Bowel Prep/Pre Op

[DarkStar85]

Hope everyone is doing ok. Grateful for the advice I've received so far on here thank you all.

I have my first lap in 3 weeks time. Excision, removal of cysts, bowel shave as colon stuck to uterus. Sounds wonderful 🙄 my pre op appointment is only 3 days before surgery is this normal? Should I not be on a special diet for a week before? What about bowel prep? Would that just be 24 hours before surgery? Any advice appreciated. The anxiety is setting in now.

[Purple_Badgers]

Hi! I think bowel prep can vary a little, depending on what op you’re having and which potion they prefer to use!

My bowel prep involved 2 days of light low residue diet, 1.5 days of clear fluids only, then nothing but the laxative drink and extra water from lunchtime the day before my procedure. This was for a sigmoidoscopy, so they wanted the whole of my colon extremely clear inside for the camera.

No doubt they have other methods which are faster-acting and slightly less strict on diet. One of the general leaflets I was given regarding coming into hospital for a procedure mentioned that you may be asked to prep at home, or they might give you something when they take you in.

Please don’t worry about it, they will either send you instructions & medicine in the post (as they did for me), or you will be given everything at pre-op, or you will be told how they will do it on the day.

Everything will be explained and they will probably have some extra tips for making your prep, your stay and recovery as easy as possible. Good luck with it all xxxxx

[DarkStar85 in reply to Purple_Badgers]

Thanks, I appreciate your reply. I have done a bowel prep twice for colonoscopy so I know what I'm in for. Just wondered about the diet as my pre op is so close to the surgery xx

[Chel91]

Mine was 48 hours with specific instructions. I'm sure it's slightly different for everyone though, but I'm guessing you will be ok. You can always call and ask if they will be recommending anything further in advance. Best of luck xx

[Catskils]

I was nil by mouth for 6 hrs pre arriving at hospital, then they gave me an enema in hospital beforehand. No special prep or diet. Surgery included excision, removal of scarring from bowel and bowel resection. Hope all goes well for you!

[DarkStar85 in reply to Catskils]

Thanks Catskils. How did the surgery and recovery go for you? I'm worried it will be quite a long recovery. I've a girls weekend in Spain about 14 weeks after the op. Hoping I'm not all bloated and still in pain!

[Catskils]

I had a hysterectomy at the same time so hard to say which took longest to recover from! Probably the hysterectomy. There's swelling from the gas they use which does pass after a few weeks. My bloating calmed down around 8 weeks - but I suffered from severe bloating pre surgery and still have issues with ibs, so it may be different for you. I did take Symprove post surgery to help with that. If you haven't used it before, you can sometimes get 4 weeks trail for free via nhs referral. I was off pain meds 2 weeks after surgery and didn't need to use as strong ones as I did pre-surgery!

I'm 12 weeks post surgery and have next to no pain from the endo now and bowels working better than they have in years. All being well, you should be feeling brand new by the time Spain comes around. Enjoy 😀

[DarkStar85 in reply to Catskils]

Thanks for letting me know. Great news you are feeling good 12 weeks post op! Sounds promising for my trip! I refused hysterectomy at the moment but I'll probably be back for it in a few years with the adenomyosis. Hoping an abdominal binder for post surgery will help with bloating!

[AR2008]

Having recently just gone through the joys of bowel prep, my best advice is have bland food for at least 48hrs before. I made the mistake of not reading the leaflet properly which came with the bowel prep. Drink lots of fluids on the day before and on the day of the prep as it dehydrated me a lot.

Good luck with your op! 😀 xx

[DarkStar85 in reply to AR2008]

Thanks thats great advice much appreciated! X

[DarkStar85 in reply to AR2008]

How long ago was your surgery? Hope you're recovering well x

[AtomicHair]

I didn't have any special diet, restrictions of food or bowel prep in advance. It wasn't even mentioned to me. I had to be nil by mouth for 6 hours before the time I was due at the hospital and then they did a barium enema before taking me down. Worth saying that my op had severe bowel involvement and a bowel surgeon, so wasn't a surprise. I think different surgeons have a different way of working. Good luck.

[DarkStar85 in reply to AtomicHair]

Thanks for replying. How did your surgery and recovery go? My bowel is adhered to uterus less than 1cm so I've been told I don't need a bowel surgeon. Really nervous that it will be worse than shown in Mri and I'll need bowel surgery.

[AtomicHair]

I had surgery on 4 parts of my bowel, but they managed to just separate my organs from the bowel and do a shave on the areas of deep endo. I also had stents put in my bladder, a 2inch section of my vagina remember and my appendix removed, so it was a long operation back in 2020. I was in hospital for a few days then home, the recovery was OK, I was quite kind to myself just focused on doing the small things, little walks, little bits of cooking, some self care. I was off work for about 10 weeks. But it was worth it. My quality of life has been loads better. Some stuff took a bit longer to notice, other things like the pain in my right side I knew has improved as soon as I woke up.I've had some regrowth and likely need another op in the future, but I'm nowhere near the same pain level I used to have .

Hope that's helps, good luck.

[DarkStar85 in reply to AtomicHair]

I'm glad things have improved for you. I'm worried about recovery with 3 kids to look after. Although my husband will work from home for a while. Thanks again for replying. I hope you get a long stretch without needing more surgery. This disease really is horrific.