Table 4. Qualitative Findings: Strategies for Bowel Function Regulation.

Theme/Strategy	Exemplar: Dietary Adjustments
Food Categories and Specific Foods to Avoid	I eat everything except fatty foods. And I can eat fatty foods, but then I pay a terrible price.
	I can’t eat peanuts or anything with a hard shell on it. I think anything with a hard shell on it like peas, if I eat too many of those.… I don’t eat a lot of apples, but I usually take the skin off.
	I can’t eat corn, I can’t eat salads, I can’t eat baked beans and there’s several others I can’t think of off hand, that I don’t eat. I like a lot of fruit, you know, oranges and grapefruits, and I can’t eat them. It plugs up. Your body doesn’t dissolve grapefruit. I can drink the juice, but it doesn’t dissolve the pulp in there.
	I don’t eat beans, I don’t eat onions, raw onions. I’m kind of careful on greens, cause they just don’t digest well.
	An overdose of coleslaw put me out of commission for three months. I lost a job over this, so it is important what you eat.
Helpful Foods	I’ve gotten a lot smarter, and I drink water constantly. And it makes a big difference.
	I eat lots of fruit. I eat lots of green vegetables and lots of salad. Lots of roughage. Oatmeal and things like that, because my problem is if I take and say eat nuts or popcorn, my colon just simply contracts, wham, and then there’s spasms. Hot and cold flashes.
	I find that if you eat like you should and you have enough fiber and enough fluid, and everybody is gonna take a different amount of water. I happen to take quite a bit. It’s like 5 cups of water, kind of warm, and basically I can keep the thing running smoothly.

	Exemplar: Behavioral Adjustments
Meal-Related	And you learn, over the years, what you can and can’t do. And you can’t overeat, either. That’s why it’s good to graze. You just eat all the time, and that’s not a problem. But if you just sat down and ate a huge meal, like a farmhand, it would be a bad thing. The pouch fills, and you get uncomfortable, things back up.
	I find that if I eat smaller meals – because if you eat a whole lot, it goes right through – it doesn’t take much time for everything to eliminate. And you don’t want to eat a huge meal.
	I try to chew my food slowly. And I don’t ever drink until after I eat. I chew my food and then I drink.
	I just try to balance when I eat things versus what my schedule is gonna be.… you just plan out your schedule and figure out when you’re gonna eat what when. I still eat everything that I want. I just don’t necessarily get to eat it when I want to eat it.
Non Meal-Related	I don’t…choose to be around groups of people I do not know. I suppose there’s times when I’ve cut myself off from something that might be an enjoyable activity.
	I try not to drive as much as I used to. When I drive, I want to make sure that I know where I’m going.
	If I have to change my pouch or I have other things to do, I get as much things done in the morning that I need to do and so even stretch it out a little longer, so by the time I’m ready to change the pouch, I’m ten or twelve hours have gone by between eating.

	Exemplar: Exercise
	You have to really watch your diet and exercise. You know, walking, exercycle, swimming.

	Exemplar: Medications
	I’ve always had to take Imodium and it still doesn’t really do a whole bunch of good.
	I live on stool softeners in the morning and a laxative at night…and that’s how I get through. And even then, sometimes it all blocks up.
	He gave me Metamucil to try and that just kind of makes a sludge.
	And even though I have the Imodium, that doesn’t help immediately.