Salads and Colostomy - Safe to Eat?

I have a permanent colostomy and I have a few questions about certain foods that I used to love to eat. I absolutely love a Cobb salad with everything that goes in it, but now I'm guessing that probably isn't a good idea for me to have over half of that stuff in there. Will salads always be not an option now or in time will it be okay? I am only three weeks out from my ostomy.

Colostomy: I eat as I did before. Ileostomy is a different story.

So you are saying that there isn't anything you can't eat that doesn't bother you currently? I was told that salad and cabbage and cucumbers and such would be hard to digest. I haven't tried anything like that yet since my surgery. But I'm definitely missing me a big old Cobb salad.

Ileostomy, jejunostomy, and I can eat everything except pineapple.... Just try everything you like in small amounts and see how it goes. It's the only way to find out, and always try it at least 3 times as adhesions often get the blame for a food blockage.

I am saying cabbage in coleslaw or cooked, lettuce, cucumbers, avocados, corn on the cob, granola bars with nuts, everything but green peppers which I did not like before and not interested in trying them now. If you are worried just chew it twice as much as before.

Words of Encouragement from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

Okay, thanks.

Hello Dlynn. 

I'm with Xnine in that I eat all the things I liked before the op. (which are much the same as Xnine lists.) I love salads and have then 2-3 times per week. I also grow my own sweetcorn and there is no way I would miss out on eating them when they are fresh - cooked or raw.

Just enjoy your food until something goes wrong - which it is unlikely to do, and chew- chew- chew!

Best wishes

Bill 

Hi Dylynn,

I have a colostomy as well, going on four years. I can eat whatever I want, including lots of salad! You can eat anything as long as your body can tolerate it.
My suggestion to you would be to start slow with just one or two fibrous foods and see how your body reacts to it. Have a simple salad with some greens then incorporate more vegetables and monitor your gut's reaction. You may have gas or abdominal discomfort with some foods. Pay attention to any that may bother you and eliminate those if needed.
In my experience, you can build up slowly the amount of fiber you can eat and should be able to tolerate well.

Be sure to always drink plenty of water as well.

Good luck

Earth Angel

I truly appreciate your response.

Thank you, Earth Angel. I will try what you said and just see how it goes. The only vegetable that bothered me before surgery was broccoli. And I'm not a big fan of it anyway. I know it's a new life going forward, and I just want to be able to enjoy it.

Deanna

Hi Dlynn, I started out with a colostomy and never gave a second thought to what I ate, which included pretty much everything. As long as you still have all or most of your large bowel, your digestive system should work as well as ever. It's people with ileostomies who often have problems with certain foods, usually high fiber things. Having said that, I now have an ileostomy and can eat anything, as long as I chew well and keep hydrated. You should be fine, so enjoy!

Terry

Hi dlynn

As others have mentioned on the forum, try a small amount and chew, chew, chew, and drink plenty of water. Good luck xx

I have slowly tried salads over the last year with my ileostomy. I can eat lettuce and peeled tomatoes only. I chew extremely well (as well as I can with full dentures!). Try in small amounts chopped up finely. I can now eat a full plate of lettuce cut into tiny pieces. I didn't begin salad until one full year after my surgery. I noticed you're very recent. Be careful.

I am 3 1/2 months out and just had my first small basic salad, nothing fancy. I did fine, no cramping or pain. I did, however, have some green beans, maybe a little too undercooked, and I thought I was going to have another surgery; the cramping was awful. I ate nothing but white food with applesauce, chicken, some precooked meals, had some broccoli, mashed potatoes, etc. I found when I added in veggies, my stool stunk, but with all white foods it doesn't. So I will try to introduce things easy. As for a Cobb salad, I would first do each item by itself and see how you react. It would be awful to eat one and chuck the idea never again just because you couldn't handle the hard-boiled egg or bacon, etc.

Smart to take one at a time...

Smart to take one at a time...

In December of this year, I will be two years out from getting my temporary colostomy. The first six weeks, everything that I read said not to eat lettuce, cabbage, nuts, pineapple, oranges, etc. After that first six weeks, I started adding those things just a little at a time to my diet and had no problem with any of them. Before my surgery, I could not eat nuts and popcorn because of my diverticulosis (Although new research does say you can eat those things now, I always had a problem with them). Now that I have Arse (pain in the arse), Yes, I named her. Anyway, now that I have her, I can eat anything I want and have no problem with digestion or elimination. I have decided after this period of time that I am not going to get a reversal because the part of the colon that was removed with my surgery is above the area that has the diverticulosis. My surgeon said taking that area out in the sigmoid colon with the diverticulosis and putting me back together would be a worse surgery than the first surgery. I am a nurse and have been for 40 years, so I'm very familiar with ostomies and really have had no problem with mine at all from the beginning. As far as clothes, I wear the same clothes that I did previous to my surgery. The only difference is, silk and satin tops are a little more revealing if Arse starts filling up. I do mostly wear longer tops and all I wear for jeans are DG2 jeans from HSN (TV shopping network). They are very stretchy and come in every size you can imagine. Most comfortable jeans I have ever worn. Now I'm thinking about changing Arse's name to "Lovey", and that is because I love her so much and it is so much easier to deal with her than it was to deal with the problems that I had prior to the surgery. Good luck with yours!

