If your issues with strain are over, I'd say just slowly add fruits like you said. Try the peeled apples out, then wait and see how you react to them. If you're fine, then add them to your diet slowly. Then try something else. It's a slow game of learning what your j-pouch likes and doesn't like. As time goes on, you'll find your j-pouch to be less finicky then at the beginning, and usually able to tolerate any normal diet. If you can handle light fiber like from the apple, then lettuce shouldn't be too far away from your future...just make sure you chew it very well!

Yes chew chew chew. I would try overcooked veggies and pureered fruits before I tried them raw. Also you can put fruits in blender and make smoothies. Go slowly, try only one thing at a time. and again chew chew chew.

I was eating salads a few weeks after takedown. I practically live on salads because I enjoy them so much. I just chew really well....never had any issues. I suggest you try anything you want but just have a small portion of it to see how you do. If you are progressing along ther is no reason to limit yourself. Two weeks after takdown I went to favorite burger place and had a cheeseburger and onion rings. I was craving that so bad! I just ate half so see how I would be and I was fine with it. Had a milkshake too!

quote:

I reeaally miss eating salads... how long should I wait before trying a small salad? I am very concerned about causing a blockage, and am aware that even though I am feeling great, my insides are probably still healing.

Blockage is always a possibility. I've been through it once myself. Can't remember which foods did it though. In the case of lettuce though, I doubt it. I keep away from it, it's one of the worst foods I've come across since I've had my pouch. It's so bad it doesn't even break down in my pouch. I'll only touch it in small amounts now if I do. A huge salad is something I don't want to take my chances with

I eat huge salads all the time and have been from the very beginning. Contrary to what Dog Day says, lettuce (and other foods) actually do break down. What you'll see after you eat lettuce or other higher cellulose foods is the insoluable parts of the food. Coloned people experience this too but since they have functioning colons it's all wrapped up in that nice fecal package. With pouchers, we get to get the up-close and personal view of insoluble bits. It's totally normal.

Try a bit of salad and see how it works for you. I found in the beginning that head lettuce worked a bit better than leaf lettuce so be aware of which type of lettuce you're eating so you can see if one type travels through better for you. Others found that leaf lettuce worked better for them.

I would say that you should try whatever you're craving. Try it in a small amount to see if it works for you. If it causes you too much grief right now, try it again at a later date. And remember, this new plumbing ain't like the old plumbing. So foods may (or may not) react differently. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't eat them. That means you just prepare for them. For instance, if you're eating a potentially problematic food like butt-burning Thai food, just have a goodly amount of rice to absorb some of the burn and apply butt cream proactively.

There are no bad foods. You may choose not to eat a certain food but that doesn't mean it's bad.

Good luck with the new foods!

kathy

I wanted to add also that my surgeon gave me a good piece of advice. He said if a food bothered me, go back and try it again in a few months. Dont assume you can never eat it. I found this to be very true.

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Contrary to what Dog Day says, lettuce (and other foods) actually do break down.

They don't in my system. Kathy Smith is not the recipient of my J Pouch and has no right to tell you what does and doesn't break down in my J Pouch. All she lives for is objecting to anything I print here. You might have better luck with lettuce than I have, but for me I have to consider it a failure.

Oh Fredbird, give it a rest.

Sue

Fred/Dog Day - I think if you do a little research you'll see that what you're seeing/experiencing is the insoluable part of lettuce. Everyone experiences that. If you choose not to eat lettuce that is one thing. But your statement regarding insoluble fiber is not correct.

kathy

Hey Smith and Bear, would you like me to come here and call you 2 names? My name is Dog Day! Got it? I advise you 2 to take your witch hunt elsewhere and what I said about my J Pouch stands. Lettuce has always been 1 of the most troublesome foods for it . I'd be happy to endorse it like I have other foods if it worked, but that's far from the case. All I can do is pray ju330 has better luck with it than I have.

I gave up lettuce and salads, in general, all the years I suffered from ulcerative colitis. For the past 10+ years, since this surgery, huge salads have been my food of preference. The crunchier the salad, the better! We are all different so start small and see what happens. As others have said, if at first you don't succeed....try, try again....at a later date. Best wishes!

Dog Day - I am not disagreeing with the fact that you don't think lettuce/salad agrees with you. What I was pointing out is that seeing insoluble fiber in the toilet (pieces of lettuce) does NOT mean it's not breaking down. It DOES break down. This is exactly the same that people with nice healthy colons experience. They just don't see it like we do. Do you now understand what the point is?

kathy

Yes Kathy that is very true. We see food in the toilet that coloned people will never see. I find it quite funny sometimes!

Lettuce has never given my pouch any trouble. I only have a bit on a sandwich or a side salad here and there.

Kathy, lettuce is one of the few if not only food I can still identify in the toilet. This didn't happen to me either long before I received my J Pouch. Compared to other foods I've digested it's very quick at speeding right through my system. That's not to say other foods don't trouble my pouch but many fruits and vegetables rank at the top of my list. Therefore, I can certainly understand why lettuce is included as "foods that may increase pouch output" on this link https://www.j-pouch.org/diet.html