Postby MissMolly » Fri Aug 12, 2016 4:13 pm
NewMol:
I do not have your exact situation with digestive distress but share digestive distress with an ileostomy due short bowel syndrome (removal of my colon as well as removal of about 8 inches of my small intestine).
My intestinal function has never returned to even a modicum of "normal."
For almost a 1 1/2 years I suffered from recurrent paralytic ileus - and was either on and off TPN and/or only able to drink clear or thicken liquids. My digestive tract has improved to where I can eat small portions of soft foods but it would never allow for me to dine in a restaurant and eat as do "normal" people.
My advice to you is to look beyond the food component of your vacation and time with your family. Look to the time being with the company of family and friends, take enjoyment in the social bonding without food in the equation.
There is far too much emphasis on food and eating, in my opinion.
Eat what you want to eat, when you want to eat . . . it is your body. Listen to your body and its needs. Take advantage of the social connection of being in a restaurant with family and friends - and add in eating, if and only if, it is right for you.
There is nothing wrong with sitting and having a nice cup of tea. Savor the aroma and warmth of the cup. Let the other senses of your body (sight, hearing, olfaction/smell) delight in the experience. Eating food is not necessary to having a good time with others.
Most people, honestly, will not even notice if you are not eating. And if they do, you can answer as I do. "I have had surgery on my intestine that makes eating a large meal in a restaurant something that I can no longer do. I am fine with my cup of tea, and thank you for asking."
I have had to adopt this philosophy out of necessity. Perhaps this will be a temporary situation for you in which social eating in a restaurant is problematic is only short-term. Perhaps it will be a long-term problem. I guarantee you, you are not alone - lots of people have irritable intestinal tracts. Look at the aisles in any pharmacy and note the amount of space devoted to anti-acids, laxatives, Pepto Bismol, and Mylanta.
My advice: Remove the importance of food and eating from your family vacation. Eat what you want to eat, when you want to eat - by listening to your body and its needs.
What is the benefit of plowing into a large meal, in order to be socially correct, and paying the price by spending hours with intestinal distress later?
My family and friends know that I will likely never eat with them when we go out. It is no big deal.
By the way, I believe the advice of eating marshmallows applies principally to those of us with ostomies. The eating of 2-3 marshmallows, for some, quiets the digestive tract and fecal output from a stoma, allowing for a period of quiet from an otherwise erupting stoma, to facilitate a pouching change.
- Karen -
Dear friend to Bella Piazza, former Colon Club member (NWGirl).
I have a permanent ileostomy and offer advice on living with an ostomy - in loving remembrance of Bella
I am on Palliative Care for broad endocrine failure + Addison's disease + osteonecrosis of both hips/jaw + immunosuppression. I live a simple life due to frail health.