The Colon Club

Hello everyone.I am new to all of this so maybe you will see some posts from me in the days to come.Thanks in advance and my best wishes to you all,for good health and happiness.
My mother has just had surgery for sigmoid cancer.She has been given intravenous fluids for 6 days.Now starting to drink some water and tomorrow some tea or chamomile.
After that the hospital doctor says she will have some yoghurt,some kind of white pudding and plain soup with rice(no meat or veggies).These seen like no good for my understanding though I am not a doctor.
What kind of a diet does she need now so the bowel movement is right and the recovery is best(best healing)?I remember after my c section the doc said lots of protein(meat)so you can heal soon but after sigmoid surgery what do you do??
She has been constipated her whole life.She always used laxatives to go to the bathroom.
What is safe to eat and best for healing??

A few weeks ago I had a sigmoid resection (LAR) and was first given water, then broth, then a ‘low residual’ diet. Your mother might be put on a BRAT diet ( Bread, Rice Apples, Toast https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRAT_diet ) before being given the go ahead for the low residual diet, especially if she’s had issues with constipation in the past. The idea is to give the colon time to heal before making it work, and to make its job as easy as possible by only eating easily digestible food until well-healed.

I’ve only just been given the go ahead to introduce veggies and fruit to my diet, and I still have to avoid fibrous meats. My surgery was laparoscopic, so I’m not sure what additional restrictions an open surgery would have if that’s what your mom had.

Hoping for the best for your mom!

angelab84 wrote: . . . What kind of a diet does she need now so the bowel movement is right and the recovery is best(best healing)?I remember after my c section the doc said lots of protein(meat)so you can heal soon but after sigmoid surgery what do you do??
She has been constipated her whole life.She always used laxatives to go to the bathroom.
What is safe to eat and best for healing??

A low fiber diet for a while. Hospital should be able to provide the types of foods she should eat, butt more importantly, foods she should avoid for awhile. If they don't, look up "low fiber diet"on the internet.

From personal experience over 14 yrs ago, avoid cheese, even 2 weeks following surgery. My daughter had a friend sleep over. Pizza was the choice, 2 slices, and i was bent over in pain. 2 weeks later no problem, butt that 1 st month, "low fiber diet" than gradually add other foods and see how she tolerates them.

Good luck,

Lee

Thank you both for your quick response.
I will take this under consideration and inform my mother because the surgeon told her to drink some milk if she wants to!Luckily she refused(lactose intolerant).The only thing that concerns me is the constipation she has always had and what will happen if it gets worse with that kind of diet.