Colon Cancer Surgery Diet: How to Eat Healthy and Aid your Recovery
By the time you get home after your colon cancer surgery, diet should not be too much of a problem, although, in most cases, the cancer will have made you lose your appetite and this will have lead to weight loss. Many colon cancer treatments have the same effect or you may feel hungry but when you start to eat, you feel full very quickly. Depending on your treatment, some foods may taste different or you may feel sick when you start to eat. It is vital that you mention this to your doctor or dietician
For a period of time you may have to limit your intake of high fiber foods such as fruit and vegetables as these tend to irritate your bowel and cause loose stools and a frequent need to go to the toilet. In some causes eating high fiber foods may cause diarrhea, in which case your doctor will need to give you something for it. Some people find that they can start eating a normal diet in about a month while others seem to take longer. It is just a matter for the individual with no set time frame. In the meantime, soups, pasta, eggs, mashed potatoes, yogurts, puddings and sandwiches will suffice, but well cooked vegetables used in soups, etc. should not cause any problems. It is also not uncommon to find you are producing more wind and as this builds up and can cause abdominal pain; charcoal tablets usually do the trick and another great remedy for this is drinking peppermint tea.
A good colon cancer diet is generally the same as any healthy diet with a variety of foods from all food groups; Carbohydrates such as pasta, rice, bread, cereals and biscuits, Proteins including meat, seafood, poultry, dairy foods, nuts and eggs, Fats which are made up of margarine, butter, oily fish, full fat milk, yogurt, nuts and cheese and the vitamins, minerals and fiber obtained fruit and vegetables grains, etc.
It is important to note that in order to put on weight that has been lost by the cancer and also treatment and or surgery, your doctor or dietician may advise to eat foods that you would not necessarily eat on a daily basis, e.g. chocolate, full cream milk products, cakes and biscuits, etc. Regaining and maintaining weight is vital and initially these methods may serve the purpose. It would appear that after your colon cancer surgery, diet limitations are only in place for a short period of time until your body readjusts and in any case many people find these slight problems after even the most minor of surgeries for various conditions.
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