Sunday 10 June 2018

Eating After a Stoma

So you just had surgery and got an ostomy huh? I bet you’re worried about a lot of things right now. I know for me, recovering from my surgery and adjusting to life with a stoma was a very stressful process. However, I am here to tell you that things are not that bad. I do not want you to feel worried and feel like you are alone in this struggle. There are plenty of people who have had this surgery before you and completely recovered and got back to living normally again with the addition of a stoma. One of the hardest things about recovering from surgery is trying to eat normal foods again. I know from personal experience that it is most helpful to spend a lot of time in sweatpants and a sweatshirt for the first couple weeks after surgery. Listen, you just got a whole put in you, it’s okay to take some time for yourself and to rest up a little bit!


One thing that people struggle with after surgery is figuring out what to do about eating. I know that a lot of people worry that they will never be able to eat the same foods again because of their ostomy and their stoma. Well, the good news is that you will be able to enjoy lots if not all of the same foods you enjoyed before surgery! However, the time frame for these things might look a bit different depending on your recovery process and how you are adjusting your body to the stoma. For the first few weeks after surgery you will definitely want to be eating very bland foods. This is because your body is very weak and your stoma is very fresh, and you would not want to eat any foods or drink beverages that could potentially harm your new stoma. I suggest eating the most basic diet for a few weeks. I know that this is not a super good time; in fact, I absolutely hated eating bland foods for such a long time after surgery, but your doctor will also tell you that it is super important to be able to fully recover from surgery.



Once you have had several conversations with your doctors and follow up visits about your surgery, your doctor may clear you to start eating more normal foods again. However, this does not mean that you need to go hog-wild at your local Golden Corral. Your body is still adjusting to life after an ostomy which means you are going to want to be careful in any way you can. I suggest you slowly start introducing foods back into your diet that you used to eat regularly. You want to do these things slowly so that you can better analyze how your body is reacting to each new food and then make adjustments based on what your body is telling you. I know this can be a bit of a process, but it is really not too bad of a time once you find the foods you are not super comfortable with. 


I had to stop eating beans after my stoma. Beans used to make me gassy anyways, but it is a bit more of a problem to be gassy while having a stoma put in because then your pouch fills with gas and it can be really annoying.



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