Ok, so I now eat a pink grapefruit before every lunch to slow down my appetite..trying to take off a few pounds and I discoverd that it takes about 1 hour for my grapefruit to pour out of the pouch (anyone with a k pouch knows when a pink grapefruit comes out on its own )
All fruits and veggies eaten on their own take under an hour...milk products about 2-3 and meats and carbs can take all night.
So what is your digestive speed? Am I normal or fast?
I intubate about 10xs a day..before and after each meal + once around 4pm, just before bed and again 1 or 2xs in the middle of the night...I may have a small pouch from all of the surgery or my digestion is just really fast??????
What about all of you?
Sharon

Hi Sharon
Well I guess nobody wants to play. I will. I think you are fast. I am not a great one to compare because I take pain meds around the clock slowing my gut down. I can take 24 hours to see meat.
I would NEVER eat a grapefruit or orange on it's own because of the pulp being stuck in the tube. Did you peel off everything but the good stuff?
Chocolate (remember x-lax) shoots right through. Salad especially lettuce can be seen within an hour - meds or no meds.
Jeanne

thanks for playing Jeannie...yes, I do peel the grapefruit completely including the membrane right off..that is the only way...any fruit eaten on an empty stomach is out within the hour..at least I can gage how long it takes so that I can be ready to empty...my capacity is still really small...ran into a hotel today while I was out..they have the best bathrooms! Just pretended to be a client...hopefully they didn't think I was anything else! (strange woman loitering around the lobby looking suspicious and then running to the bathroom!)
Sharon

OK, I have tried to reply twice and keep deleting my message. This is it! I am a newbie and was amazed at your digestive speed. I have not really noticed, but yesterday a 24 hour medication passed in 2 hours. I have not eaten fruit or vegetables as it clogs the tube and seems to take so long to empty. I am now up to 6 hours between intubating and I love that I can be on a schedule. Have you always been so fast, or does it change over time? Do you use any kind of numbing cream? I am sore every time I intubate and it hurts. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Judith

Hi...I digest in 30 minutes. Always have, since apparently as a baby - my mom said I was always hungry and they had to introduce mixing cereals in my bottled formula very early or I wouldn't stop crying.

And, just last year, when I had to drink barium for my CT, it entered my kock pouch within 30 minutes.

Taking medications can be tough. I am on blood pressure meds and some days I'm 100/68 and the next at 145/90. I sometimes have to take a 24 hr medication twice a day (even the tabs that are not extended release).

For my thyroid, I take Synthroid, but let tab melt a little on my tongue and then swallow.

I try to get immediate release capsules or liquids whenever possible, but sometimes it's not doable.

Fruits are veggies are difficult to really chew well. I can do a salad one day, fruit the next, veggies the next, but never all in one day. But, I buy the V* fruit drink and it has the veggies/fruit nutrients so I at least feel good about it.

Judith, when you say your sore, are you using alot of lubrication 1st? Then, are you having to insert cath, pull out, then reinsert alot? That can make it sore.

Hi Judith..welcome to the club!
First off..for the pain..1 question...has your stoma 'sunk'? Or 'invaginated'..that means that it sort of slipped under the skin...it happened to me in 2005 and the pain was excruciating...I used all sorts of pain meds and local anasthetic creams to be able to intubate without fainting from the pain..the skin was trying to close up...hurt like heck...intubating should never hurt. If the skin around the stoma is just highly irritated (belly button burn ) then a barrier cream, hydrocourt or a stoma powder should help...if it the other problem then you have to talk to your surgeon or have a consult with a plastics man...it can be fixed.
As for the fruits/veggies...I am a lazy chewer so I choose my fruits according to their digestablility or I blend them and make smoothies out of them with or without ice...turn cooked veggies into mash or puree...some stuff is ok when it is overcooked or funny enough raw...broccoli and cauliflower go down fine either raw or overcooked but not half cooked...leeks and asperegus I only eat the very tips off of them (people think that I am a snob!)...
As for the pills Janice..if they go through too fast..instead of taking 2 doses..crush the single dose and take half in the morning and half at night...I have an old fashion pharmacy pestle and bowl so it is easy...
Either way...a hand held blender is my best friend
Sharon

