventory.  I will also explore the opportunity of smothering it with gravy.

    I've got to quickly get some diet traction to prepare for the mop-up chemo regimen.

    Jim

  • BRHMichigan
    BRHMichigan Member Posts: 368
    #6
    Food challenges

    Plain egg noodles with butter & sea salt, scrambled eggs, can you tolerate lightly toasted white bread?  Chicken pot pie (chopped fine),, blended yogurt.

    I can't tolerate much dairy. I ate grilled cheese and baked Lay's in the hospital...but I think that is because I have colostomy not ileostomy.  You must be on soft diet for six weeks.    

  • Mikenh
    Mikenh Member Posts: 777 Member
    #7
    BRHMichigan said:

    Food challenges

    Plain egg noodles with butter & sea salt, scrambled eggs, can you tolerate lightly toasted white bread?  Chicken pot pie (chopped fine),, blended yogurt.

    I can't tolerate much dairy. I ate grilled cheese and baked Lay's in the hospital...but I think that is because I have colostomy not ileostomy.  You must be on soft diet for six weeks.    

    I can see that this will be a

    I can see that this will be a challenge.

    We buy 25 pound bags of rice at Costco. Something else my wife does is make coconut rice - she adds coconut milk to rice for a Thai style. We all love the stuff but I don't know that it's for everyone.

     

  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    #8
    Trial and Error

    It's going to be trial and error.  When eating after having a temporary illeostomy, my diet consisted of food that didn't have seeds (that's a no no), no corn, nuts, popcorn, mushrooms, nothing with skins like apples, tomatoes, cucs etc.  It is different with an illeostomy than colostomy as the whole is much smaller.  You have to determine what is going to agree with you and what isn't.  Rice was definitely NOT my friend as it bound me up so bad and after reversal it still does.  Everyone is different so experiment.  It's good to see what you can tolerate but make sure you don't eat things to clog that hole as it is very, very small and you don't want to get a blockage.  Good luck.

    Kim

  • aoccc2015
    aoccc2015 Member Posts: 37
    #9
    If you find something that

    If you find something that seems to get stuck in the stoma and block things up, i have found the next time drink some juice or alot of water with it and chew like crazy. Sometimes it just takes one piece of pineapple or other chunk to block the hole. I just do pull that baby out and aim low lol. Dont be afraid to help guide whatever you see stuck in there out. Remember that game called "Operation", yep kinda like that :)

  • Cindy225
    Cindy225 Member Posts: 172 Member
    #10
    BRAT Diet

    Brat diet for the first 6-8 weeks.  Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast. After BRAT then moved to other foods except nuts, seeds, corn, popcorn, raw vegetables fruits with skins as Kim mentions.  I tempted fate and had a caesar salad and the romaine created a blockage which was horrible.  Severe abdominal pain, nausea and no output.  Fortunately, with all the nausea it was eventually dislodged.  Terrible painful long night so need to take it seriously.  I stopped eating steak as it took forever to chew and my family was always done eating while I was still chewing. Hydration was my biggest issue.  So important to drink water.  My goal was 8-10 glasses a day.  If I didn't drink enough I felt lightheaded.  TMI but I stopped eating baked beans and drinking beer as it made my bag blow up like a balloon and had a few near misses. That said, we ate a lot of pasta, noodles, meatballs, chicken, super cooked string beans, potatoes, crab cakes, burgers, pizza (homemade) and casseroles. I am blessed to have a husband who loves to cook.  If I can't microwave it I won't eat it...

     

  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    #11
    aoccc2015 said:

    If you find something that

    If you find something that seems to get stuck in the stoma and block things up, i have found the next time drink some juice or alot of water with it and chew like crazy. Sometimes it just takes one piece of pineapple or other chunk to block the hole. I just do pull that baby out and aim low lol. Dont be afraid to help guide whatever you see stuck in there out. Remember that game called "Operation", yep kinda like that :)

    LOL

    That is so funny but you are correct.

    Kim

  • lhduffer
    lhduffer Member Posts: 90 Member
    #12
    Ditto

    The same for me as Cindy225 and Kim said.  I did eat a lot of fish and seafood also, much softer and easier to chew.  I also indulged in chicken alfredo quite a bit to add calories and it was easy to chew.  I was always a very healthy eater so the changes were not always easy, but neither was the weight loss for me as I didn't have it to lose.  One other thing I avoided was mushrooms as I heard some horror stories on that as well.  Basically I was afraid to try anything that could potentially cause a blockage as I wasn't brave enough to tempt fate.  I think the chew, chew, chew mantra is a very good one while you have the temporary ileostomy. 

  • Mikenh
    Mikenh Member Posts: 777 Member
    edited October 2017 #13
    This stuff is getting me to

    This stuff is getting me to wonder if it would be advantageous to put everything in a blender and then drink meals.

  • Bellen
    Bellen Member Posts: 281 Member
    #14
    Low residue diet

    Hello all - I have a small intestinal stricture (scarring) that causes partial obstructions - terrible, painful spasms that last for hrs.  My dietician gave me a listing of low residue foods - foods that are easily digested and pass through your system easily.  You will find this info on the internet.  Also, as others said - chew food very well.  I think this type of diet would be helpful.

  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    #15
    Mikenh said:

    This stuff is getting me to

    This stuff is getting me to wonder if it would be advantageous to put everything in a blender and then drink meals.

    Don't Drink It

    Your body will crave the chewing so please don't limit it to the blender - you will be very unhappy with life if you do that.  You can live perfectly with just some modifications with an ostomy.  You will do just fine and remember there are only certain foods that you should avoid but with an Ileostomy they always stress the chew, chew, chew and that will be the blender in your mouth.  So you will be getting the blending motion with the chewing motion which you need.  Salad is one of my favorite dishes and had that every night even with and ileostomy and did just fine. Just come here with more questions if you need.

    Kim

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