I have seen on Amazon that there are cookbooks for ileostomies. But with the fact that everyone is different and can eat different things, is it really worth it to buy a cookbook even geared for ileostomies? I have never seen one in person because I guess it is a very specialized area. You can't preview the books on Amazon, so there is no way to know what is in it. So, what do you all think? Is it worth buying a cookbook that may be helpful, but may not be?
Hello infinitycastle52777.
I do hope you get some useful suggestions and recommendations about cookbooks for ileostomates.
I was tempted to recommend my own book: 'A Rhyming Cookbook' (2013), but I am almost sure it is not really what you are looking for.
In the UK I would say that perhaps a local library might get something suitable in for you, but I'm not sure whether you have such useful places in the US. Perhaps google might do some reviews on this type of literature.
Anyway, as I tend to look for any excuse to post a rhyme, I'll leave you with the introductory one to the book mentioned above.
Best wishes
Bill
A RHYMING COOKBOOK.
There’s something in the skill to cook
that makes me take another look.
For there are concepts that pervade
both cooking and the poet’s trade.
The skill is taught and it is learned
and any accolades well-earned.
To be good takes work and time
it is in cooking as in rhyme.
Every dish needs preparation
plus a little perspiration.
Sometimes it takes expedience
to utilise ingredients.
Some things might have to go to waste
to cater for a certain taste.
The poet and restaurateur
both like to please the connoisseur.
But they don’t always come your way
so what you do from day to day
is save the speciality
and cater for reality.
You use the stuff that you have got
and mix it in the cooking pot.
What comes out you hope will be
a dish that’s fit for you and me.
Both cooks and poets do their best
and then their work’s put to the test.
One day a dish will be just right
sometimes it’s more than they can bite.
Dedication and devotion
helps to capture raw emotion.
The cook may serve the casserole
as poems feed the mind and soul.
B. Withers 2012
Why Join MeetAnOstoMate?
First off, this is a pretty cool site with 40,244 members.
But, it's not all about ostomy. We talk about everything.
Many come here for advice, others find lasting friendships, and some have even found love.
🔒 Privacy is very important - your profile is not visible to the outside world.
40,244 members
Coloplast has a mini cookbook on their website for free.
OstAI has a few hits; use “Ostomy cookbook” for your search.
Yes, it is worth it. You receive all sorts of new ideas and suggestions from them. My favorites are any by Elizabeth David, but perhaps not very suitable for you. Pick something on modern cookery and meant for people with certain ailments like ileostomies. You won't regret it. Best wishes.
G-Day infinitycastle52777,
You will do what we all do; you will cook a couple of the recipes and then put them away and cook what you always cook.
Regards, IGGIE
I'm getting tired of the same old thing day after day, week after week.
I want to get a good cookbook meant for people with ileostomies, but because we are all so different in what we can and can't eat, I don't really know how a cookbook can know what I can eat. It might be full of veggie recipes, something I can't really use.
I have seen the Coloplast mini cookbook. Thanks for the suggestion. A search for ostomy cookbook might be too general because people with colonoscopies can eat way more than those with ileostomies.
You have a poem for everything, it would seem. Thanks for sharing. I enjoy reading your work.
Hello infinitycastle52777.
Thank you so much for your observation and your support for the Rhymes.
I have been writing rhymes for a long time so it seems probable that I would have covered many subjects. However, the more I write the harder it seems to be to find suitable subjects. This is where a site like MaO has proved to be very helpful as it throws up a host of new concepts for me to contemplate.
Interestingly, the next poem in 'A Rhyming Cookbook' was directly attributable to one of our regular contributors on here who was kind enough to send me a 'hug' at a time when it was most opportune for me to receive one.
It struck me at the time that such a thing could be sent through a message had never crossed my mind before, But what a great subject to capture!
Best wishes
Bill
A HUG.
A hug came in my mail today
and caught me unawares.
I thought it was a wondrous way
to show that someone cares.
This touching sentiment apprised
a somewhat doleful heart.
But I was pleasantly surprised
at what it would impart.
Musing over paradigms
of things to overcome.
It made me ponder all those times
when I needed someone.
You may know the times I mean
when you feel all alone.
Those times you wish to vent your spleen
and have a moan and groan.
But if you do this with your friends
and they don’t want to know.
Sometimes that’s where the friendship ends
‘ midst even more aggro.
For some, a hug’s a platitude
of crass banality.
So I must show my gratitude
for this hug they gave to me.
Am I right or am I wrong
or simply just absurd.
To think that I have lived so long
and never used this word?
Very many things I write
yet not one hug I’ve sent.
