I looked through the materials from the Cleveland Clinic and I could not find my information on diet.

OK I know we cannot eat fresh fruits, nuts, skins, stringy foods, seeds --



I know there are guidelines for the J-Pouchers but are there any complete guidelines on what we K-Pouchers can and cannot eat?

For example --- Is oatmeal OK?

What about fresh cole slaw?

I tried fresh mushrooms the other day -- I guess they need to be cooked. Olives appear NOT to be ok... I don't like foods getting caught in the catheter.

So a little help on where to find some dietary guidelines for K Pouchers will be appreciated.

Thanks
al fine

I have a K-pouch. Oatmeal if fine. Cole slaw may clog my tube and cause problems. If certain roughage is eaten - it must be chewed very, very well. Small amounts are better for most of us too. I eat nuts once in a while. Again, chew, chew, chew and not too many. Each person will be a bit different. Also, gassy foods cause me problems. Makes intubation a bit more difficult and more frequent.

I think most of it is trial and error. I would be extra careful with the mushrooms though. After talking to Dr. Fazio about them, I have decided that my life will go on without them. Everything else may be fair game though. Seems Dr. Fazio has had to do more emergency surgeries for blockages with mushrooms than anything else.

Mike S

OK -- Oatmeal OK

Mushrooms now definately OFF my list -- Yikes!!!
Boy --- emergency surgery for a mushroom blockage.

So far so good -- Come on there has to be other k-pouchers who have some good experience on this!!! I need input! : )


Thanks Bodoni and Married Guy (Mike)

Alex

i don't have advice for you Al, but i sure do want to know as bad as you do.
seems as of right now i've stuck to a very basic diet of mostly (bad for you) processed foods. b/c i figure i'd wait til i was well done and over with chemo in order to start trying new foods.
but i am sick sick sick to death of eating bad for me crap.
i used to be a relatively healthy eater. mostly salads and fresh fruit, chicken, i love love love veggies.
To date i haven't eaten a fresh piece of fruit, or anything 'healthy' really in over five months.
i'm dying here!
the cafe at my job has this absolutely yummy spinach and tomato salad with feta that i'm DYING for.
man i wish i didn't have to see it every day.

so yea...you guys gotta fess up...give us newbies some guidance.
will i be eating a horrible processed food diet forever?
on average, if you guys eat fresh salads, how often do you? fresh fruit (i can bear with peeling an apple, never really liked apple skin anyway, but oranges? plums? peaches? oh man how i love peaches...)

i wish i got more guidance on this

I think this will be one of those "do as I say , not as I do" kind of things
I will be the first to say that I have been very lucky with the first pouch lasting 24 years and a new second that has been problem free.
I will share with you what gives me the most problems . Remember this is my experience and yours may be different! mushrooms, beans,whole corn kernals, skins of anything, sometimes spinach, apples and melon if I don't chew(key word ) well enough. Those things will clog the catheter for me. Eating too much whole grains will constipate me. Is that word still part of our vocab?I rarely drink carbonated beverages.

Now for the don't do as I do. I do eat popcorn and nuts. I chew VERY well and try to drink lots when I'm eating this stuff.

I'm not sure if I left anything out but you can ask if there is something specific.

Becca

I know!!! I want to eat salad so bad.... The other day at at the salad bar I piled on the cheese and eggs (and a few mushrooms) just so I could cover it with Bleau Cheese Dressing and play like there was lettuce and tomatoes, etc...But it looks like there will be no more mushrooms....

I would love to eat spinach ---

But tell me this ---

Do you eat cooked peas?
Do you eat baked beans?


Do you have any problem with the fruit so long as you have peeled the skin...
Are Plums out even without the skin -- What about Strawberries or KIWI

Can you eat Buffalo Wings???

My wife and girls love French Onion Soup -- and Onion Rings? Arrgghhh!!!!!

Hey k-pouchers -- Help us - Don't just think someone else will tell us... We need input!!!

: )

Alex

oh, i can say i ate a couple strawberries (hehehe, mixed in a strawberry shortcake)
but uh...didn't seem to be a problem.

but yes! i wanna know about cooked beans (like in chili...oh man i love chili)

and all the other stuff Al mentioned...

Mushrooms are trouble, it seems no matter how much I chew them up, I still have trouble with a plugged catheter. Not worth the trouble for me as the plugged up catheter can last days from the mushrooms. Sorry

Oatmeal should be OK, I would think.

Kidney beans are gas producers and the skins plug the catheter, so try at your own risk. I do eat Chili and it is worth a little added trouble to me.

Salads don't cause me trouble, cucumbers cause gas but I eat them anyway, shedded cheese, tomatoes cut up, shedded carrots, spinach cut up and lettuce with whatever dressing. I eat them all the time, I would skip the mushrooms.