Janice & Sharon - Thanks for the quick answer. I just got through intubating and YES, I was in & out quite a few times as I was very thick and had to syringe a lot of water to get it to flow. Maybe I am not using enough jelly - sometimes it is easier if I press at the top of the stoma while I am intubating. It seems different every time. I am seeing the surgeon next 11/20, will let you know what he says. After 22 years of no control as I lost my colon to cancer it is amazing to have control and a little discomfort (I don t like to say pain) and I laugh when I take prune juice. From one extreme to another. I am going to start fruits & vegetables slowly and well cooked and chewed (although sometimes I think I inhale my food when it disappears off my plate). Thank you both so much for you help and advice. It is nice to be able to talk with someone who understands what is happening. Well, it is 3:00am and I need to get up in two hours for work so I'll chat tomorrow. Am I communicating right? Thanks again, Judith

We were a bit bored at work one afternoon so we timed an apple, it took 54 minutes (exactly lol)from last swallow to the toilet visit.

So cute Torie!
Judith, we have all been down pretty much the same road...pain, disease, surgeries, living hell, more living hell and then some more....finally hope, a great surgeon who cares about us and our quality of life and surgery.....and then....confusion! What is this contraption? How do I get the tube in/out/unclogged???? Fun! Continence! Youppie! No leakage...no accidents...no public humiliation and fear. So now comes the fun part. Learning what goes in must come out...And through a tube yet! Chew. Chew more...chew more...and learn food combinations that work for you...too much of a good thing can lead to disaster. Don't over do the fiber at one meal or in one day. Test small quantities of stuff before you go gung-ho over it. I find that most fruits are fine on their own but when combined with other food groups they clog me right up. Fruits alone or mixed together but never after meals (I use 'fit for life'..a food combining lifestyle that helps me a lot and allows me to navigate through the worst of it all...)
We are all here for you and for your questions...never be afraid to ask us...we will always answer you...
Good luck for now..and get some sleep..it is part of the healing process...
Sharon

Thanks for your concern. I am going away this weekend and making up a kit (tube, etc.) for every purse and suitcase. I took your advice and chew, chew, and chewed some more for dinner. Now to do it all the time! It is a challenge finding out what I can and cannot eat and still miss my fruits and vegetables. I will try "Fit for Life" and see if food combining is the answer. Thanks Sharon. Have a great weekend. Judith

Judith, I am full blown paranoid when I travel..I have 'kits' everywhere...I travel with a fanny pack kit, 1 in my purse, 1 in the suitcase, 1 in hubby's etc..usually 5 or so...and now different sizes and types of tubes, pads etc...so go, enjoy and be prepared...and as my favorite dentist says...digestion starts in the mouth...
Have fun
Sharon

Can you kock pouchers go out to a restaurant and eat?? If you do so and then go to a show do you have to visit the bathroom a couple of times on a long night?

Depends on your pouch capacity, what you ate and how long you will be out, although...I have no problem emptying in a public washroom...do it constantly. Good days I can go 4-5hrs..but lately I need to empty after meals...so I do a pit stop after dinner or before the movie.
Sharon

Hi Donna, Yes, I do go out to eat. In fact, I am on vacation and just got back to my room after going to a Mexican restaurant for dinner then to a dessert place afterward. I do use public restrooms, and along with my supplies I bring rubber gloves, alcohol swabs then do the best I can until I get home (or wherever I'm staying). Good luck...you don't have to home! Judtih

I forgot to mention that my very favorite accessory is a small water bottle with a nipple tip (like for a baby)...I fill before going in to the stall and then use it to rince the tube and if necessary irrigate the pouch (it is worth about 3 syringes worth of water..I used to just fill the syringe before going in but it was often not enough) If you get a wide mouthed bottle then you can just put the syringe into it and suck up the water you need..either way that and a small zip lock bag can be life savers.
Sharon