Even though I think it might
be what I really meant.
B. Withers 2013
I truly think that you could write about absolutely anything and everything. I love your hug poem. It is a great way to show that you appreciated the hug given to you. Have you ever written about stoma size changing? As in it shrinking from its original size to a smaller size. And how then you have to cut your wafer smaller and smaller. And how weird that is. And sometimes frustrating. It's like it shrinks like it's drying up, only it's not because it's still wet. I think that would make an interesting subject. I was inspired to ask because of something someone said on one of the other message boards that struck a chord with me. About how she used to cut her wafer at 32 and now is at 25, and that happened to me too.
Hello infiinitycastle52777.
Thank you so much for your confidence in my ability to write rhyme on anything. I only wish that I had a matching level of your confidence!
However, I am always on the lookout for something new to write about (especially when it concerns stomas).
I have never had the problem you describe so, thus far, the concept had not crossed my mind. Nonetheless, the lack of personal experience has rarely held me back in my efforts to be empathetic towards the plight of others.
So, I'll give it a go.
And post it on here when it's done.
Best wishes
Bill
PS: Thanks again for the concept and here is my effort to capture some of it in rhyme:
I will also post it separately as then it will automatically go into 'collections'>
STOMA SIZE AND SHAPE.
Those with stomas know full well
that they may shrink or they may swell
and that won’t help with management,
which can lead to discouragement.
When stomas start to shrink, I think
the wafers start to leak and stink
because they do not fit so tight
until we start to put things right.
As we see our receding gut
make stomas smaller, the hole gets cut
to match the size it has become
and, to frustration some succumb.
It’s good to have stability,
for then there’s an ability
to get into a good routine
and keep our stomas pristine clean.
As many ostomates will know
it’s much the same when stomas grow
out of shape and have a kink,
which throws our routines out of sync.
Prolapsed stomas, so I’m told
probably will fit this mould,
where suddenly it can expand
and then this can get out of hand.
My solution has been to try
to fathom out the reasons why
designers of devices seem not
to have addressed this vexing spot.
Is it that they can’t profit
from the time that’s spent on it?
Or could it be that changes may
be too much from day to day?
Meanwhile, we must struggle on
and hope these problems will be gone.
B. Withers 2025
Well said, Bill. For me, it's that my stoma shrank and shrank. First, from its original size to a rounder, smaller size. Now it has shrunk some more and caused all my pre-cut wafers to have to be thrown out. I had about 100 pre-cut wafers I had to toss out. Now I have learned my lesson and don't cut them till I am ready to use them. However, that is no good too because if I had a leak, I'd be trying to deal with it and cut a wafer at the same time. So I kind of hit a compromise and cut 2 at a time. But then I need some for my travel bag too—2 for there. So then I need to cut 2 more. Oh, it's hopeless sometimes. I am trying to make my wafers last longer since Medicaid has decided that I don't need that many a month as to change every 3 days like I was doing. So now I have to make the wafer last a week and just change the bag once in the middle but not the wafer. It's all so frustrating. Then when the size of your stoma changes... well... it is all the more frustrating.
Hello infinitycastle52777.
Thanks for your appreciation of the rhyme.
In the UK he NHS provides as much gear as we need so we don't really need to be concerned about that aspect. Nonetheless, the problem of stomas changing shape is still frustrating. My main problem used to be that the wafers simply did not stick to my skin so I decided to make my own baseplates. When my stoma started to change shape I had to make different ones to fit different shapes.
This has worked fairly well for me, but what has worked even better was when I decided to try to make a cone-shape that would hold my stoma (gently) in position and not let any output backwards towards the skin. (a concept not too different from a condom!)
My stoma now stays in the shape and position I want it to be, rather than having the freedom to roam at will.
Best wishes
Bill
The freedom to roam at will made me smile. I think it sounds like you have things under control. Do you have a colostomy? I have an ileostomy, so my little guy doesn't roam too much. Sometimes he gives a little wiggle when outputting, but pretty much stays in place. Sometimes he tries to shrink under the wafer, though, but usually doesn't result in leaks or anything. I haven't had a leak in a long time. I think it is because I have a really good no-sting barrier film. I put it all around where the wafer is going to go, and it sticks down really well then. And I use a ring, so that helps too. Now that I cut my wafer smaller, that also helps, I think. It gives a tighter fit without being too tight, so there isn't anywhere for the fluids to go. But I must say, after wearing the same wafer for a week, it gets close to the edge of the ring. And changing the bag midway through is a really stinky job. I don't really like changing the bag and not the wafer. I think it is a stinky deal in more ways than one. I wish Medicaid understood ostomies.