Hello everyone.
I have recently been told that my bowel resection/reversal is likely to be in September this year, which is earlier than I thought. Great news but less time to lose weight before surgery. The surgeon says it will make things easier - I want to lose weight gained recently in any event. In the past, prior to ileostomy and gastro problems, I had a lot of success with Slimming World, which essentially, for those who don't know, focuses on excluding fat, sugar, and refined carbs, e.g., white bread. Not necessarily low carb as I can have rice, noodles, potatoes, pasta.
Started back on it on Friday morning and have pretty much just eaten fresh fruit, salad, raw cabbage, chicken, potatoes, parsnip soup, steak, pears, bananas, and green beans. Had some whole grain crispbread too.
Output has been pretty watery since then and pretty frequent o back and forth emptying all the time. Even when thicker, it still seems wetter than usual if that makes sense. This is leading to leaks and sore skin around the stoma.
In the past, I have eaten white bread or cake or crisps such as cheese puffs or skips to solve an output issue - maybe this is part of the reason for my weight gain!
Does anyone have any ideas for thickening output that are diet-friendly? I have trio diamond sachets, but these don't help the wetness around the stoma and bag opening.
Also, any tips on dealing with the sore skin which stops the bag sticking properly so leads to more leaking and seems to be a vicious cycle. The only advice from the stoma nurse for this issue has been calamine lotion. Would 'powder' help with this, and what do I ask for when calling the supplier? I have never used it.
I have just tried putting paste over sore skin before adding my usual eakin seal, but it really burns for a while and then I'm not sure if soreness is due to a leak or paste.
Any advice on both diet and sore skin issues would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

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