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Day before Preparation for RRP

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Posted 2/10/2011 6:23 AM (GMT 0)

I am a 58 year-old man, and I have a Robotic Radical Prostatectomy coming up in two weeks.

Today I met a "nurse educator" for the pre-op instruction.

She told me, among other things, not to eat or drink anything after midnight the night before surgery.

She also said I can eat normal diet the day before and I do not need enema.

 

I have been reading many articles regarding the day-before preparation for the RRP on internet.

All articles indicate some sort of diet limitation and enema requirement.

 

Should I call my surgeon and confirm the nurse's instruction?

Has anyone who went through RRP surgery had similar preparation as I was told to do?

 

Jay

Posted 2/10/2011 9:29 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Jay,

Welcome to the forum as a newbie. I had my RP just over 8 weeks ago and was admitted to hospital the day before. I ate and drank as normal and my water was taken away and i was declared as "Nil by mouth" at 2.00am and went down for surgery at 8.30 am. So do not worry about the nurse's instructions, they are just like i had.

Keep us up to date on how you go and no doubt you will get lots of support from all the guys in here, i know i did.

Take care, Bob.
Posted 2/10/2011 10:06 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Jay,

My surgery is on Monday.  I am on a clear liquid diet the day before and no food after midnight.  At noon the day before I have to drink a laxative - Citrate of Magnesia.

No enema.

I was given a handout with all of my exact instructions.  It would have been helpful if you could have been given something.  I would have a hard time rememberinge everything. 

Good luck!

Posted 2/10/2011 10:44 AM (GMT 0)
When to stop eating rules etc seem to be different in different countries. I was treated in Holland. I was due in surgery at 11am and was told I could have a light breakfast at 7am, but once at the hospital they said it would have been okay to have breakfast at 9am.
The rules relate to the risk of vomiting during surgery and the vomit getting in the lungs and either interferring with breathing or damaging the lining of the lungs etc. Now with the robot you are lying 45 degrees to the vertical, so it is actually quite hard for any stomach contents to get into the lungs. HOWEVER...there are one or two people here who, half way through the robot, were switched to open surgery and then you would find yourself lying in a normal surgery position falt on your back, and I'm pretty certain that most anaesthetists would prefer you to have an empty stomach if that happened.

Having an enema or laxative to make an empty bowel means that the abdominal cavity has more room in it for the surgeon to get his hands or instruments to the operation site. The robot needs less sapce than the fists of a surgeon, and with the robot the belly is also inflated to make a lot of space. I had neither enema nor laxative. I just had my normal BM that morning.

I hope you were also told to check what medications you should not take or should stop taking prior to surgery, eg aspirin is a no no, and thus so are many heart medications that thin the blood etc.
Posted 2/10/2011 11:40 AM (GMT 0)
I hate the part about no caffeine or nicotine...espicially the no nicotine. If there was ever a time to smoke a bunch - its right before surgery smhair

For some reason, I always thought the 45 degree angle was head down to reduce blood pressure to the lower part where the cuttin is done.. And if you're head down - what's in the stomach might go back towards the lungs etc...

Posted 2/10/2011 12:19 PM (GMT 0)
Jay, I had an RRP scheduled at my first hospital a few weeks ago and the op was canceled because of an infection. The instruction these people gave was eat/drink anything, but nothing after midnight. They advised to take the magnesium citrate at 6pm and told me it would "work" within an hour.

It did not!.

That stuff started doing its magic at 1am, and I was up all night. I still felt the need to void at 7 am, as I was being prepped for surgery.

Interestingly, my instructions for new hospital (Yale) pre-op, says take the mag. citrate at noon, because of the potential for delayed onset.

The Yale staff is light years ahead of the boneheads who nearly killed me (long story, already explained)

Dave
Posted 2/10/2011 2:47 PM (GMT 0)
My written instructions were no solid food or red liquids the day before - i.e. liquids / jello / broth were ok so long as not red colored.

Then nothing at all from midnight except some water to take the approved meds that morning. The doctor called the night before and said a half-cup of coffee was ok, but the admission nurses freaked out.

Aspirin and the like was forbidden for two weeks before.

Posted 2/10/2011 2:50 PM (GMT 0)

I had a da Vinvi RRP 2 weeks ago.  My last meal was breakfast the day before surgery.

I was told I could've eaten lunch the day before.  But the laxative instructions state not to eat within 4 hours of taking the laxative.

I drank the 1 gallon of laxative around 3 PM the day before surgery.  It started working in about an hour and a half.  The laxative treatment was like a major garden hose full flush through my bowels.  By 6 PM the laxative treatment was pretty much finished.

I drank only water until midnight; after that nothing was permitted.  I was not instructed to do an enima.

Following surgery it took about 3 days to have a BM.  Even after 2 weeks my bowels are still not totally normal, but close.


Posted 2/10/2011 2:59 PM (GMT 0)
Had open back in March '10, nothing but liquids after 9 P.M. no laxative. Showed up for surgery at 0630. No coffee morning of surgery was the worst part of the prep'.
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