For me it was somewhat blind as to what I could eat at which times. The first 3-4 years of the disease, it was pretty much guess and check; since the doctors couldn't pinpoint which foods hurt/help more, I would have to find the diet for me. Since I wasn't a big eater, if I ever had pain, I simply wouldn't eat the meal. My mother's cooking was pretty bad up until recently (she finally got a helpful cookbook -- How to Cook Without a Book; and new pots and pans). Anyway, since I didn't care for her food 95% of the time, if I had pain, the meal wasn't worth the pain. After a continuous cycle of that, nothing was really determined. The last year to two years of the disease, ANYTHING dairy would feel like being stabbed in my lower abdomen. First it was milk which really hurt -- it cancelled out breakfast pretty well as cereal was my main choice. I then tried Lactaid tablets thinking that the Crohn's was spawning some sort of intolerance. I even went to Lactaid milk and soy milk. Eventually chocolate (my main source of food) forced the worst pain, literally within seconds of consuming it. Must have been some sort of physiological or psychological recognition on my body's part. Anyway, it trickeled down to pizza which really had nothing to do with the dairy, but moreso the dough. About a month before I had the surgery, I had a bagel for breakfast. Check that, HALF a bagel. Since my intestine was so inflamed, something like a bagel wasn't the brightest choice by me. I was out of school for 3 days with again some of the worse pains I've ever had. Now foodwise, depending on how bad the disease is (it seems that it was caught early/isn't a severe problem yet (hopefully never)), you might want to stay away from the heavy foods. Over the next few months and years if you notice he's losing more weight or not eating well, make sure he gets at least one good meal a day or some type of nutrition. When I pretty much refused to eat because of the pain, I got into some pretty bad and frustrating times with my parents. Even my dad thought I was anorexic. That kind of pissed me off; my reasoning besides the not eating was that I was full quickly (which I was) and that my body wasn't absorbing the nurtrition (which I had said all along). The reason I wasn't absorbing the nutrition was in good part due to the placement of the Crohn's. It pretty much covered my entire ileum where B12 is absorbed. So because I wasn't absorbing nutrition I was drinking supplements, mainly Boost. It's recommended by a lot and I tolerated it briefly. It wasn't disgusting or anything, but having the same drink every night for 3+ years, man that chocolate flavor got bad quickly. Now I would still, definitely recommend it (actually Boost Plus; more nutrtion) if Blake needs nutrition either now or sometime later down the road. It was actually pretty good when mixed with ice cream and some vanilla extract for a shake. Do make sure your doctors watch the Prednizone. The reason I said it was harsh earlier was because in some cases it adversely affects growth. Anyway, good luck and sorry for the long post.
Raven, earlier you were asking about who had had surgeries and how many? I had a friend a few years back who had to miss 2 and a half years of college because he was in surgery almost the entire time he was out. He would go into surgery, then he'd take a hiatus to recover, show up for 2 weeks, and then go back into surgery again.... It seriously sucked for him and I hope your gf's boy doesn't ever have to go through with any of that. But on a good note, all those years of surgery and whatnot did finally help him and as far as I know, he is living better now than he has in a long long long time.