I eat corn, green beans, peas, creamed corn, salads, tomatoes, carrots, cooked celery only. You will have to try things slowly and make sure you have the chewing down, or forget it!!!

I eat apples, peaches, bananas, cherries, grapes, pears, kiwi, blueberries, strawberries. I eat the skins, but I know alot of K-pouchers don't eat apple skins.

I don't eat potatoe skins, they clog my catheter too much and aren't worth it to me.

In the beginning, be careful, I am a seasoned Kock Poucher and have learned to chew and know what gives me trouble. I learned through trial and error, remember as times goes on you will be able to eat more things.

If it has skins, be careful, mushrooms I would avoid along with watermelon. Corn may be trouble until you learn to chew it to mush, sorry, but Kock Pouchers have to really chew their food up beyond the norm. Cocoanut should be cut up. Alot depends on your digestive system and how much you chew and if you have adhesions you will have more trouble with foods.

Try one new thing at a time and see how it goes, but be careful. Chew it to mush, then drink alot of fluids too.

Hi, my recommendations as far as eating goes is be VERY careful when having mangoes, small bites, chew ALOT, no peas, no mushrooms, little bites of cooked onions are ok otherwise they can clog, also NO DRIED FRUIT. I had dried apricots, got a very bad blockage and had to have surgery. two days after coming home from my honeymoon. That sucked big time. Salad is great, that helps go to the bathroom because of the fiber, raw spinach is good, cooked spinach is more stringy and can clog, trial and error, and when you make an error be very patient with your self, Also I have just discovered that if you take something like GAS-x, it helps. No more really bad stomach aches and gnarly bloating because of gassy foods. I also take digestive enzymes, like papaya or some other chawable enzymes, i figure it cant hurt and definetly helps.

Thanks -

I tried some peas the other day and you are right --- I think they clog up the catheter too much. But you can eat lettuce OK? -- HMMMM

Thanks for the information on the GAS X

Spinach?!?!? Really? oh how i love love LOVE spinach (fresh, not cooked).
I'd LOVE to be able to eat a spinach salad.
I can live my life without ever eating iceberg lettuce...it doesn't hold any nutrients for me, so that's fine.
But what about fresh cut up tomatoes? (like say...chunky salsa?)

And i know i've heard questionable things about watermelon, but what bout canteloupe? or honeydew? I absolutely LOOOOOVVEE melon. i'll be crushed if i can't eat it.
And mango? oh man it's one of my fav. thigns to just cut up a mango with some lime and salt on it...yum! i think i may suffer and eat that regardless.
I was eating some dried mango my roommates dad brought back from the phillipines the other day (i have a real soft spot for this specific stuff...regular dried mango i buy in the store just does'nt cut it. they add too much sugar or something)
and i only ate a slice or two, but it didn't do anything noticeable to me.

Chris eats almost everything. He doesn't chew chew chew and drinks very little.Kids!
Avoid cabbage, sauerkraut,coleslaw, mushrooms,nuts, popcorn, peas, celery, tomatoes, anything with seeds and skins, especially too many grapes! Milk causes too much gas and that will lead to more trips to the bathroom.
Chris eats romaine lettuce almost everyday as a sald, just lettuce and maybe a few croutons as do i with my j and no problems
i had corn on the cob, as longs as you slice each row of kernels with a sharp knife it seems to be ok, old trick i learned with my ostomy in 1987.

remember moderation and one thing at a time.

man. you guys. seriously...
i have not been brave enough to try much.
i'm itchin for that salad, but have yet to venture to that.
at my job we have a small cafe, and the cafe usually has really good food, but i've been avoiding most everything they serve b/c stuff i think i can't eat.
(ex: cous cous with sundried tomatoes, almonds, feta. Or basil infused rice with corn and black beans.)
i figure almonds wouldn't be good, i'd think sundried tomatoes could be a problem. corn is a problem, and i'd think black beans would be too.

but it's so aggravating. my diet before all this was much better than it is with a kpouch. i don't eat 'healthily' at all anymore. whereas i used to eat salads, fresh fruit, whole grains, etc.
nowdays all i eat is processed bad food. i.e. pizza, mac n cheese, pastas. etc.

maybe eventually i'll try more stuff. but for the most part it's been six months of a crappy diet for me.

I have been experimenting a little bit since my revision in early March. I love fruit and have had no problems with cantaloupe. Also last week I knocked out about 50 wings (and a couple of beers) with no problems. Though the beer was a bad idea, the wings were fine. What I have been trying to do is cut everything very small and chew it like mad. The only problem is it takes forever to finish a meal.