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Going under the knife in a couple weeks; pre-surgery prep question

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Posted 6/21/2018 11:08 PM (GMT 0)
Some of you might recall I posted a couple months ago about my inflamed and infected diverticulum.

Had a repeat CT scan that showed marked improvement, the inflammation was gone but "some" thickening in the area was noted. A colonoscopy Monday confirmed my fears, the stenosis in the sigmoid colon was so narrow the GI could not get the smallest scope through it. I will be having a bowel resection 7/13.

The worst of this so far was the prep for the colonoscopy that took forever to "work." It worked quickly but due to the stenosis it took forever to come out. Lots of pain and nausea.

I am worried about the prep for the surgery. They want me to do movie prep and that stuff is so thick it makes me full after the first two glasses. I then start vomiting. For those that have had a bowel resection, what type of prep did they give you? I don't want to go through what I did on Sunday night, Monday morning.

Very nervous about all this because I am less of a spring chicken than I was before.....
Posted 6/21/2018 11:43 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry Ides,

No answers for you. Just want to wish you all the best with the surgery. Really hope things work out for the best. Let us know how things go.
Posted 6/22/2018 11:31 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Ides,

A lot of surgeons don't bother with any bowel prep before bowel resection surgery. Some use only an enema on the morning of the surgery.
You can ask to use whatever prep you find the most suitable (but I wouldn't worry too much about how much you manage to get down.)

You will fast from midnight the night before. If you generally feel back up, eat lightly a day or so prior.

The main thing is to be as healthy and peaceful as you can be smile

Take care and relax in other words (easier said than done.)

Wish you all the best.
Posted 6/22/2018 12:26 PM (GMT 0)
Hey there,

Good luck with your surgery! I am 5 and a half weeks post op from a bowel resection. I too was very worried about prep because it doesn’t agree with me either and takes a long time for it to work. I’m trying to remember what I used, it was different from what I use for colonoscopies. I had to take it at 5pm, and 10pm. It took a little while for things to start working. It was the taste of the prep and the saltiness that really had me struggling , way worse in my opinion than prep I had done before, but it eventually worked by the time I went into hospital the next morning. Like ambling said a lot of surgeons won’t even require bowel prep so it’s not imperative that you are totally cleaned out. My surgeon said to do it as he’s studied that it reduces risk of post op infection. Prep isn’t fun at all, but doable. I wish you good luck and take care smile
Posted 6/22/2018 3:14 PM (GMT 0)
Ides, sorry to read about the pending surgery. My resection was an emergency type situation, so there was no prep. I don't know what prep you will be using, but is there a different one you can try? Perhaps be on liquids a few days in advance.
Posted 6/23/2018 3:43 PM (GMT 0)
I can't do those huge volume preps either. I used prepopik for my surgery, and it was much easier. I've done the pill prep too, but that's even harder than prepopik. I've heard suprep is easy too. Good luck. I hope you can get something that won't make you nauseous. it's bad enough to have to go through all this stuff without worrying about nausea.
Posted 6/24/2018 7:38 AM (GMT 0)
ides. glad i saw this.. as you may remember i had that stricture due to thickening a couple years ago...and since i cant have any more remove, we did the very other week stretch. mine was also in the sigmoid. which is very reachable with a small scope. and since it is so low you should be able to get by with an enema the morning of and then another just before the procedure. . was that even suggested for you? they stretched about 1-3 MM each time. that could give you an inch in about 3 months.

just dont want to see ya cut up if you can avoid it... randy... at the big government hospital ? ;o)
Posted 6/24/2018 10:52 AM (GMT 0)
Ides, I had a sigmoid bowel resection with permanent colostomy in October. My stricture was so severe hardly anything was passing through. I was pretty much on a liquid diet before my surgery. For my prep, I just did the Miralax/Gatorade the night before. I was too sick to do anything else. I only drank as much as I could. The best of luck to you!
Posted 6/24/2018 11:25 PM (GMT 0)
I was instructed to use clear citro mag. It was a small bowel resection. I was told it had to be the clear type.
Posted 6/24/2018 11:30 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone for the good thoughts and shared experiences!

Randy, no suggestion to try and open it up by stretching because of the very large diverticulum that keeps getting infected. I have been on antibiotics almost continually since the end of March. Once I stop them it only takes a week to get re-infected. Alas, I wish it were so simple....
Posted 6/25/2018 12:44 PM (GMT 0)
I also used prepopik prior to my resection. It is what I now use any time I have a colonoscopy. I've used 5 other preps and prepopik is, in my opinion, the easiest to tolerate. Good luck with your surgery.
Posted 6/25/2018 5:19 PM (GMT 0)
Only suggestion would be eat light for several days prior too and liquid the day before. Always makes the prep work a little easier for me with less camping. I also take Phenergan with mine, to help with nausea and to make me sleep most of the day so I forget how hangry I am.
Posted 6/26/2018 2:42 AM (GMT 0)
I can't remember having a prep, but I was on all liquids due to a partial bowel obstruction, so I don't have any suggestions. Good luck with your surgery though. I hope it all goes well.
Posted 6/29/2018 5:09 PM (GMT 0)
I'm in Canada so I don't know if things are done differently here but the last 2 resections I had did not require cleaning myself out first. It did surprised me a bit. But, I had a colonoscopy a while ago and the druggist recommended Pico Salax (don't know if it's the same brand name there.) But basically you drink 2 small glasses of the stuff and then just drink lots of clear fluids after that. I's so much easier than the gallon of stuff. On the Mayo Clinic website they recommend splitting up the dosses. So if you have a late appointment, you would do 1/2 the night before and the second half the morning of. It seemed to do the job well. Maybe you can ask if they would let you take the Pico Salax instead.

Good luck with your surgery.
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