Chemo is, you know, there are some of the toughest drugs and that the body can have and can be trying to fight, so your poor little body is doing a really good job at dealing with all of those really harsh drugs. So be kind to it.

My chemo started so soon after my stoma was created.

I was still getting used to food so I could eat and couldn’t eat, so I did have to be pretty careful with foods eating high fibre foods meant that my output was a lot higher. They tell you in the hospital to eat low residue foods, but they’re all the foods that you think “I really don’t want to eat”. It’s all the foods that you think is having very little nutrition when you’re trying to build yourself up during, during your chemo treatment, during your cancer treatment.

The other side effect is because I had a lot of acid indigestion, I couldn’t eat enough food or the types of foods that I want to eat to keep my system moving.

So I wasn’t always getting as good nutrition as I needed to at that point, which again wasn’t keeping the stoma working as well as it could.

But so I did try to introduce more high fibre foods and my porridge that I love in the mornings. I wasn’t going to not have my porridge! And I just kind of dealt with the implications of it. Which just meant changing the bag or draining it, cleaning it out and emptying it just a bit more frequently during chemo treatment. Till my system got used to having more of those high fibre foods.

One of the areas to be really conscious of when you’re going through chemo with a stoma is to ensure that you’re not getting dehydrated because with bowel cancer, chemo sometimes you’re sensitive to the cold and cold drinks. So you don’t tend to drink enough.

So you’ve got to be conscious of and careful to make sure that you’re drinking enough so you’re not getting dehydrated because the chemotherapy can cause constipation. And then if you’re not drinking enough as well, that can lead to even more constipation, which can be really uncomfortable and can cause all sorts of other problems.

So just try to make sure that you’re drinking even more so that, we’re keeping our system working and it’s really good just to flush out all those chemicals also. So you know, keep drinking as much water as you can.

My belief is that a little of what you fancy does you good. So a healthy, balanced diet for us with a stoma just try to have a healthy, balanced diet, maintain a healthy balanced diet. Sometimes it’s easy just to eat some of those really low residue, bland foods. But just to try and avoid irritating the stoma or having too much output. But having a really a good just healthy balanced diet is the best thing to do during chemo and drinking lots of water.

Practical tips for diet and hydration

With so much going on it’s important to look after your body. Try some of these tips:

• Don’t feel like eating? Try to keep up a varied diet even if it’s in small amounts. You may find that eating 4-6 smaller meals throughout the day is better than 2-3 larger meals.
• Avoid eating late – Try not to eat large meals late in the evening to decrease the amount of output overnight.
• Keep a journal – make a note of the effect certain foods have on your stoma.
• Chew well – help your digestive process by chewing your food into smaller pieces, especially foods like peanuts, or other solids that could cause a blockage.
• Looser output can lead to dehydration so it’s important to keep your fluid levels up. If you are at all concerned, speak to your stoma care or oncology nurse right away.