I have asked the same question, and the best answer that I got is the following: it's trial and error. Some people do very well on a soft diet, and some do better with a bit more fibre to keep things moving. I have settled into a diet that consists of salads (chopped sort of fine), meats that are easier to digest (only beef is ground, almost no pork, chicken) and fish, as well as some carbohydrates. I also take Metamucil, but it should be taken in 1/2 dosages or smaller to start, as sometimes the extra bulk can be problematic.
Regardless of which diet works for you, water is essential. The more
water you drink, the better things move along. I hope that this helps.
Best wishes. At Sun, 20 Jan 2002, Marea Jenness wrote:
>
>Hello -
>
>My name is Marea and I live in St. Paul, MN. I had massive abdominal surgery in July due to a ruptured appendix that had caused infection throughout my abdomen. The surgeon performed a hysterectomy - one of my ovaries had died and everything else was infected.
>
>Except for some acid reflux, everything seemed fine until a few weeks ago. Now, whenever I eat, and often when I just drink water, my belly bloats up and my stomach really hurts.
>
>New Year's Eve I was admitted to the hospital with diarreha that wouldn't stop, a bloated belly and some vomiting. A CAT scan shows inflammation and some kind of growth around where my appendix used to be and if doctors push on the area (which everyone seems to want to do...), it's very painful. My spleen is also enlarged.
>
>A colonoscopy didn't show anything unusual - except it was really hard to insert the tube, probably due to adhesions. So, they kept me for a week in the hospital on IV fluids and transitioned to soft food and released me.
>
>What worries me is that the infection is back - I walked around for six months - and even went to Vietnam for five weeks to adopt a beautiful baby boy - with a ruptured appendix that had been missed when I was hospitalized a year ago. All that time, I didn't have an elevated white blood cell count and only occasional ran a fever. I just hurt a lot, had trouble eating and had vertigo.
>
>I have an excellent relationship with my doctor and he has responded to my concerns by scheduling a tagged white blood cell test on Friday, which could help identify an infection. I'm also going to the surgeon who performed the operation tomorrow to consult with her.
>
>If my cecum looks infected, they are thinking of removing it, since it doesn't seem to respond to IV antibiotics. Otherwise, my doctor is advising a laproscopy to take a look at the site where my appendix was. I also herniated by the incision when I bloated up earlier this month, and a surgeon might be able to fix it at the same time.
>
>After reading many of the entries on this list, it is my conclusion that my difficulties are probably due to adhesions, but I want to try the other tests to rule out infection.
>
>My question is - what can I eat? I tried the low residue diet and got constipated.
>
>I'd appreciate any suggestions and want to offer my solidarity to everyone who had suffered with this for a long time.
>
>Thanks!
-- csheedy