Hi everyone! Well, I am 6 weeks post-op of my ileostomy with a bunch of complications and two extra surgeries. I'm so nervous about another ileus and having an obstruction (the NG tube was terrifying) that I want to eat chewy things but I'm afraid of obstructing. Anyone think it's ok?
By the way, I have a urostomy too. I've had that for two years. I'm a double bagger :)
Hi Lamari, 6 weeks isn't a very long time but I would expect you to be eating by now. I believe the ileus is usually caused by the trauma from surgery then passes by itself. Just introduce food you wish to eat gradually and see how you go, that is all you can do. I agree the NG is a shocker, hated it. Don't punish yourself by not eating what you wish to eat, just go slowly at your own pace.
Axl
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Give it time. A Tootsie Pop is gonna be fine. Just make sure you chew the thing and don't swallow it whole! :-)
I am 7 months post-bag and have pretty much returned to a normal diet sans a few things I don't need anymore. Like green beans and pepitas. And I do love pepitas. :-)
Daniel
Thank you so much, I really appreciate your response. A week after surgery, I had a severe ileus and extra fluid and gas and had to go back into surgery. That's when I needed the NG tube. I've never been so sick to my stomach in my life. :( So I'm nervous. But I am eating more and finally starting to gain a little weight. They were threatening a feeding tube. But I'm doing better with food now and seeing a little weight come on. Thank goodness. Anyways, I appreciate you and thank you again!
Ari
Hi and thank you :) I'm being careful but sure miss my salads. But I am loving the bread and pasta. Lol. I appreciate you getting back to me.
Ari
Oh heck... it only takes 3 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop... go right ahead!
;O)
It sounds like you and I had similar experiences, ileostomy-wise. Like you, I had a bit of a rough go when I lost my colon. My surgeon did not give me a very high probability for survival. I had an NG for about a week and then developed pneumonia and was outfitted with a couple of drainage tubes. But, being a stubborn coot and having a wife that was by my side throughout, I defied the surgeon's odds. However, after I was finally in rehab learning how to walk again, I developed pancreatitis and, wham! I was back in the hospital for another couple of weeks. But now, 7 months after the initial surgery, I am back to walking 3-4 miles a day and I feel damn good for being my age. Maybe not what I was before all this transpired, but hey, I am 75 years old and there are more things that speed decomposition than inhibit it. :-)
Anyway, all I am trying to say is hang in there. The ship will right itself. The way I look at it is that I will be permanently 7 pounds lighter.
Daniel
Hi Ari
First of all, welcome to the site. Second, well done on getting to where you are now after what you have been through. Third, what is a Tootsie Pop?? Lol xx
A Tootsie Pop is a lollipop with a chocolaty center. Delicious. It is available in the UK with the American Fizz company. Bob claims you can reach the center within three licks. Well done, Bob. However, experiments with a licking machine modeled after a human tongue, revealed that it took an average of 364 licks to get to the center!
Hi Lamari, welcome to the site. I've had my ileo for 30 some years. About a year after my original surgery, I had a blockage that needed surgery, and the surgeon said it was the bowel twisting itself into a knot, probably because there was more room after having my colon removed. After that, I made sure I chewed my food more so it would be easier to pass through.
Welcome to the group, Lamari! Six weeks is still so early and, with all you went through already, maybe you should wait to chew on that Tootsie Pop (at first I thought you meant Tootsie Roll and I definitely would've suggested nixing that.) I know that feeling of wanting to chew something chewy.....and crunchy, and melty and creamy.....
Try to be patient. I like how Daniel put it: "The ship will right itself." It will. Give it time. It's been eight years with my ileo and I eat everything now, my system knows how to process it, just going easy on bad fats for my stomach but that may be another issue.
Caz, watch the video that Bob posted. We "kids" who grew up with this delicious candy have the commercial ad embedded in our brains!
