Colostomy Diet

[hisblueskies]

I will be cooking for a man who recently had a colostomy. When he was discharged he was given a partial list of foods he can eat and foods to avoid. Does anyone know of a website that can give me more extensive information on what he can eat? Can he eat onions or beans? I don't want to make anything that will cause him discomfort. He's also diabetic and on low salt. It's going to be a challenge cooking for him.

[Huganurse]

It really shouldn't be too hard to cook for him if you just follow his recommended calorie diet and use the exchange lists and just eliminate the choices that are on his list r/t the colostomy. The ADA should be able to provide you with a copy of the exchange list or his Dr. Any dietician would also have a copy for you. Good Luck!

[MollyJ]

Larger communities often have colostomy support groups and that can be a real help.

New post-op colostomies can be a little irritable, so I would stay away from challenge foods (cabbage, beans etc) right at first. Also how distal is his colostomy. The closer to the rectum the colostomy is, the more likely he is to have LESS disruption. Also, what is the underlying reason he had the colostomy (IBS vs cancer). The IBS patient may already know which foods he less likely tolerated. If he really likes an acidic food, I would introduce it on a day when his colon is "normal" and I would only intro one "challenge" food at a time and then just see how it goes.

I would find colostomy support group sites on the net and learn from those who live it.

[ComicRN]

Try your patient's enterostomal therapist (if she/he has one), or the United Ostomy Association. The UOA can give you the location of a chapter closest to your location.

My son has had 2 colostomies. One was when he was a baby so he was only getting breast milk and the other was when he was 5 yrs old. His surgeon gave us a list of do's and don'ts for his diet then. Basically, we stayed away from anyrhing with nuts and seeds and anything that caused excessive gas.

THE UOA has a web site but I'm not sure of the address. I'm not very good with linking things like that. I would just suggest just typing in UnitedOstomyAssociation.Com or something like that.

Good luck.

[Fgr8Out]

The WOCN (Wound, Ostomy, Continence Nurses) group has a website, http://www.wocn.org. The search feature was down when I checked it out last, though.

Generally, nuts and seeds are omitted from a diet for an Ostomate, and gas producing foods (including beans, cruciferous veggies and the like) are to be evaluated by each individual, based on tolerance. Otherwise, the diet is pretty much up to the individual.

[RNforLongTime]

I would be devastated to have an ostomy because I am a very gassy individual--I'd be blowin off bags right and left