Azdancer,

Thank you for writing me back. I love all your information. And for the record, I did name mine Stanley LOL. I absolutely love the freedom I have with my new ostomy because before my surgery, I had horrible incontinence which means I was having accidents in urgencies and emergencies all the time. Mine is permanent so they took out my rectum and anus and sewed me shut.

I will be checking into the irrigation. I would love to not have the bag all the time. It would make clothes and activity so much easier. I am happy with my new life and wouldn't go back for anything.

If you have the opportunity to make yours permanent, I definitely would. You won't regret it. Thank you again for your information and reaching out to me. I will take all and any information and tips on going forward with my new life with Stanley LOL.

Deanna

P.S. I will have to check out the jeans that you spoke about. I do not want to wear sweatpants all the time, and I haven't tried any of my pants on from before surgery, so we'll see how that goes.

Hello,

Jeggings with a cute, long top look nice together and are comfortable with an ostomy. They're back in style again too!

Hi Dlynn / Deanna, you got a lot of good advice. I'm Marsha and I have my ileostomy for more than 55 years. After I healed, I found that I could pretty much eat anything I wanted, within reason. Some foods caused some distress, so I avoided those (poppy seeds, coconut, certain nuts, raw cabbage, raw carrots, celery). Like you, I loved cobb salads and after testing each item, I ate what I could and eliminated the rest. I've traveled around the world and have indulged in new and ethnic foods. What an ostomate can eat is really up to the individual. I know that doctors and stoma therapists often advise against some raw, gas-producing foods, but that's just a heads up. Be aware and test. In my 20s and thirties, I was able to eat just about anything, but one time when I had steamers, they came back up within a half an hour, some with oysters and muscles. So I gave up those raw/chewy foods. I don't seem to have any problem with baked clams, so I don't think it's an allergy. I'm now in my 70s and have developed another "gastric condition" similar to IBS. Because I have no large intestine, some foods are causing a lot of gas and bloating, and it leads to the runs and dehydration. It went on for nearly a year, off and on, until I finally went to the doctor (gastro). He diagnosed the condition immediately and advised the "FODMAP diet." Look it up. It's very restrictive and one needs to eliminate a vast variety of foods, including lemons, limes, artificial sweeteners, many fruits, and vegetables. It doesn't mean you can never have them, but it requires "testing" each time you try one to see if it triggers issues. Just because a food sits well once, it doesn't mean it will be fine all the time. At first, this was very upsetting and depressing, but once I figured out my basic diet (proteins, bread, oatmeal, banana), I started to add/test a different food each day. Sometimes a small salad, other times cooking with garlic and onion (but throwing out the fiber). I think all ostomates should be familiar with the symptoms and the diet because it gives you testing insight and how to manage foods that your system might be sensitive to. Best of luck to you, Marsha.

Hi Deanna, if you have an ileostomy, irrigation is not an option for you unfortunately. There are many things that we ostomates share, but there are also differences in some areas. Irrigation is only an option for someone with all or most of their large intestine.

Take care,

Terry

I do not have an ileostomy. I have a permanent colostomy. I have a message sent to my surgeon and the ostomy nurse to see what they say about this for me. I would absolutely love to have the option of irrigation. :-)

Deanna

Immarsh,

Thank you for the information that you provided. I have a class to attend, so some of the foods may be different. I am slowly introducing a little bit of salad back into my life, but I'm cautious about cabbage and raw carrots in my salad. I did, however, have corn on the cob a couple of days ago, and even though it was most delicious, I did have a little bit of indigestion shortly after I ate it. So I'm not sure if it was the corn on the cob, but I will try it again and see if I have the same reaction before eliminating it completely. I have greatly accepted my Ostomy because it was better than the life I was living before that. So yes, I realize the food will be trial and elimination, but I'm OK with that so far.

Deanna

Thank you for your letter. I will be trying several options as I get more comfortable being out and about.

Deanna

Sorry about that!! Getting mixed up in who I'm responding to. I hope irrigation works for you, good luck!

I eat anything and everything!!

Hi Deanna.

I am about seven weeks out from my colostomy surgery. I started irrigating because my stoma is very recessed, making it impossible to use any type of bag system. Believe me, I've tried them all! So I'm no expert, but I've been irrigating for about 2 1/2 weeks now and I'm very happy I tried it. It allows me the freedom to leave the house without worrying about leaks and accidents. Give it a try when you're ready!

I am an ileostomy and couldn't eat salads, nuts, seeds or fruit veggies with a skin for 3 months. Now at my 4 month mark, I have enjoyed garden salad as before and seedless grapes. I eat all the meats, but pork is really heavy on my belly so I have given up pork and pineapple. My favorite baked loaded spuds sadly have no skin, but taste amazing. My rule of thumb is to try small portions, see how you process and tolerate, and then you know for sure. My next big leap will be pickles. Dine on, girl, and enjoy. Don't forget dessert!

I guess I've had an odd experience. Six weeks after my colostomy surgery was Thanksgiving. I started eating almost everything except nuts with no problems. I had salad with my dinners on many occasions. But a couple of weeks ago, I had a big Cobb salad as a meal and it gave me a partial blockage and quite a lot of pain. I don't know if I didn't chew it well enough or just had too much salad without other foods to help it through, but it was no fun. So I suggest taking it slow, in smaller amounts, maybe with easier-to-digest food and chew well. I will eat more salads as I love them. I am three months post-op now. Good luck.