Emily Anderson is an Inpatient Clinical Dietician with Sanford Health. She shared the attached resources with us during our March support group meeting.
I have had an ostomy since 2005 and still managed to learn things from Emily! Some of my personal take-aways from the meeting were as follows:
Chewing your food thoroughly not only aids in digestion but can minimize gas production -- which we all know can be a huge problem when living with an ostomy!
Eating your largest meal in the middle of the day can minimize bowel movements during the sleep hours. This one requires a little bit of "social deprogramming" since we have all (mostly) learned that dinner/supper is the largest meal of the day!
If you find you can't eat a lot during a meal, start with the protein portion to ensure your body gets what it needs first.
Try to drink your fluids 30 minutes before a meal instead of with the meal. Drinking more fluids during the meal can often "flush" the food through your body faster and you will absorb less of the nutrients.
Thanks again to Emily -- super informative meeting today!