Is candy the same as chocolate? Candy to me is sweets? Lol xx
Hot or cold, I've never heard of them. Looks like I need to have a trip to the sweet shop. Lol xx
Here, chocolate is included in candy but candy isn't necessarily chocolate. Candy is sweets, too, lollipops, sucking candy, etc... Oh boy, now I want candy!
Oh, and the chocolate at the center of a Tootsie Pop is hard chocolate candy, not soft chocolate.
Sweets is the British term for candy, and sweets to the sweet a term of endearment. Reminds one of that lovely song:
"Sweets for My Sweet, Sugar for My Honey, I'll never ever let you go"........
Commercial must have been from the 70s, which would explain why I don't remember it. The 70s were my itinerant years. Didn't see a lot of television in those days. :-) But, I see a heavy Harry Nilsson influence and I always love a Peter Lorre send-up. :-)
Daniel
Hi Caz,
A Tootsie Roll is basically a roll of chocolate taffy about 5" long and 1/2" wide, so it looks like a log. It also comes in bite-sized pieces which is just the 5" log cut into 1" sections and individually wrapped. A Tootsie Roll has no real chocolate in it at all, just taffy. A Tootsie Pop is a lollipop with a center made of a round piece of Tootsie Roll taffy surrounded by a hard candy shell, like a regular lollipop. But it's a round spherical lollipop, not a flat circle. So you have to lick through the hard lollipop outer layer to get to the chocolate flavored taffy center. The trick is to not bite through the hard outer lollipop to get to the nice soft taffy center because of impatience. Hence the commercial. I guess over there you call taffy toffee, so as not to confuse. I suggest you try one and let us know how many licks you take before you give in to your urge to bite through the outer lollipop to get to the soft center. Definitely a bucket-list item for those who've never indulged. Never really liked that owl though... he's a bit condescending... no?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tootsie_Roll
;O)
Hi Bob
Thanks for putting me straight, yeah we call it toffee. The only thing I can think of over here is what we call a chocolate eclair unless any of my UK friends on here can think of anything else?? Xx
Bless you. Going through this is a lot. Yes, eat a TP! I've had mine for 12 years and several blockages. Mostly due to high-fiber foods, corn, beans, etc. Just chew well and drink water. Dehydration is an issue. I take probiotics and they have helped a lot. Our innards do not like being messed with. And like he said, the ship will eventually right itself.
I was day 2 after surgery and swallowed my chewing gum whole! You know they say to chew gum to promote digestion post-op?! And then I remember my friends saying as a child "your guts will stick together if you swallow your gum!" I told the nurse and she said it was okay. What else was she to say "OMG! You didn't?!! What are we going to do now?!" HA! I eat gummies candies and I chew them up pretty good.
Wow, Bob. If you can lay bare a Tootsie Pop and reach its inner core in three savage licks then it must be a unique speech organ!
Hi Ari,
October 1st will be my 20-year anniversary for having the ileostomy, unless you count the two times they did takedowns and then returned to the ostomy because of occlusions and poor construction of my J-pouch. I had nine surgeries to get to where I am today, with three of those being within a week and a half of each other (takedown, removal of scarring occlusion, removal of scarring occlusion at the site of the previous surgery's occlusion removal). But diet has never been an issue for me, partly due to poor discharge information that did not give me the restrictions I should be following. Therefore, I ate what I wanted in blissful ignorance and have not had a problem. HOWEVER, I can assure you that eating sugary things and drinking caffeine will likely cause the ileostomy to run faster and could potentially lead to dehydration if it gets bad enough. I've been told that this is due to the body putting extra water in the small intestine to dilute the sugar before being absorbed into the system. So if you are eating and/or drinking sweets/caffeine, drink plenty of water. I've been in the ER four or five times to get fluids because of dehydrating myself that way.
Welcome to the team.
Drew
Thank you so much for sharing. After the first complication, I didn't know if I'd make it. It took a lot to keep positive and make it moment by moment. It's awesome to hear you are walking so much. I'm still too sore and weak. Did you still experience pain after 7 weeks in the abdomen? I am so thin but I'm finally eating so I take it as a win. I'm rambling. Pain kicks in, in the evening.
