Can I make a toasted tomato sandwich with a peeled tomato? Ileostomy concerns.

One of my favorite foods is tomatoes out of the garden. My question to you good folks is: if I peel a tomato, can I make a toasted tomato sandwich? Ileostomy. Wouldn't be able to remove the seeds though. It's been 3 months past surgery and I have not had a blockage, but I also don't want one. I have been able to pass the small white watermelon seeds OK. Also, I would love to eat some onions if I cooked them and cut them fine. Need to expand my diet a bit to include some veggies. Thanks for any ideas.

Hi OB,

Well.......your bio says ileo due to colon cancer. So the question is................is there anything wrong with your small bowel (other than no longer being connected to your colon)? If there was nothing going on in your small bowel, and you still have all of it...........then there's no real reason you can't eat a pretty normal diet. This assumes that your surgery was some time ago and you've given your intestines time to heal and adapt. If that was you I'd say just introduce things slowly and in small quantities and your body will tell you what you can and cannot eat. Now if a portion (or portions) of your small bowel have exited the building........then all bets are off.

But specific to you..........3 months is not a lot of time for your bowels to heal and adapt. I'm going on year 7 (in September) from my slice and dice and my bowels have adapted more in the last year than in the previous 5 1/2. The "experts" will tell you full bowel adaption occurs in the first 3 years. They're the same idiots who say there's no Santa Claus. Everyone is different, but I doubt any dietician specializing in Gastro would approve of you getting too crazy with your diet at this point. I know it sucks not being able to eat some things. It's amazing what simple things we took for granted before we got our frontbutt. Personally, I'd say give it some more time........and then experiment slowly. I'm hopeful others in your specific situation will chime in and offer their advice, as they'd know better than I.

Regards,

Bob

Hi Old Bud, I hope you will be able to eat some tomatoes. They are one of my favorites also, nothing like a good tomato sandwich. Best wishes and stay safe

Hi, maybe just eat a piece of one. I agree with Bob. You may have to wait a while. The only thing difficult for me is salad.

I have been here for a year and a half. I peel the tomatoes. Lettuce is not great. Chew chew

Stories of Living Life to the Fullest from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

Hi O B, it sounds like you got the right idea in peeling them first. When I eat a tomato raw out of the garden, the skin shows up in my pouch. As for the onions, I love them but ooh, the gas they create for me. Like others said, chew everything well and there shouldn't be a problem. In regards to Lovely's message, as a kid, we couldn't afford bacon too often, so we ate tomato and lettuce on toast sandwiches.

Homegrown tomatoes, hell yes! Eat them!!! I eat them peeled all... just try one and see how it goes in whatever form you feel comfortable with at first to give you confidence to try anything you like.

I can also remember when I was young and I would spend time with my grandparents in the summer. My grandma would make big ole homemade biscuits. I would grab the salt shaker and one of those biscuits and go to the garden and get a tomato, wipe it off, and that was my snack.

Old Bud,

I pick them every day from my garden and eat them without a problem, and I have an ileostomy.

Xerxes

I would just peel the tomatoes for sandwiches. When I make gazpacho, I don't peel them because the blender totally chops them up.

Tomatoes pose no problems. I've been ileostomy for two-and-a-half years. I eat them regularly. Just chew your food and you'll have no problem. Skin, flesh, and seeds, I will pass through you without hindrance.

It would be very wise, to not eat the garden tomatoes un-seeded even peeled...that can be tricky.

I use Roma tomatoes...still peel them, yes, but there is very, very little seeds to worry about...admittedly, not as tasty as the garden ones... but ..

Enjoy....stay safe

Remove the skin on all fruit and veggies as they are indigestible and most likely to cause blockages. Chop all your food up finely before you start eating it and then you don't have to panic about chewing food ad infinitum. When introducing new foods into your diet post surgery, try a tablespoon full and literally wait for the outcome. If no dire consequences, then try a little more the next time round. There are no hard and fast rules as we all have different bodies and we can all react differently to various foods. Tomatoes are very good for you; the seeds shouldn't pose a hazard and minus the skin they will not cause problems. Enjoy!

Thanks for that "lost treasure".. Good advice... So... Myself I am from the beautiful city of Sydney, N.S.W.... And you?

Thanks so much for the replies. Tried to peel a tomato and removed as many seeds as I could. Not much tomato left, but made a great sandwich. I'm sure I can pass the seeds and will try that tomorrow. I'm always hungry as I was before this all happened. I love to eat. Thanks again for your experiences.

The secret to peeling a tomato is to stab it with a fork or knife and heat the fruit in a gas flame (which means you have a problem if you have an electric cooktop!). The skin will very quickly start to split. Rotate it in the flame until all of the surface is heat-affected, then plunge it into iced water. The skin will just slide off. (For those who don't have access to a gas flame, toss them into a saucepan of boiling water for one minute and then plunge them into iced water!)

Cool! Thanks! I will do that.

Still avoiding tomatoes as all the garden ones are gone now and never did like store-bought.

I do love onions but have been avoiding them as well but the last 2 days we cut an onion into tiny pieces and put in the microwave for 25 seconds along with some chopped spinach and put them under my poached eggs. So far so good and oh man it tasted great. I am going slow but hope to get back most foods I've enjoyed in the past. Haven't had a blockage yet and really don't want one. Thanks for all the advice I find on here.

Love onions also. But stinky. Really stinky.