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More ileostomy food and blockage questions

Despite having had a stoma for a while, it's only since my last surgery a few months ago that I've had a stoma that doesn't block easily, so I'm still testing out new foods and quantities. Before, my stoma blocked at the slightest hint of fibre, so I'm still a bit wary, even though with this current stoma I've been alright with things like apples and pears (raw), well cooked vegetables like broccoli and carrots, small portions of crunchy peanut butter, and the odd raw tomato or a few slices of cucumber. Not all at the same time ;) but I'm eating a couple of things like these a day.

There are a couple of foods I'm not sure about trying, and wondered how others with ileostomies get on with them: oranges and other citrus fruit with pith, and sweetcorn. Does anyone eat them?
 
I eat both. If I go crazy with the corn, I will get uncomfortable when it comes back out..not an obstruction, but it all comes out at once in a big clump and is sometimes uncomfortable. My stoma nurse suggested trying canned cream corn first because the kernels are split rather than whole. I have had no issues with oranges at all. I was skeptical of eating both of these things, but it hasn't been a problem for me personally.
 
I'll have sweetcorn occasionally. I don't eat too much of it (no corn on the cob), but will have it if it's in soups or fried rice or something. Too much of it does make me uncomfortable, and I drink a bit more water than usual when I'm eating things that might be troublesome.

Citrus I've had absolutely no problem with. I'm eating a mandarin orange as I type...my second of the day!!

Kismet
 
Thanks, I think I'm going to start maybe with just a few segments of a citrus fruit, take most of the pith off and see how it goes.
 
I've not had any real issues with these two foods, oranges had no affect on me at all! If I eat a large amount of sweetcorn I can sometimes feel it coming out, it's like a little 'popping' feeling on my stoma..... It can be quite tickly but never uncomfortable. Peas have the same affect on me.
 
Yes, the popping! I can push on my abdomen around the stoma and help it out. I call it giving birth. It just pops out. Hahaha!
 

Nyx

Moderator
The only thing I'm careful with is corn. If I don't chew it well, it comes out the same way it went in...and I have a colostomy so for the most part, everything is digested. But I love it! So I eat it :)
 
I'm realising more and more how abnormal my first two stomas were - one piece of fruit and later on I'd be bent double on the floor with nausea and stomach cramps as it came out of my stoma.

My first two stomas were loop ileostomies, the one I have now - the one that can handle fibre normally - is an end ileostomy, would that make a difference? And my first two were very very small and retracted, whereas my current one is absolutely massive and prolapsed, though it frequently retracts for brief periods. Is it easier for things to pass through a larger stoma? Maybe if it means the stoma opening is bigger?
 
I'm probably going to have sweetcorn later today.

More questions: do many of you eat coleslaw and similar raw salads? And mushrooms?
 
I'm probably going to have sweetcorn later today.

More questions: do many of you eat coleslaw and similar raw salads? And mushrooms?
I ate a huge bowl of coleslaw not long after my op, I had no problems whatsoever with it and it was thick cut raw bits of carrot and cabbage, I've ate it plenty of times since. I'm fine with all types of lettuce and I probably eat mushrooms daily and no issues.

It's probably going to hit me like a ton of bricks if I do ever encounter any issues with food, I'm so blasé with what I eat!
 
How did it go with the sweet corn ?
I should probably be a bit braver with trying fiber, my stoma has spat out some quite chunky bits of food that I hadn't chewed properly, so I might be ok.
On the plus side, I had a dram last night, with zero effect....whisky is back on the menu:drink:
 
No problems with the sweetcorn so far. I only had a small amount, about a tablespoon. I used to have such severe problems, I'm still nervous. Onto a clementine next!

I can tell from my stoma output how different things are with this stoma. Before, anything remotely fibrous came out as bits like gravel. Now even though I'm eating more fibre than I ever did with my previous stomas, the output is pretty smooth. :confused2:
 
I think the sweetcorn and clementine have been ok (though I haven't seen the sweetcorn come out, I thought I would but it's been a couple of days now). I'm trying coleslaw next. :)
 

Nyx

Moderator
Just a warning...sometimes things come out many many days after you've eaten them. If I eat sesame seeds, I see them about a week after I've eaten them. It's weird.
 
Judging by the very full bag of thick, healthy output I woke up with this morning, I'm pretty certain I don't have a blockage yet. :)
 
Just a warning...sometimes things come out many many days after you've eaten them. If I eat sesame seeds, I see them about a week after I've eaten them. It's weird.
Nyx, you have a colectomy, right? That's a bit different as far as how long before food shows up in the bag. Stuff sits in the colon for a while before exit compared to an ileo.
 

Nyx

Moderator
Nyx, you have a colectomy, right? That's a bit different as far as how long before food shows up in the bag. Stuff sits in the colon for a while before exit compared to an ileo.
Yes, I have a colostomy and am aware that our digestion will be different. I was just shocked at seeing sesame seeds almost 2 weeks after I ate them...lol
 
My transit time is more like two hours than two weeks. Which is why I'm wondering where the sweetcorn has gone. :confused:
 
I've concluded that since I ate such a small portion of sweetcorn and chewed it well, it must have come out without me noticing.

And this evening I had a small portion of coleslaw - the first coleslaw I've had in years! Who would have thought it's possible to get excited about coleslaw.
 
I had three squares of Cadbury fruit and nut chocolate this morning. :) Which contained about two nuts and two raisins, but it's still the first time I've had it for years.
 
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