Ostomy bowel prep w/ Flagyl?

You shouldn't have to do a prep. Us non coloned people don't hold stuff in that long anyway! Usually it's a day of clear liquids, then nothing after midnight the day of. In our cases a prep can be bad, because we dehydrate so easily.
Congrats on your baby, he's beautiful!

Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful boy!

I would definitely call your colorectal surgeon for specific instructions. Many people take a bowel prep before a colectomy and loop ileostomy but you already had that surgery plus the j-pouch construction.
The reversal is the easiest surgery and no prep is needed. I was shocked at the lack of pain afterwards. Of course, the months of adjusting while the j-pouch matured was a little bit of a challenge. Keep doing your kegel and rectal muscle exercises. They really help prevent pelvic floor problems and incontinence.

You probably already know the kegel exercises. They may feel hard to do at first right after having a child but they will get easier. For the rectal muscle exercise, imagine clenching a small pebble as high as you can in your rectum. Clench as long as you can and release. I was so scared of having flaccid rectal muscles after more than a year with an ostomy that I tried to do at least 10 sets of 10 every day. I continued to do them after the reversal although it was two weeks before I had much of a muscle response. Sometimes continence is simply a matter of how fast you can run while clenching those muscles!

I did not have any bowel prep before the take-down surgery or any pre-surgery antibiotics or classes.
Flagyl is an antibiotic often used to treat intestinal infections as well as pouchitis either in a combination or rotation with other antibiotics. It is often included in your iv during and after take-down surgery. The instructions you were given do not make a lot of sense. The usual dosage is 500mg three times a day.

I am curious about the j-pouch class curriculum. I would imagine it would include the advice that most of us had to glean from other j-pouchers here and at j-pouch.org. Please let us know about the class curriculum. It could be very helpful to other members.

Best wishes,
Szm

Hello again everyone!
Well I had the training class yesterday. It was very informative! And I do have to do a bowel prep, with gatorade and miralax.. I have to adhere to a schedule. Here is the basic rundown I think I have it:
Clear liquid diet all day (except for the gatorade)
2 dolcolax pills around 11.
64 oz of Gatorade/miralax mix must be completed between 2-4
anti-nausea med (compazine) at 4
1 flagyl pill at 5, 6, then 7
another 2 dolcolax pills at 8pm.
MORE gatorade. This time more concentrated, had to get the powder and need to mix 5 cups of water with 12 tablespoons of the powder stuff so it will be super sugary and carb-y. They want me to be on an empty stomach but still have some energy stored during surgery. Must finish part of this from 6-10pm, then morning of surgery, drink 400ml more and complete 2 hrs before surgery. All of this is supposed to help the healing process I guess.

My OB/GYN is also operating on me to look for any more endometriosis and cauterize that out.

So that was what I learned in the class. They also have this 3 step system that they say is supposed to get most patients out of the hospital within 3 days. We will see about that! I was expecting more like 5 days. If you would like, I can post the goals of the three-step system from the handout I have.

So ready to get rid of this Ostomy bag! :) My goal is to complete another half marathon next year, that will be the ultimate celebration! Although I hardly even notice this when I exercise, thank goodness!